When the guys were hanging out ahead of the 2016 Championship Reunion, Carl Hagelin started ribbing Chris Kunitz for the part he played in helping Canada beat Sweden.
With around 11 minutes to go in the Gold Medal Game between the two countries at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Kunitz was exiting the offensive zone when Daniel Sedin turned the puck over along the boards.
Kunitz swooped in, scooped up the puck and released a shot from the bottom of the circle – beating Henrik Lundqvist to give Canada a 3-0 lead. That stood as the final score.
“To be able to have that moment and score a goal, I think everybody at that point knew we were going to win,” Kunitz said recently. “So, you kind of just soaked in the moment, for sure.”
At that point, Kunitz had already lifted the Stanley Cup twice, with Anaheim in 2007 and Pittsburgh in 2009. He had hit the 20-goal mark five times, including in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season, while playing his brand of hard-nosed hockey.
“What we see is he has been on championship teams, he plays hard,” Steve Yzerman, the Executive Director of Team Canada that year, told the Globe and Mail. “He's one of the top players around the net... We like the tenacity that he brings – and the straight up-and-down play. Regardless of who he plays with, he's going to get in and turn pucks over and drive to the net and do all the little things that complement the more finesse-type guys."
That’s what made Kunitz such an excellent complement to Sidney Crosby. They were linemates for years and had a lot of success playing together. As longtime teammates in Pittsburgh who spent a lot of time together on a daily basis, they both appreciated the opportunity to be teammates on the international stage.
“It's nice to have familiar faces and definitely someone to share that whole experience with,” Crosby said the other day. “I think in itself, it's a pretty incredible thing to be able to be a part of, but to be able to share with close friends and people that you know will enjoy it as much as you do, that's pretty cool.”
While Crosby had won gold in Vancouver four years earlier, that was Kunitz’s first time representing Team Canada at the Olympics.
“That tournament and going to the Olympics, for me, was a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” Kunitz said. “Other guys had been in maybe ’06 or 2010, guys that I'd played with. So, I tried to take it in by seeing other sports and venues.”
Going to a long-track speed skating event was Kunitz’s most memorable moment away from the rink.
“Watching one of the Russian competitors speed skate, with the crowd chanting the skater along as they were coming around the arena – you could feel the wave in the rink, but it was as the skater was coming,” Kunitz said. “It just gave you chills to know you could do that in front of your home fans. That must have been an incredible moment. That's what the Olympics are, even when you watch it from your couch, that’s the feeling you get.”
When Canada did take the ice, they were just dominant. Crosby described the dynamic as highly skilled but focused on checking.
“I thought we defended really well,” Crosby said. “That was probably our biggest strength. And when I look back, we had lots of guys who could score, but I think it was everyone's commitment to playing good defensively and playing the team system that allowed us to have success. We didn't give up a ton of chances, and that was a big difference.”
As mentioned above, that was Kunitz’s style. He said every time you went over the boards, you worked hard until it was the next guy’s turn.
“So, for me, (scoring in the Gold Medal Game) was a lot of validation that you got to be there, you played on a team, you helped contribute,” he said. “Because you didn't really know your standing once you go onto a team like that, lots of Hall of Famers and different things.”
He then added with a laugh, “And also, for me it was, you wanted to make sure you weren't the reason why maybe the team didn't win a gold medal, because that's what the expectation always was.”
It was the first gold for Kunitz and the second for Crosby. He had worn an A at the 2010 Games, and got the C for this tournament. Seeing Crosby’s leadership in that environment was eye-opening for Kunitz.
“I think it kind of catches you off guard, because the same aura that he has in his own locker room with us, he still has in amongst his peers of the super elite,” Kunitz said. “I think you can see how well he's respected throughout the league, but it just comes out in everybody's eyes. And obviously, later in his career, you can see the 4 Nations, how they all were looking up to him, and the storylines change, but they obviously did that in 2014, for sure.
And now, in 2026 as well. NHL players are participating in the Olympics for the first time since those 2014 Games, with Crosby again wearing the C for Canada.
“I think the anticipation now, with not having gone for so long, kind of feels like that comes back a bit more since it has been a while,” Crosby said.
