Ken Morrow, a member of the 1980 US “Miracle on Ice” team, is the only American to have won an Olympic gold medal and the Stanley Cup in the same year. However, this may soon change as several US players, including Jaccob Slavin, Jack Eichel, and Noah Hanifin, are close to achieving this rare double.

Olympic Gold and Stanley Cup

The US won gold at the Olympics for the first time in 46 years, and now some of its players are one victory away from joining Morrow in the exclusive club of those who have won both the Olympic gold and the Stanley Cup. Eichel, who had a major part in the Golden Knights’ championship run in 2023, says there are similarities and differences between the two journeys.

“One’s nine, 10 months; one’s two weeks,” Eichel said. “One of them is winner-take-all of just one game at a time. These are seven-game series, so it’s different in that sense. I think from an emotional standpoint and a mentality, I think there’s a lot of similarities: just the investment in winning and the feeling in the room and everything that comes with it.”

Challenges and Opportunities

Hanifin pointed out that preparing for a game at a time at the Olympics is drastically different from enduring the ups and downs of a postseason. “When you’re playing seven-game series, you can kind of build over time and if you hit a little bit of a setback or some adversity, you can kind of learn from it and build and come back better,” Hanifin said.

If the Hurricanes win, it would be some measure of retribution for Seth Jarvis, who played for Canada in the final and lost to the US in overtime. Jarvis acknowledged that the events are two separate things and is now focused on winning the Stanley Cup with his team.

Original reporting: Texarkana Gazette — read the source article.