BUFFALO – When practice was set to begin at 10:30 Sunday morning, only two Sabres players, goalies Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Alex Lyon, had hit the ice alongside the coaching staff in LECOM Harborcenter.
The rest of the team was watching the dramatic conclusion of the gold medal clash between and Team USA and Team Canada at the Milano Cortina Games.
As overtime began, everyone on the ice skated to one end to watch a television near a concession stand through the glass.
When Jack Hughes’ goal clinched a 2-1 victory and the Americans’ first Olympic gold medal since 1980, fans in Harborcenter cheered wildly.
Minutes later, players streamed onto the ice and practice began a little late.
Sabres winger Alex Tuch, who earned an invitation last summer to the U.S. Olympic orientation camp, said he felt “a little bit of shock” when Hughes scored.
“It was such a crazy game,” he said. “To see the puck go in, then we actually had to run right over to practice, but it was awesome. USA winning was really special, really happy for those guys.”
Sabres center Tage Thompson, of course, earned regular duty for the U.S. in his first Olympics, scoring three goals and four points in six games.
“So happy and proud of Tage,” he said. “I thought he was awesome over there and played really well today. It was awesome.”
Tuch said he knew Thompson would “go over there and be a beast.”
“I was texting him, he was pumped up,” he said. “Little nerves there in the semifinals, but didn’t seem like he was slowed down at all today.”
Those nerves came when Thompson left Friday’s 6-2 win over Slovakia after blocking a shot.
“Nervous, for sure, for sure,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said of learning Thompson’s had left the game. “But we got a pretty early report that sounded pretty promising, which eased that some of that pain.
“But I thought for being involved in one of the greatest tournaments, I thought Tage handled himself and represented our team really well and played well.”
Ruff said Thompson, who has never played an NHL playoff games, “got to feel everything” during the two-week tournament.
“He got to feel the high of a team that really was playing well and doing well, and then he got the feel of now the two best teams in the world are playing,” he said. “And it wasn’t easy.”
Thompson also won a gold medal last year at the World Championship, scoring the overtime winner to clinch his country’s first victory at the tournament in 92 years.
Ruff said he’s “pretty sure” Thompson, who’s scheduled to return home Monday, will want to play Wednesday against the New Jersey Devils, the start of a three-game road trip.