Whitefish Native Sanderson, Team USA Hockey Eye Olympic Opener Thursday
Team USA will start its journey toward its first men's hockey gold medal in 46 years on Thursday against Latvia
By BILL SPELTZ, 406mtsports.com
MISSOULA — The quest for gold begins Thursday for Whitefish native Jake Sanderson and the U.S. Olympic men’s ice hockey team.
Considered a primary favorite along with Canada, the United States will face Latvia in the first of three pool play games at 1:10 p.m. Mountain time in Italy (USA Network). Team USA will play Denmark at the same time on Saturday and Germany at the same time Sunday.
The elimination round begins next Tuesday (Feb. 17). The bronze medal game is Feb. 21 and the gold medal game Feb. 22.
The 6-foot-2 Sanderson is a defender who is considered one of the silkiest-smooth puck movers in the National Hockey League and a force for the Ottawa (Canada) Senators. The NHL is pausing its season for the Olympics. Three countries (USA, Canada, Sweden) have rosters made up entirely of NHL players (Russia has been excluded from the Games).
Team USA is taking aim at its first gold medal in 46 years.
“Next to a Stanley Cup, the gold medal is as high as it gets,” Sanderson told the Ottawa Citizen newspaper recently. “It’s cool just being on the world stage. “There’s so much history with USA Hockey in the Olympics and we haven’t won gold in a while.”
One advantage the United States and Canada share is they have recent experience playing together in big-time international competition. Team USA lost to Canada in the finals of last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off.
Sanderson, whose father Geoff spent 17 seasons in the NHL, joins the likes of Matthew Tkachuk (Florida Panthers) and brother Brady Tkachuk (Senators) on Team USA.
Sanderson played for Team USA in the 2022 Olympic Winter Games and in the 2024 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Men’s World Championship. The 23-year-old earned silver with Team USA in the 4 Nations Face-Off Tournament last February.
That NHL event was hyped as a best-on-best tournament. The United States reached the championship against Canada and Sanderson scored his first goal of the tournament in the chipper. Canada won 3-2 in overtime.
A former North Dakota Fighting Hawks standout, Sanderson was the fifth player taken in the 2020 NHL Draft.
As a youngster in Whitefish, he played for the Glacier Avalanche of the Glacier Hockey Association from age 8-11. The family moved to Calgary when he was 12. Early in life he wanted to be a goaltender but was eventually swayed by his father and committed to being a skater. He played both forward and defense before eventually becoming a full-time defenseman at 14 years of age.
Geoff Sanderson talked recently about his son and his hockey mindset.
“He’s really competitive defensively, like a lot of guys,” Geoff said. “I wasn’t born with that gene, but he was born to be competitive defensively.
“He always wanted to be the goalie in hockey, the goalie in soccer or the catcher in baseball. His (passion) defensively is probably why he went under the radar for so long as a younger player. He’s a guy who would rather prevent a goal than score one.”
The last Olympic medal won by Team USA hockey was a silver in 2010 in Vancouver. Many believe this is the year the squad will end the dry spell.
“We’ve seen the unprecedented success of our U.S. teams on the international stage (in 2024-25) and we need to keep our foot on the gas,” said Bill Guerin, general manager for 2026 Team USA men’s hockey and GM for the the NHLs Minnesota Wild. “We haven’t won an Olympic gold in men’s hockey since 1980 and we’re out to change that.”
The list of Team USA defensemen includes: Sanderson (Ottawa Senators), Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber (Minnesota Wild), Charlie McAvoy (Boston Bruins), Zach Werenski (Columbus Blue Jackets), Jackson LaCombe (Anaheim Ducks), Jaccob Slavin (Carolina Hurricanes) and Noah Hanifin (Vegas Golden Knights).
The list of Team USA forwards includes: Brady Tkachuk (Ottawa Senators), Matthew Tkachuk (Florida Panthers), Auston Matthews (Toronto Maple Leafs), Jack Eichel (Vegas Golden Knights), Jake Guenzel (Tampa Bay Lightning), Dylan Larkin (Detroit Red Wings), Jack Hughes (New Jersey Devils), Matt Boldy (Minnesota Wild), Tega Thompson (Buffalo Sabres), Clayton Keller (Utah Mammoth), Vincent Trocheck and J.T. Miller (New York Rangers), Brock Nelson (Colorado Avalanche) and Kyle Connor (Winnipeg Jets).
The three Team USA goaltenders are: Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg Jets), Jake Oettinger (Dallas Stars) and Jeremy Swayman (Boston Bruins).
This story originally appeared at 406mtsports.com.