Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The United States women's ice hockey team capped off their incredible run at the 2026 Winter Olympics with a gold medal on Thursday, defeating Canada, 2-1, in overtime to capture the nation's third gold medal in Olympic competition.
After trailing 1-0 late into the third period, it was captain Hilary Knight who evened the scored at 1-1 with 2:04 to go in regulation, thanks to a tip-in goal in front of the Canada net off a point shot from defenseman Laila Edwards.
Then in overtime, it was defenseman Megan Keller playing hero for the Americans, as she managed to dangle the puck through a Canadian defenseman and slide a backhand through netminder Ann-Renee Desbiens for the Golden Goal.
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While the growth of women's ice hockey in recent years has been quite rapid across the globe, what is the current state of the sport in Western New York?
Nichols women's U-18 prep hockey coach Stephanie Nadler has seen a tremendous growth in girls hockey over the last 20 years, dating back to when she played hockey at Niagara University when they had a Division-I program.
"I've been hanging around the rinks a lot being the coach here at Nichols, and I just absolutely enjoy being around the team and to see the level of play, and how talented these girls are and dedicated they are to the sport," said Nadler in an interview with WBEN. "And then seeing them go on and play at a higher level in college, and now that there's a professional league for women, that is amazing to see, that the girls are getting paid to play. It's just incredible to see. And of course at the Olympic level, it was an Olympic sport starting in '98 and it's just grown years-and-years after that."
The U.S. team that just captured the gold medal in Milan is a younger group, with an average age of just under 27-years-old. Nadler feels many of the young girls playing hockey right now can relate to what the players have already gone through to get to this level of competition.
"These are girls that are playing out of Rochester, they've done the route of playing high school hockey and then maybe on to college, and now on the big stage at the Olympics or playing pro. I absolutely think it's going to be an influence," Nadler said. "It's really nice to see your young girls have role models that they can look up to them, and it's not a male role model, it's a female role model. And they can attain a dream that's actually possible, which may be the Olympics, that may be playing college hockey, or taking hockey to the highest level that they can possibly get to."
Fellow ice hockey coach Jason Guenther, currently the director of skill development at Nichols, also feels the success of such a young U.S. group at the 2026 Winter Olympics will make an impact in Western New York.
"I think it just brings back the fact that no matter where you're from or who you are, or what your level of training is, you can obtain a high level, you can dream for that," Guenther said with WBEN.
While Guenther feels women's hockey in Western New York has always been active and there's always been a high interest level in the sport, he feels there's been a lack of availability for teams and certain age groups in the region.
"I think this might bring back on the map some more interest that will allow for training throughout different age groups, teams for different age groups, which will lead to further success for the girls - meaning they're playing after high school or they're getting opportunities after high school, whether that'd be college or pro," Guenther explained.
Part of the local influence for further growth in women's ice hockey may be the presence of Getzville native Hayley Scamurra, who captured her first gold medal with Team USA in her second Olympics. She ended up with a silver medal in the 2022 Beijing Games.
"With Hayley being in the Olympics, [as well as a] former Nichols students and a resident of Getzville, it's just incredible to see," Nadler said. "I think it's definitely going to grow the game in every realm. I think girls see that on television, and they see they could also do that someday. So it's a lot of fun."
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Guenther believes when local girls learn about Scamurra and her path to the Olympics and professional hockey, they're going to do the research.
"'Where'd she go to? Where'd she play? What was her path? Did she do extra training? Did she do clinic training?' I definitely have seen an uptick in requests for private training myself, so I think it's just going to open up that conversation and show that girls that are currently playing, there's opportunity, whether you're playing at one organization or another," Guenther noted. "I think it's just going to bring back some more fire that's really going to create some more positive training opportunities, and teams and stuff for the girls in the area."
Another member of Team USA from the region is defenseman Haley Winn, who grew up a little more than an hour down the New York State Thruway in Rochester.
While the game of women's hockey has already grown exponentially in the last 10-to-15 years, Nadler feels there's always room for additional growth for the game.
"What I find absolutely amazing is having been away from the area for several years and then coming back, it's just the level of play. These girls are incredibly talented. They love the sport, they're putting the work in, they're attending the clinics. And earning scholarships and playing college hockey, and then moving on to a professional level," she noted. "I just think what we're gonna see happen is the growth of the game, more numbers, I think the talent is just going to get stronger-and-stronger. It's been amazing to see. It's fun to see the girls game grow, and see that the girls have an opportunity to attain some of the things that the boys have been attaining for years ahead of us."
Part of the interest growing in the game of women's hockey, for Guenther, starts with people simply watching and investing in the games.
"I think when you get more people that want to watch hockey and watch women's hockey, which you're seeing that increase with the pro hockey and the college hockey, I think it's going to have an impact here," he said. "More people will be coming to games and bringing the interest to Western New York, which, in turn, I think will bring more interest into the college programs locally."
And when it gets to that level of interest, Guenther adds it becomes a business, in a sense of a need for funding for ice time, officials and more.
"There's so much that goes into it, so with more general interest, more people watching, it creates more funding, more opportunities. And I think the Olympics is going to do that," he added. "Hopefully we can keep the pedal on the metal for them and keep moving forward. And then in four years, hopefully have another local player head for the Olympics when the Winter Olympics come back again."