USA Hockey Receiving Unparalleled Support in Winter Olympics

For USA Hockey, it can be argued that there has never been a moment that showed greater patriotic spirit than the men's ice hockey gold-medal win at the 1980 Winter Olympics.

In addition to winning it all, those games were extra significant in that they will be forever associated with the ever-iconic "Miracle on Ice" game where the U.S. Men's Ice Hockey team took down the four-time defending gold medalist Soviet Union (4-3). The team was coached by motivational legend Herb Brooks and consisted of mostly amateur players that represented the youngest team in the tournament. The Soviet Union was heavily favorited to win the matchup and went on to defeat Sweden 9-2 for the silver medal. America would win gold after beating Finland 4-2 in the final.

13 of the 20 American players from the 1980 games would go on to play in the NHL.

Bringing the red, white and blue back to the present, USA Hockey will finally be welcoming back NHL players to participate in the upcoming 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games for the first time since 2014 in Sochi, Russia.

Meaning, USA Hockey is receiving unparalleled support and backing across the nation from both fans and sponsors. And interestingly enough, over the past few years the NHL has seen younger and younger fans join in on the support — which is only further translating to those who will tune in for the 2026 games.

Support for USA Hockey Growing Ahead of 2026 Winter Olympics

Chadd Cassidy is the VP of Operations for the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA). His Lake Placid venues recently hosted a "Miracle on Ice" reunion. For Cassidy, he himself noted that he's seen a more diverse age-range in terms of his visitors.

"We obviously have a lot of visitors that come here to Lake Placid who experience the Olympic Center, tons of youth hockey tournaments," Cassidy said of helping welcome in the next generation of Olympic hockey fans. "It always amazes me when we have eight, nine, 10 and 11 year old kids who are in this building, playing hockey, and are fully aware of what happened here in 1980"

Michelob ULTRA hosted the entire event, entitled "Run Back the Miracle." The beer company is completely financially backing USA Hockey and Team USA — making avid efforts to ensure as many people as possible tune in to support the Americans.

Memorabilia from "Run Back the Miracle" | Courtesy: Michelob ULTRA

Senior Vice President of Marketing for Michelob Ultra, Ricardo Marques, said it has been an honor to provide support for Team USA — especially USA Hockey.

"Our partnership with USA Hockey, we'll find Michelob ULTRA throughout the entire year joining the millions of fans rallying behind Team USA," Marques said in an exclusive. "We did not want to wait for the opening ceremony to tap into this anticipation building for the big moment, and this is what brings us to [Lake Placid]. We immediately thought about [Miracle on Ice] as being the greatest moment in the history of sports. It makes so much sense for Michelob ULTRA to be here and aligning behind Team USA and bringing this incredible experience to millions of fans."

Michelob ULTRA's "Run Back the Miracle" event was sold out and reached four times as many ticket requests as available. It also saw American sports legends of Jim Craig, Mark Johnson and captain Mike Eruzione return to Lake Placid, relive the iconic moments from 1980 and discuss the future of American hockey.

EXCLUSIVE — @usahockey legends Jim Craig, Mark Johnson and Mike Eruzione provided me with their exclusive thoughts on the Team USA hockey rosters for the upcoming 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games.#NHL | #WinterOlympics | #MilanoCortina2026 https://t.co/I656ZFxGD7
— Jennifer Streeter (@JennyStreeter3) January 16, 2026

And for USA Hockey, it can be said for certain that it will always be imperative and iconic to revisit the 1980 gold medal moments. However, it is clear that USA Hockey is now experiencing new levels of support that can only further encourage the growth of the sport.

For Marques, he is both wanting and hoping to provide USA Hockey with everything they could possibly need for the most successful beer shower(s) in Olympic history for Milano Cortina.

"[The beer shower(s)] would be incredibly special. We would love to see that moment. Our fans would love to see that moment, and we are ready to mark and provide the occasion, if and when it comes," Marques said.

The U.S. men's team is scheduled to open play on Feb. 12 against Latvia (3:10 p.m. EST) and will have Bill Guerin (of the Minnesota Wild) as general manager. On the women's side, general manager Katie Million has named John Wroblewski as head coach. The American women will open play in the preliminary round on Feb. 5 against the Czech Republic.

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