The hero of the golden goal spoke like a teenager in love. “It was a night straight out of a movie,” said forward Tage Thompson. “It was even better than I imagined.” And for most Americans, it truly was a first: the first time in their lifetime that a U.S. men’s ice hockey team had won a World Championship title. The last time the U.S. was officially world champion was in 1960, when Olympic gold automatically counted as a world title. The only previous title won in a final dated all the way back to 1933. In Stockholm, the U.S. ended a championship drought of either 65 or even 92 years, depending on how you look at it. For twelve straight tournaments, they had fallen short in the semifinals.
If this night really felt like a movie, its title might be: “Once Upon a Time in Sweden.” Just two minutes and two seconds into overtime, Thompson turned a tense drama into a fairytale ending in Stockholm. The U.S. beat Switzerland 1-0, leaving the Swiss with yet another silver medal—just as they did in 2013, 2018, and 2024. In the middle of their jubilant celebration, no one seemed to remember the frustration from the group stage, when the nearly all-NHL American team loudly complained about the conditions at the Danish venue in Herning: terrible food, poor ice quality, and locker rooms that looked like hastily built film sets from a low-budget spaghetti western. With only a handful of showers for 25 players, those who stayed too long for interviews had to settle for cold rinses.
This American squad was the youngest team in the tournament and led by the youngest head coach—Ryan Warsofsky, 37, who also coaches the San Jose Sharks in the NHL. All the more remarkable was the quiet way in which they entered this night of jubilation. Before lifting the trophy, team captain Clayton Keller returned to the locker room to retrieve jersey number 13—the jersey of Johnny Gaudreau. He draped it over the trophy with careful, almost tender hands, like a final embrace. Gaudreau, 31, a five-time world championship participant and NHL forward for the Calgary Flames, had died along with his brother Matthew on August 29, 2024, when a drunk driver struck them while they were cycling. The tribute echoed the recent championship celebration of the Berlin Eisbären, who honored their late teammate Tobias Eder, who passed away from cancer, in a similarly emotional gesture.
For Switzerland, however, the night ended in disappointment—just as it had the year before in a 2-0 loss to the Czech Republic. “Once again, it wasn’t enough, and that hurts a lot,” said veteran Andres Ambühl. “We really wanted to take the next step.”
Ambühl had the chance to complete a sports story fit for Hollywood, as sentimental as they come. At the very same venue where he won silver in 2013, the 41-year-old fought for gold in the final game of his career. It was his 20th world championship appearance, his 352nd international game, and his 151st world championship match—all world records. Now, “Büeli,” the farmer’s son from Davos, steps off the stage as one of the greats—though without the ultimate ending he dreamed of.