On the biggest stage imaginable, Zach Werenski showed why he’s Zach Werenski.
The Blue Jackets defenseman raced up the ice into the offensive zone, pulled the puck away from Nathan MacKinnon, gathered himself and had the presence of mind to find Jack Hughes streaking up the other side of the ice.
The pass was perfect, the shot pure, the celebration 46 years in the making.
Hughes’ goal, set up by Werenski, 1:41 into overtime brought a gold medal to the United States men’s hockey team for the first time since 1980. The U.S. team downed Canada by a 2-1 score in a thrilling, back-and-forth, classic gold medal game Sunday morning at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
And Werenski’s hands were all over it, with the winning assist showing his brilliance – the speed, the poise and the vision to set up gold. To his CBJ teammates, it was no surprise given it’s what they see on a daily basis from the Norris Trophy-caliber defenseman.
“Tremendous,” fellow defenseman Erik Gudbranson said. “We’re certainly biased toward him, but everybody in the locker room – Canadian, American, Russian, Swedish, doesn't matter – we're all like ‘Where’s Z? Why isn’t he on the ice yet (in overtime)?’
“Then sure enough, he makes that play and he’s in on their golden goal. So he’s a tremendous hockey player, great teammate and very proud of him with how he represented us.”
The Blue Jackets were united in their support of Werenski throughout the tournament, but Sunday morning brought dueling allegiances in some cases. Twelve members of the active roster as well as head coach Rick Bowness hail from Canada, with two others born in the United States but largely growing up north of the border, and those players were hoping for the best for their teammate but wanting to see gold for their native country.
Then there was Elvis Merzlikins, the Latvian goaltender who joined Werenski at the Games and – amid the jokes back and forth – was staunchly in his teammate’s corner.
“I was super happy,” Merzlikins said. “I really cheered for him. There’s many Canadians here on the team, so I was all against them. They didn’t like it, but I was cheering for my teammate. That’s what I told them – ‘What’s wrong with you guys? You only root for Canadians? He is your teammate.’
“We were shooting some jokes around, but definitely I am proud of him. He deserves it. I think he did amazing in the Olympics as well so I’m super happy for him and I can’t wait for when he is going to come home so I can give him a hug.”
Charlie Coyle had no such dilemma, though, as the Weymouth, Mass., native who has played for USA Hockey in the past was firmly on the side of the red, white and blue. CBJ players congregated in the locker room throughout the morning with the game going on as a backdrop, as Bowness gave the squad time before practice to watch along with the rest of their respective nations.
Coyle joked he mostly wanted to watch away from the Canadian contingent, adding he largely refrained from rubbing it in after the overtime winner.
“It’s a pretty special thing,” Coyle said. “We were saying before overtime started, really wanted Z to score to see who his real friends are in the locker room, see if there’s any cheers from Canadians. Of course, he had a factor in it and he had a great play to win a battle and get it over to Hughes, so I don’t think guys can be too upset by that. Us Americans are pretty happy, the limited few in there, but it’s just an awesome game to watch and could have gone either way.
“There’s a lot of proud people out there from the U.S., and we’re really proud of what they did and accomplished. It’s pretty remarkable.”
Werenski’s assist capped a tremendous tournament for the defenseman, who finished with a goal and five assists for six points in six games, tied for second in scoring among blueliners in the tournament. He also posted a plus-8 rating while averaging 16:23 of ice time.
When it comes to CBJ history, Werenski became the first Blue Jackets player to win a gold medal at the Olympics with the United States and the second overall, joining Canada’s Rick Nash in 2010. His six points at the tournament are the most ever for a CBJ player at an Olympics, and his three-assist game in the semifinal vs. Slovakia set a record in points for a game by a CBJ player at the Winter Games.
Werenski played just 12:10 in Sunday’s final, but he was in the right spot at the right time in the 3-on-3 overtime.
“We’re really happy for Z,” Bowness said. “He didn’t play as much as he normally plays, but if you watch the game, he was making some great plays breaking the puck out. His ability to bring the puck back and slow things down and then make plays was very obvious, and of course he made that big play on the winning goal so we’re very happy for him for sure.”
Werenski biggest assist may have come after the gold medal game, though. Werenski and American teammates Auston Matthews and Matthew Tkachuk skated a lap with the late Johnny Gaudreau’s No. 13 USA jersey, in memory of the CBJ star whose presence has remained with the national team and the Blue Jackets since his August 2024 passing along with his brother Matthew.
When the American team gathered for the traditional postgame team photo on the ice, Werenski and teammate Dylan Larkin brought Gaudreau’s daughter Noa and son Johnny Jr. on the ice, with Noa sitting on Werenski’s lap for the pictures. The family of Gaudreau, including his wife Meredith and parents Guy and Jane, was invited to Italy by Team USA and arrived in time for Friday’s semifinal.
“A-plus move, very classy move by USA Hockey to bring them over there,” Gudbranson said. “It goes to show how important Johnny was to the game of hockey, to us, to the Calgary Flames and people around the world. He would have been on that team, too. As a Canadian, I would have been losing my marbles watching him skating around with the puck. We miss him very dearly, and A-plus on USA Hockey for bringing the Gaudreau family and Meredith and the kids over.”
Werenski will soon return to Columbus as an Olympic gold medalist, and his teammates can’t wait to welcome him back considering how he keeps adding to his list of accomplishments as one of the best players in the league.
“You want to play around those guys and you want to be part of guys who are winners and have done it at the biggest stages,” Coyle said. “Zach can say that now. It’ll be pretty cool to see that (gold medal). Hopefully he brings it in and rubs it in a few of the guys’ faces.”
