USA Hockey Belts Out National Anthem After Winning Gold At World Juniors Yet Again

Team USA went into Canada, handled business, and sang the national anthem at the top of its lungs after winning gold at the World Juniors for the second consecutive year. There is nothing quite like a group of young men, all under the age of 20, belting out the national anthem to remind the American sports world that it is more than okay, it’s actually awesome, to be proud of your country.

Team USA won its group after going 3-0-1 in its opening four games, with the lone overtime loss coming against Finland on December 29. Fast-forward exactly a week, and after Team USA coasted through the quarterfinals and semifinals, outscoring its opponents 11-3, the Americans found themselves in a revenge spot against the Finns with a gold medal on the line. 

Team USA trailed 2-1 after the first period before flipping the script in the second frame to knot things up after 40 minutes. Neither side found the back of the net in the third period, which set up a literal golden goal scenario. 

Just after the eight-minute mark of the extra period, Teddy Stiga found the puck on his stick with the game on the line, and the Boston College forward etched his name in the history books with a calm and collected game-winner.

While the celebration among teammates and the 16,000-plus fans in Ottawa was a sight to behold, the gold medal ceremony and the singing of the national anthem minutes later were all-time moments.

The fellas wearing the iconic USA script across their sweaters wasn’t quite American enough, so to take things to a new level, ‘Freebird’ by Lynyrd Skynyrd blared over the loudspeaker as the team hoisted the trophy.

Then came the moment. With Team USA locked arm-in-arm, the national anthem began to play, and every member of the team sang every word of the Star-Spangled Banner at the top of their lungs.

Team USA has now won back-to-back gold medals at the World Juniors after Team Canada did the same from 2022-2023. The Americans now have seven gold medals to their name, but still have quite a bit of work to do to catch the neighbors up north, who have won the event 20 times.