They piled up around televisions and tablets in bars, clubhouses, living rooms and airports across America Sunday morning.
Some woke up at the crack of dawn. Others never went to bed.
All of them were focused on a battle of hockey titans between Team USA and Canada in the men’s gold medal game of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Where were you when Team USA made hockey history? Odds are you’ll always remember.
A 2:10 p.m. local time puck drop in Milan meant 8:10 a.m. EST and 5:10 a.m. PST back in the States. A nation tuned in anyway.
Lines extended out of pub doors at 4:57 a.m. PST in Santa Monica, Calif., while New York Gov. Kathy Hochul suspended alcohol enforcement laws so bars could open their doors across the Empire State before the state-mandated 10 a.m. start time.
Even the uninitiated tuned in.
MLB teams halted morning spring training routines. NHL teams watched from their locker rooms. NFL players looked on in pajamas.
And by the time American Jack Hughes scored the overtime winner to seal Team USA’s 2-1 win and first men’s hockey gold since the Miracle on Ice in 1980, any morning grumblings were usurped by a surge of coast-to-coast jubilation. It was the type of seminal moment — a historic sporting event at the Olympics, the abounding national pride of beating the neighbors to the north, with the novelty of the early-morning start — that anchors itself as a memory many will never forget.
Here are a few snapshots of those who celebrated right along with you:
‘Sweet Home Alabama’ in Arizona
In Goodyear, Ariz., Cincinnati Reds players from across the world were watching on the four TVs hanging inside the clubhouse of their spring training complex.
There was a mixture of players who were familiar with hockey, like Minnesotan and left-handed starter Brandon Williamson, and those who were not, including players from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and elsewhere.
Eugenio Suárez, from Venezuela, jokingly cheered for Canada to needle his teammates. But everyone’s eyes were up, watching the game go to overtime.
By the time overtime started, the players had already gone to the field, but a group of minor leaguers in the team’s gym watched on a TV there and exploded in cheers when the USA won. Soon after, coincidence or not, “Sweet Home Alabama” played on the speakers as the team took batting practice. — C. Trent Rosecrans, Reds reporter
Blue Jays’ George Springer goes Red, White & Blue
Moments after Jack Hughes’ overtime winner, George Springer stepped out of the Toronto Blue Jays’ clubhouse. Wearing a blue Team USA sweater, he yelled in excitement.
“Where’s Vladimir (Guerrero Jr.)?” he said, searching for the Canadian-born slugger as he walked to Toronto’s batting cage with his fist raised in the air.
The Blue Jays outfielder, a Hartford Whalers fan from Connecticut, wore the USA jersey during his live-bullpen at-bats against Kevin Gausman and Brendon Little later in the morning. He yelled a few chirps at Canadian Blue Jays staff before stepping into the box. — Mitch Bannon, Blue Jays reporter
Toronto Blue Jays star George Springer celebrates while wearing a Team USA sweater as he walks to batting practice. (Mitch Bannon / The Athletic)
Diamondbacks’ delight at Salt River Fields
The Arizona Diamondbacks were all watching together in their clubhouse at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, Ariz. Players piled onto the couches in the middle of the room, while others stood around with their eyes fixed on the television.
Like everywhere else across the U.S., shouts of “Yes!”, “No!” and “Damn!” rang through the room. The Diamondbacks let out a collective roar when Team USA won, and someone started up a “U-S-A! U-S-A!” chant. Then someone razzed Michael Soroka, the right-handed pitcher from Calgary, and everyone laughed.
The organist even got into the spirit, playing the Olympic anthem before the spring training game against the Los Angeles Angels. — Tyler Kepner, national MLB writer
Finally, watching as a fan
There were a few photographers, maybe a reporter and some public relations staff watching the game in the press room at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
A PR staffer saw me watching on my laptop instead of the TVs because the sound was off, so he came in and asked if I wanted the sound. Thirty seconds later, the U.S. was off on that 2-on-1, and I stood up. Hughes parked it in the net, and I screamed, arms in the air, ran into the PR office, slapped the top of the door. I actually had a tear or two and had to get out of there for a minute.
When you cover these gold medal games, you have to divorce yourself from the emotion and do the job. So, having covered two really tight, dramatic, U.S.-France gold medal games in basketball — not to mention the U.S.-Serbia game at the Paris Olympics in which the Americans came from 17 down — I think I had a little extra emotion pent up somewhere. Just being able to watch as a fan, with the rest of the country, it came pouring out when that puck went into the net. — Joe Vardon, senior NBA writer
Vibes are immaculate pic.twitter.com/FAAinw7EED
— Colton Pouncy (@colton_pouncy) February 22, 2026
Marcus Foligno watched the first two periods from home in Edina before making a beeline to the Minnesota Wild’s practice facility in St. Paul, Minn. The dual citizen didn’t miss any of the United States-Canada thriller.
“Oh yeah, I was flying,” he said. “I made it in record time. No cops today.”
Several Wild players watched the Americans’ 2-1 overtime victory from the team’s theater room at TRIA Rink ahead of an 11 a.m. skate. The space is usually for team meetings or video sessions. This time, it was a bit louder.
“Stressful,” said Zach Bogosian, a Massena, N.Y. native. “Heart rate was a little higher there for the boys.”
“It was fun being with all the guys and just the reactions from certain shifts,” Foligno said.
“It was awesome,” Ryan Hartman said. — Joe Smith, Wild reporter
Pulling for Tage in Buffalo
The Buffalo Sabres delayed the start of their practice Sunday morning so players could watch the game and see if teammate Tage Thompson could win a gold medal as part of Team USA.
A few coaches and players who were out on the ice early had a TV on the bench to watch overtime. There was also a big group of youth hockey players and their parents huddled around another TV at the practice facility. A few of the Sabres’ coaches, including Lindy Ruff, were watching that TV through the glass when Jack Hughes scored the overtime winner. The entire youth hockey crowd erupted in cheers and started chanting “U-S-A!”
“It was such a crazy game,” Sabres forward Alex Tuch said. “To see the puck go in, then we actually had to run right over to practice, but it was awesome. USA winning was really special, really happy for those guys.” — Matt Fairburn, Sabres reporter
Giant celebration in Newark
With the NFL combine starting Monday in Indianapolis, I was sitting next to Jets reporter Zack Rosenblatt at Newark Liberty International Airport — about 15 feet away from new Giants head coach John Harbaugh.
The game was on televisions throughout the airport, and everyone at the bar went crazy when Jack Hughes scored the game-winner. We all cheered. It was awesome. — Dianna Russini, senior NFL insider