The USA won their first men’s IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship crown in 92 years with a 1-0 overtime win over Switzerland in Stockholm, Sweden, on Sunday (25 May).
This was their third title overall having beaten Canada in 1933 and won the Gold Medal in the 1960 Olympics.
Notable, Team USA also won the women IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship earlier this year, beating defending champions Canada in the final.
Sunday’s victory was USA’s their first Ice Hockey World Championship title of the modern era.
“It feels awesome. I mean, it’s been so long for the U.S. It feels great putting this jersey back on, it’s been a long time for me, and to be able to come out with a gold medal, it’s pretty fantastic,” USA forward Michael McCarron told Reuters. “And in overtime fashion, there’s no better way to win a game.”
“Obviously, we know how long it’s been,” American forward Drew O’Connor told Reuters. “And, you know, we’ve been looking forward to finally trying to get it done, and I’m so excited that we did it with this group.”
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Both teams came into the final following runaway victories in the semi-finals, with the American crushing host Sweden 6-2 and Switzerland decimating Denmark 7-0.
The final match finished goalless till the regulation time. The stalemate sent the final into overtime, which was played over 20 minutes of three-on-three hockey, with the first goal deciding the winner of the match.
The USA finally broke the deadlock through Tage Thompson who found the breakthrough with assists from Logan Cooley and Brady Skjei.
During the trophy presentation, Team USA accepted the hardware while holding up the No. 13 jersey of Johnny Gaudreau, the former USA and NHL player who died tragically last year along with his brother Matthew in an accident on a New Jersey roadway.
With the triumph, Team USA will head to next year’s Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, where NHL players will participate in the Games for the first time since 2014.
Also Read: Women’s Ice Hockey World Championship 2025: USA Dethrones Canada In A Thriller
Meanwhile, in the bronze-medal match at the Ice Hockey World Championship, Sweden brought Denmark’s phenomenal run at the championships to an end with a 6-2 defeat. They found the breakthrough in the second period courtesy of two Mikael Backlund goals, with Marcus Johansson extending their lead to 3-0.
Sweden, the 11-time world champions, added three more in the third while Denmark scored through Nick Olesen and Nikolaj Ehlers.
Denmark would take the competition on their own stride as they had never advanced further than two quarterfinals before this tournament, where they went on a five-match winning run, which included a memorable 2-1 upset over Canada.
