Boston Bruins
“I stored telling them, ‘We did it. We did it.’ As a result of you’ll be able to’t do it by your self.”
Charlie McAvoy admittedly doesn’t bear in mind all that a lot as quickly as Jack Hughes’ sharp wrist shot sailed past Jordan Binnington and into twine.
As an avalanche of pink, white, and blue cascaded over the boards in Milan, only some fleeting reminiscences rattle via the Bruins defenseman’s sensory rolodex.
There have been loads of hugs as McAvoy and his Staff USA brothers swarmed Hughes alongside the glass. There was the cacophony of cheers of the group blended with the elated roars of victory on the ice. And naturally, the twangy guitar solo of “Free Chook” that introduced the Individuals’ long-awaited coronation on the Olympic hockey stage.
In the end, McAvoy had summited one in every of hockey’s highest peaks.
It was a triumph that the 28-year-old defenseman didn’t need to simply share along with his teammates, or his father-in-law, Staff USA head coach Mike Sullivan.
As he scanned the frenzied crowd in Milan — with an American flag draped over his shoulders — McAvoy reached up and held his son, Rhys.
Along with his household and pals cheering from the highest railing, McAvoy boosted himself as much as embrace his father, Charles Sr. — the person who first set him on the course to observe his goals on the ice.
For McAvoy, Sunday’s OT victory represented way over a lifelong objective realized.
Fairly, the gold medal that hasn’t left his facet in the previous couple of days is a collective achievement for him and his household.
“Don’t ever cease dreaming,” McAvoy stated Thursday. “Simply work as arduous as you’ll be able to and also you by no means know what may occur. I can’t imagine among the issues which have occurred in my life and the place I’m at and the way I’ve obtained right here.
“I had an embrace with my dad — they obtained some good footage of — however I jumped up and pulled myself as much as seize him and he’s crying. That’s the man that had me on the ice once I was 2 on the little rink in Lengthy Seaside, New York.”
“It does take a village. Simply to have that feeling of simply pure satisfaction, however like I stored telling them, ‘We did it. We did it.’ As a result of you’ll be able to’t do it by your self.”
Household issues greater than ever to McAvoy, particularly given the trials and tribulations that he confronted over the previous yr.
Regardless of the preliminary elation that got here in January 2025 when McAvoy and his spouse, Kiley, welcomed Rhys, McAvoy’s fortunes shifted on the ice.
A shoulder damage suffered in the course of the 4 Nations Face-Off event not solely knocked the bruising blueliner out of the title recreation in opposition to Canada — it required an extended stay at Mass. General Hospital to treat an infection.
McAvoy didn’t return to the ice for the remainder of the season, with Boston bottoming out within the standings and dealing away a number of key fixtures within the Bruins’ lineup.
The 2025-26 marketing campaign represented a clear slate for McAvoy and the Bruins — one which was shattered after he took a Noah Dobson slap shot to the jaw on Nov. 15 in Montreal.
The harm? A fractured jaw, a number of misplaced enamel, a metallic plate inserted into his damaged maw, and an prolonged liquid weight-reduction plan that resulted in him dropping 20 pounds in less than two weeks.
A well being scare for Rhys additional put the McAvoy’s underneath duress amid the string of misfortunes that hindered the Bruins high D-man — who prevented additional calamity after taking an affordable shot to the pinnacle from Florida’s Sandis Vilmanis in Boston’s remaining recreation earlier than boarding his flight to Milan.
If McAvoy’s fortunes had been going to vary, he hoped that it will be on the Olympic stage.
“We had talked about it main as much as this event, simply how a lot has gone on in our lives this yr,” McAvoy stated of what his household has gone via this yr. “Lot of it public. However numerous it not; what we’ve gone via as a household this yr. We simply stored in my head that, ‘We deserve this. We deserve one thing good to occur to us.’ Try to simply be a very good particular person, and generally good issues will occur to you.
“This was simply wonderful for my household to have them there [at the Olympics], each one in every of them. My spouse and child. My household. My buddies from Lengthy Seaside My complete rapid household. All of us obtained to have fun this and luxuriate in it collectively. We’ll have this reminiscence endlessly. The McAvoys wanted a win this yr.”
McAvoy made his presence felt all through Staff USA’s run to a gold medal — logging the second-most ice time on the US squad behind his D companion, Quinn Hughes.
Regardless that he didn’t report some extent, McAvoy thrived because the Individuals’ go-to shutdown possibility, contributing on a penalty kill that went an ideal 18-for-18 in the course of the worldwide event.
Forward of the US’ gold-medal bout in opposition to Canada, McAvoy had no scarcity of inspiration to attract from.
Upon arriving in Italy for the Winter Video games, McAvoy discovered that his spouse had a field of letters for him — all penned by members of his household. After first studying them earlier than the Olympic video games commenced, he gave them one other learn via earlier than Sunday’s showdown with the US’ high foe.
“None of this might imply actually something, what it’s meant, if I didn’t have my household to share it with,” McAvoy stated.
Connor Hellebuyck might need stolen the present along with his play in internet in opposition to Canada, however McAvoy additionally helped preserve the USA afloat — at one level saving a objective after batting down a Tom Wilson shot whereas planted behind Hellebuyck on the objective line.
“In all probability the one factor that obtained previous Helly that complete recreation,” McAvoy joked.
McAvoy doesn’t have a lot time now to relaxation on his Olympic laurels.
He was again within the lineup Thursday in opposition to Columbus — trying to assist Boston punch their ticket to the playoffs amid a frantic stretch that can embrace 25 video games over the following 48 days.
After receiving an ovation from the TD Backyard crowd on Thursday, he logged a team-leading 23:55 of ice time and recorded an help in Boston’s eventual 4-2 win over the Blue Jackets.
The Bruins’ defenseman now has one of the crucial coveted trophies in hockey along with his Olympic gold medal. He’s wanting so as to add to that assortment with one other cherished trophy within the coming years.
“I had two issues in my hockey profession that I wished to perform, actually,” McAvoy stated. “Whenever you’re a child, you’re taking a look at this and saying, ‘If I could possibly be an Olympian, that will be wonderful.’ And that was a test. After which to be an Olympic gold medalist is only a complete different degree. So, I put that on par with the Stanley Cup.
“I did one, I can say I’m a winner now. …Hopefully a Stanley Cup isn’t too far behind.”
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