Kurtenbach: USA men’s hockey’s ugly, glorious 2026 gold is just the beginning

Expectation finally caught up to reality on Sunday in Milan, even if it took an excruciating, cardiac-event-inducing game to get there. The United States men’s Olympic hockey team won the gold medal, outlasting Canada in a thriller that will not be forgotten for decades to come. This wasn’t a miracle. Forget the lame 1980 comparisons. Al Michaels doesn’t need to ask if you believe in anything. What happened on the ice wasn’t a bunch of plucky college kids slaying a Soviet dragon. No, this was the coronation of a modern puck superpower. The United States is officially the king of the rink, and the terrifying news for Canada and the rest of the globe is that this golden age...