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Rangers coach praises USA women’s team after gold medal win: ‘an inspiration’
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- Rangers coach praises USA women’s team after gold medal win: ‘an inspiration’
Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
On Friday morning in Milan, Mike Sullivan didn't immediately want to discuss either of the teams he coaches — the New York Rangers nor the United States men's Olympic hockey team. Instead, he first wanted to rave about the the U.S. women, who captured the gold medal in dramatic fashion less than 24 hours before.
"What a terrific hockey team. They'll be an inspiration for the next generation of girls growing up in the United States," Sullivan told reporters at the morning skate before the U.S. men play their semifinal game against Slovakia.
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After steamrolling the competition to win its first first six games at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics, the United States women's team rallied late to tie the gold medal game on captain Hilary Knight's deflection with 2:04 left in regulation, and then defeated archrival Canada 2-1 on Megan Keller's Golden Goal 4:07 into overtime.
Inspirational indeed.
"It's crazy how far women's hockey has come in the United States, and a lot of it is due to teams like this and the girls that play on these teams. They inspire the next generation. That's how it works," Sullivan offered.
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The U.S. women outscored opponents 31-1 in the first six games, posting five shutouts, including a 5-0 win over Canada in the prelims. But the veteran Canadian squad, largely made up of players who defeated the U.S. to win gold at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, played its best game of this tournament Thursday, and grabbed a 1-0 lead early in the second period on a short-handed goal scored by Kristin O'Neill.
But Team USA didn't waver, due in large part to the outstanding play of goalie Aerin Frankel, and found a way in the end to win its third Olympic gold medal (also 1998, 2018), and deny Canada its record sixth gold.
Mollie Walker of the New York Post reported that Rangers captain J.T. Miller attended the gold medal game with his daughter. Miller and the U.S. men are coming off their own dramatic win, narrowly getting past Sweden 2-1 in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Rangers center Mika Zibanejad scored the tying goal with 91 seconds left in that one, before Quinn Hughes netted the OT winner for Team USA.
The U.S. men could also be on a collision course with Canada for the gold medal at these Winter Games. Team USA advances to the gold medal game Sunday with a win over Slovakia. And they'd face the winner of the Canada-Finland semifinal clash on Friday.
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