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Team USA men's goalie and former River Hawk Connor Hellebuyck celebrates the team's gold medal victory over Canada at the Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina.
The U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team returned home triumphant after a heart-stopping win in the gold medal game against Canada, where it was led by former River Hawks standout goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.
Hellebuyck, who played at UMass Lowell from 2012-14, backstopped the U.S. team to a thrilling, 2-1 overtime victory in Milan, Italy, turning aside 41 shots including a point-blank save early in the third period with the game deadlocked.
Two nights later, Hellebuyck and Team USA were celebrated by President Donald Trump during his annual State of the Union address. Trump singled out Hellebuyck, saying the goaltender would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor.
The gold won by the men’s team was one of a pair claimed by the Team USA hockey at the Olympics, the other won by the U.S. women’s team in an equally thrilling gold medal game against Canada.
The U.S. women’s team includes three members of the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s Boston Fleet, which plays home games at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell: Team USA alternate captain Megan Keller, Haley Winn and goaltender Aerin Frankel.
The women’s team was captained by Hilary Knight, a former Fleet captain now playing for the Seattle Sirens, who previously won Olympic gold in 2018.
Throughout the Games, Hellebuyck proved to be the premier goaltender in the men’s hockey tournament. He finished the Olympics with a tournament-best .956 save percentage, anchoring a U.S. team that captured its first gold medal in men's hockey since the celebrated 1980 win over the former Soviet Union.
A native of Commerce Township, Michigan, Hellebuyck established himself as one of the top goaltenders in college hockey during his two-year career at UMass Lowell.
Here he helped lead the River Hawks to two Hockey East championships, as well as a Frozen Four appearance during his freshman season. He is married to fellow River Hawk Andrea (Fanciullo) Hellebuyck '16, a business alumna who was a member of UML's women's track and field team.
Hellebuyck left Lowell to embark on a standout professional career with the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets, where he’s claimed the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goaltender three times and last year won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player, a rare achievement for a goaltender.
For his performance throughout the 2026 Olympic tournament, Hellebuyck was named Best Goalie and earned himself a spot on the Media All-Star Team.
The U.S. women’s hockey team returned to the gold medal podium this year for the first time in eight years and the third time since women’s hockey was first included in the Winter Olympics, at the 1998 Games in Nagano.
The women’s team has won the silver medal four times and bronze once.