Former NASCAR and IndyCar driver Danica Patrick relished in the joy of the United States’ men’s hockey team defeating Canada at the Winter Olympics.
On Sunday, Team USA won its first men’s hockey gold medal in 46 years by defeating their rivals to the north 2-1 in overtime.
New Jersey Devils star Jack Hughes slotted a wrist shot through the five-hole of Canadian goalie Jordan Binnington to clinch the historic feat.
‘He’s a freaking gamer,’ Jack’s big brother Quinn Hughes said of the game-winning goal.
‘He’s always been a gamer. Just mentally tough, been through a lot, loves the game. American hero.’
Meanwhile, Canada is in mourning after the harrowing defeat to their rivals.
Patrick’s 51st State Jab
Just over a year after Canada beat the US in the 4 Nations Faceoff, the Canadians are now on the losing end. Americans have been rubbing it in their faces ever since.
That includes Patrick, who shared an Instagram post to her story that said ‘If Canada had been smart and become the 51st State, they’d be gold medalists right now.’
A cheeky Patrick simply captioned her post, ‘Too soon?’
While the Americans continue to celebrate, Canada’s coach Jon Cooper bemoaned the overtime rules.
The Americans won in a 3-on-3 overtime period. This has become common practice in the NHL as a solution to reduce the number of games decided by a shootout.
Cooper Criticizes Overtime Format
However, in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, 5-on-5 overtime is the rule. This is due to the importance of the circumstances surrounding the game. Last winter’s 4 Nations Faceoff also required 5v5 overtime.
‘You take four players off the ice, now hockey’s not hockey anymore,’ Cooper said, via The Hockey News.
‘There’s a reason overtime and shootouts are in play — it’s all TV-driven to end games, so it’s not a long time. There’s a reason why it’s not in the Stanley Cup Final or playoffs.’
Team USA’s men’s hockey win over Canada smashes TV records
The 2026 Winter Olympics gold medal game for men’s hockey smashed records in the United States as millions tuned in to watch Team USA beat rivals Canada.
According to NBC, the early morning broadcast averaged around 20.7million viewers and had a peak audience of 26million.
This makes it the most watched sports broadcast before 9:00am Eastern Time in American television history.
It also marks the second-most watched hockey broadcast on NBC Sports in the company’s history, sitting just behind the 2010 men’s hockey gold medal game from the Vancouver games. NBC previously held the rights for the NHL from 2006 to 2021.
The 20.7million viewers tuned in to NBC, the USA Network and streaming service Peacock.
Meanwhile, up north, the CBC reports that 8.7million Canadians were watching at the time of the final goal. Total viewers and average viewership were not reported.
The United States managed to defeat Canada 2-1 in overtime thanks to a goal from New Jersey Devils star Jack Hughes.
It’s the first time in history that Team USA beat their rivals to the north in the knockout stages of the Winter Olympics.
Prior to this, the Canadians beat the Americans for a gold medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and the aforementioned 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
