The Pomp And Joe Show
Team USA men's hockey wins gold for first time since Miracle on Ice
23 Feb 2026
Chapter 1: What was the coolest part of Team USA winning gold?
And it's Wierenski. Now Jack Hughes puts it around the car. United States with numbers. Block across and comes. Jack Hughes wins it. The golden goal for the United States. For the first time since the 1980 miracle, the United States takes the gold.
Oh, man. Kenny Albert on the call. Him and Edzo were great. And so was the American hockey team. What a moment. What a game. Bob's going to be a little bit delayed today, but he will be in at 1130. We have an incredible Ron Cook fathead across from me. You got to go to YouTube and watch the show today. Bob and Ron, I'm doing the show with two cardboard cutouts, not just one.
My friend City Limits. To my left, all is well in your world. I like the USA cap on your head today. It's a beauty. Is it fresh or just something you brought out, dusted off for the occasion?
I dusted it off. This is one I've had for a while, Joe. I've had this hat for a long time, and I'm wearing a Jake Gensel penguin jersey that I brought out from the back of the closet for today.
Man, how about him? How about them? How about that? What a hockey game. And I'll tell you, it was big enough for me where I had a tee time limits in Florida. You know, I was in Florida. It was 80 degrees yesterday in Florida. I had a tee time at 7, I think 15 a.m. at a place called Jacaranda Golf Club.
And I thought after I played two rounds at Tiburon Saturday, they give you the second one for half price way over in Fort Myers and Ron Cook territory. I thought, what am I doing? Even though I'm in Florida and even though I have a tee time, I've got to watch this hockey game.
So I sat in a chair at the Fairfield Inn in Fort Lauderdale and watched one of the greatest sports spectacles of my life unfold. I mean, that was legendary stuff, memorable stuff, really from both teams. I mean, it was a phenomenal experience. Hockey game, especially I felt like starting midway through the second period. It was just manic.
And then the third period and then overtime three on three overtime, even though you don't like it limits. I bet you weren't complaining after that one, were you? Yes, actually I was. You were complaining after.
Not that they won, but I still don't like the format. I'm not changing my opinion based on the fact that they won. I won't be at John Cooper.
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Chapter 2: Why was Connor Hellebuyck considered the MVP?
That I have formulated 10 questions for you and our loyal listeners, Limits. Are you ready for this? Yes. 412-928-9370. You want to weigh in on any and all of this. And, you know, I spent a lot of the weekend just considering and thinking about Two of the greatest moments in American sports history.
Obviously, the Miracle on Ice team, that was on the front burner for obvious reasons going into Sunday's game. 46 years later, looking for that first gold since the Miracle on Ice. I know they still had to beat the Finns after that, but since that year. And also, Bill Mazeroski's home run. To beat the damn Yankees in 1960.
That's a top five, in my opinion, sports moment in the history of the country. I think it's Pittsburgh's greatest sports moment with the immaculate reception slightly behind. We're going to talk about that later. But for obvious reasons there, too, with the passing of the great Bill Mazeroski.
So just two landmark events in our history were on my mind and I'm sure on a lot of your minds all weekend. We're going to get to both those topics. But let's start with hockey. First gold since 1980. Jack Hughes with the winner. I was so glad that there were three great goals in the game. You know, there was nothing fluky or weird about it. Connor Hellebuck was ridiculous.
One of the great performances ever. But we start with this question limits. What was the coolest part of all of this? And this is a subjective thing. I mean, other than the obvious, winning the game itself, yes, was the coolest part. Beating Canada for so many millions was the coolest part. But after the obvious, what was it? And for me, and I'm sure a lot of you,
It was the tribute to Johnny Gaudreau and his kids being on the ice for a team photograph. The players skating around with Gaudreau's number 13 jersey. That was, my God, if you didn't have tears rising, then I worry about you if you have a pulse. That was incredible stuff, and it happened to be the second birthday of Johnny Gaudreau Jr. I mean, that was memorable. Let's just say that.
I mean, more than anything else from the entire Olympic Games that I saw, that scene was what will stick with me. How about you? What was the coolest part of this?
Yeah, outside of that, which was an awesome moment, I think seeing Jack Hughes draw a four-minute high sticking penalty, Lou's teeth is looking for his teeth on the ice, which a regular person would be absolutely flummoxed.
I would have to have been airlifted from the stadium.
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Chapter 3: How did Jack Hughes contribute to the victory?
Sweden just wanted to play it like they sometimes do in the NHL, where all you do is try and keep possession and basically play defensively in overtime. You got to go for it. Makar went for it. He swung for a homer. He missed. I don't know how this is playing in Canada today, but... Because he sort of got victimized on the first goal too. And McDavid was on the ice for the first goal too.
But I don't think they should be considered villains. Maybe that's my second question here. I honestly think that McCarr especially and McDavid were going for the win. They were going for the kill in overtime. And the Americans took advantage of it. And that's how it goes in three on three. That's just how it goes. So I don't think that there were goats in this game. Only heroes.
Only heroes limits, in my opinion. And man, on that final play, what a beautiful pass. And then a great shot. A great shot. Won it.
I think there's one goat.
Who?
There's one. Nathan McKinnon. Wide open net that he misses against Hellebuck. It was the best chance that he could possibly have. Then he says afterward about Team Canada losing. You could tell who was the best team out there. Just kind of the sore loser mentality that I felt bad for that stuffed animal when he was handed to it and what potentially was going to happen to the stuffed animal.
Yeah. On the ice. I mean, I guess you could look at him that way. But it was mostly Hellebuck for me who stole the show rather than anybody. Maybe he ā well, that was a bad miss. And then the incredible stick save, maybe the greatest save in Olympic history by Hellebuck. So ā
I'm going to remember this game for a long, long time and sitting in that little hotel room by myself in a chair, eating oatmeal and drinking water at the beginning. It's the way I remember the bills coming back from 35 to three.
I was drinking water and eating cantaloupe at a little efficiency apartment on Fifth Avenue in Shadyside, which I would eventually move out of limits because it had cockroaches. But I do remember it for that.
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Chapter 4: What was the significance of the tribute to Johnny Gaudreau?
That's great. But of the tournament was McDavid? What are we doing here? There's a lot of things to talk about from this game, but why was he the MVP of the tournament? And somebody might say, well, because he set an Olympic record in points with 13, to which I would say, great. 11 of those were assists, and he was great. And this is not a knock on McDavid.
It's actually saving him, I think, from being the MVP in this tournament. You don't want to be the MVP on a losing team. I don't think. He was minus three with no goals over the last two games. And Connor Hellebuck was just the obvious, obvious. He had a nine, like 60 save percentage over the course of the tournament. What are we doing here now? The mechanics of it are. I saw Mark Lazarus from.
I think he's out of Chicago from The Athletic and also Josh Yowie tweeting about this. And I've been involved in these situations before where they ask for the MVP votes early. So I think after the first period, they wanted MVP votes for the whole tournament. Now, does that have to do with sponsors wanting to know, you know, it's the so-and-so MVP we need to know early for whatever reason?
Come on. You got to wait till the game is over. What are we doing? What if they chose Bennington as the MVP and then he let in a Bill Buckner goal in overtime? What if that had happened? You still hand him the MVP? What are we doing? We have phones limits. It's 2026. We can vote really quickly at the end of the game. And whoever the sponsor of the MVP is, is just going to have to wait.
Not long, mind you. We can get it in in one second. Look, I'm texting you. Here's your number. Ready? Austin City Limits Bechtold is on my text. Hellebuck sent. Did you get it? Did you get my text? I just got it. Yeah. How many seconds did that take? Five. And what does it say on your text?
It says, well, not Hellebuck's name. You spelled it wrong. But it says his name. How is it spelled? It's spelled Hellenic.
Well, it was a hell of a bad choice to pick McDavid. I mean, it's just an embarrassing. It's a sham to hockey. It really is. It's an embarrassment. It's... Not the biggest topic to come out of here. And yet it's the one I feel angriest about. It is. You're right.
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Chapter 5: What impact will this victory have on USA hockey?
It's a sham. It's not a shot at McDavid at all. In fact, like I said, it's saving him from the embarrassment of being MVP after that performance yesterday. It really is. And I think I'm not one who thinks McDavid needs a cup to like elevate him in or satisfy his career. It would certainly help elevate him, but he's already easily top 10 all time.
So if he has to settle for being Dan Marino or Charles Barkley or Barry Sanders, a legendary, iconic athlete who never wins a championship, I guess that's not such a bad place to be, really. That'll be okay. He's already one of the greatest of all time. He might be the most spectacular player I've ever laid eyes on. And for most of this tournament, he was great.
And it's a joke that he was named MVP. It really is. So do it after the games. It reminds me when I was covering sports and I'd get calls from these newspaper editors, like when I was covering the Penguins. Hey, we need a story after the second period. To which I would always respond, shouldn't we wait and see what happens with the game first? Like, oh, I don't know. Who wins?
That seems like an important detail. And I realize everybody's got a job to do. But especially now, we have the means by which to do it in an awful hurry. We really do. So this was just ridiculous. And then and then I thought I briefly thought tying our two stories together limits that Hellebuck was the most obvious MVP since Bill Mazeroski in 1960.
And then I remembered he didn't win the MVP in 1960. Nope. Jerry Richardson, the shortstop for the Yankees. The only guy in history to ever win World Series MVP on a losing team. And that was ridiculous. Think about that. It would be like if they chose an MVP from the Immaculate Reception game and Franco didn't win it. Yeah, you know what? Jack Tatum had a really good game.
Yeah, Jack Tatum was good. Kenny Stabler, he had that touchdown before the Immaculate Reception. What are we doing? I feel like retroactively going back to 1960 and yelling at Ron Cook and whoever else was covering that game in the press box. That's what I feel. That's what I feel like doing. What the hell are you doing? You just watched a guy hit one of the still maybe the greatest home run.
I think the greatest home run in baseball history. In baseball history. And you didn't choose him as the MVP of the series.
Limits. I don't care what he did previously in those six games. He was pretty good. He hit a homer in another game, too. He did. I think it was game one. And we know how good he was defensively in that series, too. You give the MVP to the most obvious choice. Don't overthink it. Don't make it some decision where, oh, well, I know the Yankees outscored them by this many runs, though.
Jerry Richardson is the owner of the character, the former owner of the character. Somebody. It's Bobby Richardson got the MVP of that series, not Jerry. Ah, who cares? You should have checked on me.
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Chapter 6: How does this gold medal win compare to the Miracle on Ice?
You're the beat writer. Yeah, who cares is right. How could anybody? And I realize in 1960, they didn't have iPhones, right? So they couldn't get it in quick. I think you kind of whoever invented this rule millions of years ago, whether it's Super Bowl, World Series, Conn Smythe, whatever it is. Yeah, we're going to have to ask you after the first quarter of the Super Bowl.
or we're going to have to ask you during the fourth quarter, or we're going to have to ask you after the second period of Game 7. Get out of here. Wait till the series is over, you idiots.
28-3 Atlanta against the Patriots. They must have asked at the beginning of the third quarter, hey, so Matt Ryan's the MVP of this game?
Yeah.
So why didn't Matt Ryan end up winning the MVP?
I think there have been instances where they overrule it at the end, I guess. Then why have voting in the first place?
This should have been overruled in favor of Hellebuck. He was outstanding.
Ridiculous.
That save he made on Taves. Oh, my word. That picture will be framed in many hockey basements and bars for years to come.
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Chapter 7: What were the opinions on the three-on-three overtime format?
And then you looked at, or I looked at, the number of U.S. players in the NHL, and that, I think, flattened out a little last year, but a couple years ago was the most ever. It's right around 30%, a little less than 30%. Moral of the story, U.S. hockey's already flourishing in many ways. This will obviously help. You know, everybody, it feels like, was watching this.
And if you're a kid, maybe you're inspired to go play hockey. I do get that. I just don't know how much growth is. Look at Western Pennsylvania. The revolution here was Mario inspired. Enhanced by Sid. But the reason you saw the proliferation of rinks and youth hockey programs in Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania was the Mario effect. So how much more can it possibly be? I don't know.
Not not like it was. The revolutions have already occurred in U.S. hockey. That doesn't mean there can't be more growth. There can. I was struck the other day in Fort Lauderdale, actually Fort Myers when I went over to play. A guy and his two sons, really good hockey players. I forget, maybe junior A level. They're going away to play. Says we've been in a ton of tournaments in Pittsburgh.
Out at the Penguins practice site. That struck me like Pittsburgh is sort of an epicenter of hockey already in the United States. So this will be impactful. But it can never be like like the initial impact, like 1980. It's already hugely popular and hugely growing in the United States. Do you know what I mean? Limits.
Yeah, I do, and I think I just saw some of the numbers that you were just alluding to as well, and the level that Penn's elite has contributed to this. Look at Trocek and JT Miller from around the Pittsburgh area.
Trocek, great story.
Yeah, Trocek. Those are the type of guys. Those guys were criticized for being on the team, and the structure that Mike Sullivan put together, not wanting milk drinkers but whiskey drinkers to be able to counteract Canada's skill and approach and attack. Did they?
Did they counteract Canada's skill?
Did they? I mean, as best they could.
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Chapter 8: How did the loss affect Team Canada and its players?
I don't disagree. So credit to them.
But if they went with more skillful players instead of the approach that they did, it could have been worse. They would have given up 80 shots instead of how many? I think they would have given up a couple more goals, yeah.
All right. What was the topic there anyway? Oh, the growth of USA hockey, yeah.
And I'm with you. Are you? It doesn't sound like it. On which part? I'm with you on the way that the game is growing. I don't think people are going to look at the way that game was played and think, man, I can't wait to watch... Ducks, Sharks on Thursday night.
Well, that's a different topic that I was going to bring up. This is the impact on U.S. hockey from the youth level, from the ground up, sort of. Now, the impact on the NHL, we discussed this before the tournament, will be negligible. In fact, if anything, as I said before the tournament, the greatness of Olympic hockey undermines the NHL because it's so much better.
And no, nobody's going to watch Sharks Predators on Friday night or whatever that is.
You know what I mean? The Four Nations, I don't think, created that big of a spike in viewership for the NHL. It was a great product. Everyone enjoyed watching it. It was cool. It was new. And I think when you have that type of Olympic style of tournament where it's country versus country, it's so unique that people just kind of want to go watch it.
But does it translate when the talent level significantly goes down? I don't think so.
No, it never has and it never will. But here's the thing. I'm just enjoying it for what it was, a great, legendary, iconic hockey game. And a triumph for American hockey. That's what it was. Just a great win and celebrated in a memorable way afterward with the tribute to Johnny Gaudreau and his family. That's what I'll always remember. Nothing could ever be the miracle on ice. It could never be.
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