The US Junior Ice Hockey team just won a huge victory against Sweden’s junior ice hockey team, beating them out on their home turf in Gothenburg, Sweden to win 6-2. The massive Ameican victory in the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship occurred on Friday, January 5th. Then, after the victory, the young American players sang the National Anthem together.
The IIHF World Junior Championship victory was a reversal from 2022, when the American team lost to the the Swedish team 6-4 at the under-18s world championship. Some players on the US team in 2022 that lost to Sweden were back this year, and used the sharply painful memory of that defeat to push themselves to victory this year. The US team also beat Sweden last year in the fight for the bronze medal.
The Guardian, reporting on the game and how it went, noted that Gabe Prreault, a player from Boston College who was a first-round pick for the New York Rangers in 2023 had a goal and two assists during the game. Ryan Leonard and Zeev Buium, both scored a goal as well. The winning goal was scored by Trey Augustine, who plays for Michigan State.
Commenting on his players’ performance in the game and how they did a great job carrying themselves to victory, US coach David Carle said, “The guys played excellent. It’s a joy for them. They focused on getting to this game and playing their best for the last game of the tournament and I thought they did that. It’s a great honor to be a part of a winning team.”
Then, after the game, the players made their country proud by proudly singing the national anthem. TSN News, a Canadian sports site, tweeted out, “The American players singing their national anthem together after winning Gold at the #WorldJuniors 🇺🇸”
Commenting on the video, people said things like “Nothing better than celebrating victory with your teammates and loving your country” and “And ESPN didn’t report this! Thank you TSN! Congrats, Team 🇺🇸 USA! Your country is very proud of you!”
Others contrasted this patriotic performance with the US Women’s Soccer Team, saying things like “And this is why nobody cares about that 🇺🇸 soccer player anymore. Wait… what’s her name again? 🤔” and “So nice to see young Americans proudly stand for our flag & sing the national anthem. We don’t see that as often any longer. Good job gentlemen on the W.”
Watch them sing here:
Attacking members of the USWNT for not acting respectfully during the National Anthem, conservative political commentator Megyn Kelly said, “I really do believe their version of what a feminist is, what it means to be an empowered woman, at least as an American woman, means you need to hate your country. It means to go out on the national stage and embarrass yourself and your country by not singing the national anthem. For several of them, not even holding their hands over their hearts when the national anthem played, was a bridge too far.”
She added, “They couldn’t be bothered to actually place their hand on their heart as the national anthem played, as they stood out there representing you and me and the country and our military and people who have given their lives for the country that they represent. It was too much of an effort [for them] to place their hand over their heart, or God forbid, sing.”
Watch Kelly here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
