Thompson embraces chance to make U.S. Olympic roster, end Sabres’ playoff drought

There were many things Tage Thompson could have taken out of the 2025 IIHF World Championship after last season when he scored the golden goal that gave the United States its first World Championship since 1933.

There was the sense of his own ability to perform under pressure, the nine points the forward had in 10 games at the tournament. There was the sense of vindication, a boost to his chances to make the U.S. team for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 after not making the squad for the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off.

There was also something simpler -- and more complicated -- especially for his NHL team, the Buffalo Sabres.

“I think just what it takes to win,” Thompson said. “I think probably the biggest thing I took out of it was the mindset. It’s a short tournament, so it’s kind of that desperation mode right from the beginning. But being able to balance that without having any panic in your game.

“[We were] put in a do-or-die situation early on in the tournament, but I felt like there was no panic; there was just belief throughout our group that we were going to get it done. And I think that calmness in the locker room was something that I found very instrumental in our win and it’s something I think we’re going to try to correlate and bring here into Buffalo.”

Because in the same way that the U.S. lost early on at the World Championship -- 3-0 to Switzerland in its third game in the tournament -- the Sabres found themselves in a dicey situation early. It was a 2025-26 season in which they hoped -- no, expected -- to at minimum contend for their first Stanley Cup Playoff berth since 2010-11.

Instead, they dropped their first three games of the season, inviting the same doubts and comparisons, the same questions they’ve faced for years. But they bounced back, defeating the Ottawa Senators 8-4 on Wednesday, then the two-time reigning Cup champion Florida Panthers 3-0 on Saturday.

If Buffalo is going to make a run, leave behind all the demons and the demoralization of seasons past, it will start with Thompson, the power forward who also had a slow start to his career but lately has found his groove.

That continues with a chance for the Sabres (2-3-0) to even their season record on Monday against the host Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre (7:30 p.m. ET; RDS, Prime, MSG-B).

“Not only at World Championships, but every year that he’s been playing, he’s matured a little bit and I do believe that the World Championships gave him a little bit more experience in handling, whether it was adversity, whether a tough call, whether a situation that happens on the ice, and how to be patient,” said Brent Thompson, his father, who is serving as an assistant coach for Hershey of the American Hockey League. “I got to see him mature in front of me, and I do think that’s a big thing.

“He was very positive, I thought, at the World Championships, no matter what happened through the course of the [tournament] itself, I felt like he kept a pretty level head and a positive outlook on it and I think that’s one of the biggest things he has to continue to focus on.”

Thompson, who turns 28 on Oct. 30, is coming off not just that performance at the World Championship, but also a 44-goal output last season. He was tied for third in the NHL with Alex Ovechkin, the second time Thompson scored more than 40 in his career (47, 2022-23).

This year? His teammates have high hopes for more.

Asked if Thompson could score 50, Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin did not hesitate.

“Oh yeah,” he said.

This year?

“This year,” he affirmed. “I’ve just got to give him more passes in power play and we’ll be fine.”

Thompson has scored once in five games, adding three assists. He knows the scrutiny he is under, from the fans in Buffalo, from the management of the U.S. team, from all sides, the chance that is in front of him.

Asked about Thompson’s chances for the Olympic team, Dahlin didn’t hesitate.

“I believe he should be a part of that team,” he said.

“He’s always been a super, super skilled guy, ever since he got to Buffalo,” Dahlin added. “He had it in practice, every single practice, but in the beginning he couldn’t really get it out in games, but then he figured it out. And now he’s a huge leader. He drives the bus, he plays the right way, he competes, he’s a complete player.

“He’s turned into a great package. It’s fun to be a part of his story.”

That struggle, at the beginning, to find his place in the NHL, on his team, to ensure his skills could shine and he would become the player he has, is still there, too, under the surface, still propelling him now.

“He doesn’t, I certainly hope he doesn’t, forget how hard it was to get to that point, and I think that’s the difference between him and a lot of guys is he did have to work extremely hard, he did have to overcome some adversity to get that spot as far as the opportunity,” Brent Thompson said. “Now it’s there, now he’s just got to work even harder to maintain it and take it to another level.”

But while these are all dreams of Thompson’s -- 50 goals, the Olympics -- he has also come to see that some of this is in his control and some isn’t. He can move towards them by what he does in practice each day, by his incremental progress, by his preparation and by helping Buffalo win.

Because individual goals pale when it comes to what he and the Sabres are trying to accomplish.

As he put it, “I’d say as far as something being important, it would be making [playoffs] and winning the Cup. Two of my biggest goals right now are, obviously, making playoffs first, but winning a Cup is the most important.”

That is the thing, the rub, the ever-present idea that hangs over Thompson and his teammates in Buffalo.

It was the cloud that hung over them last season, when they missed the playoffs for the 14th straight season, Thompson’s seventh with the Sabres. It hung over them this season when they started with three straight losses.

“Obviously we’ve had a number of seasons where we haven’t been successful and when that happens, it’s easy to be negative and look at the past and kind of say, ‘Here we go again,’” Thompson said before their second game of the season, a 3-1 loss at the Boston Bruins on Oct. 11. “So, I think it’s just one of those things that you’ve got to remind yourself it’s a long season and it doesn’t really matter what’s happened in the past; it’s a new opportunity to get better and grow. I think we just kind of learn to stay positive and kind of just take it one day at a time.”

But negativity is sometimes hard to avoid, something Thompson saw after Buffalo’s third loss, with his frustration spilling over, though again he highlighted how much it needs to leave its sins of the past in the past.

“Honestly, it’s the guys in the locker room against the world,” Dahlin said. “We have to prove that we can do it. If we’re doing the right thing in the room, that’s going to translate into the games and nothing from outside will matter.”

It’s about looking in the mirror, Thompson said, but it’s also about finding the fun.

It’s about looking at what the Sabres are building.

“I think obviously there’s some stress and some pressure when you’re in a situation like we are, but I think it’s an opportunity, you can look at it as an opportunity to do something special,” Thompson said. “And I think that’s what we’ve got to embrace is that journey and that grind and enjoy it and have fun with it.”

It's all part of a maturation process that has progressed over the seasons, during which time Thompson’s game has progressed on the ice, finding a place beside Dahlin as an alternate captain, becoming more vocal and sure of himself. He’s figured out how much the light in the locker room matters, especially with what the Sabres have been through, now that he’s seen winning firsthand.

“They want to win the Cup,” Brent Thompson said. “They want to make the playoffs, they want to win the Cup. I know that for sure. I know that’s in his head every day. And I know he wants to be a big part of it, and I think the World Championships was something that kind of spearheaded him talking about that vocally.”

NHL.com senior director of editorial Shawn P. Roarke contributed to this report