The former Huskies and current member of the Buffalo Sabres helped the Americans top Latvia.
The United States men's hockey team opened its Olympic run on Thursday with a 5-1 win over Latvia at the Milan-Cortina Games. The Americans are gold medal favorites along with the Canadians, who also won on Thursday. They beat Czechia 5-0.
Featuring prominently in the win for Team USA was University of Connecticut alum Tage Thompson, who scored a power play goal in the victory. That's something that longtime fans of Connecticut hockey have seen before.
About Tage Thompson
A 28-year-old center, Thompson is a nine-year veteran of the St. Louis Blues and Buffalo Sabres. This season, he has 59 points this season for the surprising Sabres. He has 30 goals and 29 assists. Buffalo is in fourth place in the Atlantic Division with 70 points, behind only Tampa Bay (78), Montreal (72) and Detroit (72).
He spent two collegiate seasons playing in Storrs, scoring 64 total points (32 in each year). He had 33 career goals and is the highest drafted player in UConn history. He led the nation in power play goals (13) in his freshman campaign and was a third-team Hockey East All-Star in his sophomore season.
He has significant experience representing Team USA, as noted by his Olympic bio:
The 28-year-old born in Phoenix is a three-time gold medalist with Team USA, including the 2025 World Championship, where he had six goals in 10 games. Thompson also won gold at the 2015 U18 World Championship and the 2017 World Juniors, and he took home bronze in the World Championship in 2018 and 2021.
The Team USA schedule
Thursday, 2/12 vs. Latvia (3:10 p.m. ET)
Saturday, 2/14 vs. Denmark (3:10 p.m. ET)
Sunday, 2/15 vs. Germany (3:10 p.m. ET)
Playoffs: 2/17
Quarterfinals: 2/18
Semifinals: 2/20
Finals: 2/22, 8:10 a.m. on NBC
*This is the first Olympic games that NHL players have played in since the 2014 games in Sochi, Russia. Canada won the gold medal at those games, with Russia winning in 2018 and Finland winning in 2022.
Also on campus
--The UConn men's basketball team avenged a loss to St. John's on Friday night by beating Butler on Wednesday night. Solo Ball led the way offensively.
--Sarah Strong returned to the lineup on Wednesday as the UConn women toppled Creighton for the second time this season. The Huskies are No. 1 nationally and unbeaten at 26-0.
--UConn football stars Skyler Bell and Joe Fagnano both received invitations to the NFL combine later this month.
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