Connor Hellebuick makes a wonderful Jim Craig comparison
For the first time in 46 years, Team USA won the gold medal in men’s hockey at the Olympics. They swept the round part, survived the fear of overtime from Swedenand decimated Slovakia to reach the gold medal game. And when they got there, Connor Hellebuick made 41 saves against Canada to win Olympic gold. Alternate captain of the USA national team, Matthew Tkachuk see some similarities between Sunday’s win and the last time the U.S. won gold.
“It’s going to go down as one of the greatest performances of all time — it has to,” Matthew Tkachuk told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan. “Right up there with Jimmy Craig (1980), all the great United States goaltenders. In the NHL, whatever kind of hockey, whatever goalie performance you want to talk about, it’s up there.”
Fellow Michigan native and Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin agrees: “That guy should never buy a drink in the state of Michigan again.”
Craig was the goalie for Team USA when they beat the Soviet Union in 1980, now called the Miracle on Ice. Two days later, Craig returned to the net against Finland, as the Americans won gold. His outstanding performances, namely 37 straight minutes without a goal against a heavily favored Russian team, were key to that gold medal.
Hellebuick’s 41 saves will go right next to Craig’s Lake Placid performances for USA Hockey historical books. The defending Hart Trophy winner was also brilliant against Sweden, but his performance against Canada will be remembered for generations.
The Americans allowed 19 shots on goal in the second period, all but one of which were saved by Hellebuyck. That kept the tie alive and gave the USA a chance in the third period and later in overtime. Without that performance, no gold medals will come home to the United States.
2026-02-22 20:18:00
