Buffalo Sabres forward Tage Thompson and the rest of the Team USA men’s hockey team are back stateside after their Olympic gold medal win over Canada on Sunday.
The team landed in Florida on Monday afternoon.
Thompson, who scored three goals for the U.S. in Milan, is the only member of the Buffalo Sabres on Team USA.
The gold medalists have to now shift their attention quickly to the rest of the NHL regular season schedule.
The Blue and Gold’s next game is Wednesday against the New Jersey Devils.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff doesn’t know yet if Thompson will suit up for the team’s first game back out of the Olympic break.
“He has had an unbelievable experience, you know, it is going to be a tough two-to-three days for all those guys,” Ruff said. “Busy, they are really busy. [It’s] to be expected.”
The rest of the Sabres team was back at home in Buffalo, including captain Rasmus Dahlin, who returned to practice on Monday. He and Team Sweden lost to the U.S. in the Olympic quarterfinals.
“You know, losing that game, I kind of switched my focus right away to Buffalo,” Dahlin said. “I am so excited to get this thing going. We have a really good thing going on, and now the fun begins. Now [that] all the most important games start, I can’t be more excited for this.”
The Sabres are currently holding on to the top wild-card playoff spot in the NHL’s Eastern Conference.