Team USA's golden legacy: Redemption for one generation, inspiration for countless more

Mike Murphy

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Team USA's golden legacy: Redemption for one generation, inspiration for countless more image

For the first time in 20 years, members of the United States women's national team hung Olympic gold medals around their necks. Team Canada's intimidating 24-game winning streak on Olympic ice is over. It was snuffed out by a group of young women who grew up idolizing Cammi Granato, Katie King, Angela Ruggiero, Gretchen Ulion and Karyn Bye and their accomplishments in Nagano in 1998.

This victory was a generation in the making.

Six members of USA's 2018 gold medal-winning team are 28 or older. For Hilary Knight, the Lamoureux sisters, Gigi Marvin, Kacey Bellamy and Meghan Duggan, Pyeongchang's gold-medal game may very well have been their last time on Olympic ice.

MORE: U.S. women end Canada's stranglehold on Olympic hockey gold

For those women and four of their teammates, all silver medalists in Sochi, the shootout victory early Thursday morning was particularly satisfying.

Four years ago, Team USA had a two-goal lead late in the third period of the gold-medal game, but it slipped away. Ever since, they have been faced with questions and agonizing memories from that gut-wrenching defeat. Star winger Amanda Kessel admits she refuses to watch that game.

But defeat in Sochi has been drowned out by triumph in Pyeongchang.

"It's unbelievable," Team USA captain Meghan Duggan said through a grin after the game. "You can't explain it. I am so proud of our team. What a fight, what a battle, what a game. It's the absolute greatest honor in the world for our team and we are just so excited." 

The first 50 minutes of Wednesday's game appeared to follow a similar script from Canada's 2-1 victory over USA in the preliminary stage. But the Americans kept coming, and 20-year-old goaltender Maddie Rooney had the game of her life. Monique Lamoureux tied the game in the third period and twin sister Jocelyne scored a highlight-reel goal in the shootout. Team USA found a way to win, just like it did at the 2017 women's world championships and at the 2017 Four Nations Cup.

WATCH: Jocelyne Lamoureux's gold medal-winning goal gets a nickname

The women of the U.S. national team are more than just vindicated; they are without a doubt the best in the world.

"I knew when that went in that we were going to get it done," Jocelyne Lamoureux beamed when asked about her shootout goal. "I threw my stick behind — because I knew we were about to celebrate, [I knew] Maddie was going to stop that. I think I blacked out for a little bit. I don't really remember what happened. It's a dream come true."

What makes this American victory even more poignant is a victory that preceded it by a year. The best women's hockey players in the United States boycotted the 2017 women's world championships in Plymouth, Mich.

The "Be Bold for Change" campaign's demands were simple: the women wanted the same pay, funding, and support from USA Hockey as the men's program.

MORE: Canada's Jocelyne Larocque explains refusal to wear silver medal

USA Hockey blinked first and the national team athletes achieved a victory not just for themselves and future generations, but for their gender. 

That victory off the ice makes USA's Olympic gold mean that much more. The 23 women who bested Canada on the world's biggest stage last night accomplished something extraordinary. This U.S. team was defined by its personalities, its resolve and its unflappable unity.

Today they are also defined by that disc of precious medal that has been a lifelong pursuit for all of them. Together, they earned every ounce of it.

What this victory means for the popularity and growth of the women's game remains to be seen. What we do know is that the most recent chapter of the greatest rivalry in sports has left the world hungry for more. It's now Canada's turn to process a defeat on the largest stage in sports and find a way to embrace the excellence that the silver medal represents.

Bring on the next chapter.

Mike Murphy