- Eichel and Hanifin in Vegas, Slavin in Carolina chase a Stanley Cup-Olympic gold double in one season
- Ken Morrow is the only American to ever pull it off, all the way back in 1980
- Read below for what each player said at media day on Monday in Raleigh
Three Americans, one season, a chance at a double no U.S. player has pulled off since 1980.
Vegas’ Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin and Carolina’s Jaccob Slavin are four wins away from joining Ken Morrow as the only Americans to win Olympic gold and the Stanley Cup in the same year. Morrow went from the Miracle on Ice straight into the Islanders’ first Cup in May of 1980. No U.S. player has done it in the 46 years since.
Hanifin was asked at Stanley Cup Final Media Day on Monday what stacking a Cup on top of his gold would mean:
“It’d be amazing of course. Going through that experience, the Olympics, was special. Possibly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Now just to be back here in the Stanley Cup, playing for the ultimate goal, you never know when this opportunity is going to come around again, so just trying to take advantage of it, embrace it and enjoy each day.”
The Vegas blueliner started this season by helping the U.S. beat Canada in overtime on Jack Hughes’ golden goal in Milan. Eichel led Team USA with six points in six games. Slavin chipped in an assist.
All three are in the Cup Final now, two trying to grab both trophies, one trying to stop them.
Watch Eichel and Hanifin describe the whirlwind right after winning gold in February:
Slavin was asked at media day about chasing the same double from Carolina’s side of the Final:
“I was very thankful for the Olympics and being able to glorify God on a world stage, so that was awesome. The biggest hockey stage is probably with the Olympics. Then you pair that with a Stanley Cup Final, another big stage to glorify God.”
Eichel would be going for his second Cup after winning with Vegas in 2023. He called the months since gold “a whirlwind” and credited the Vegas room for steadying things after a rough post-Olympic slide that ended with Bruce Cassidy out and John Tortorella in. The Knights went 5-10-2 from the Olympic break to March 29 before catching fire in time to win a second Cup run he didn’t see coming after a personal low point.
Take a look at Eichel and Mark Stone after the Knights closed out Colorado to lock up their Cup Final return:
Game 1 drops Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET at Lenovo Center on ABC. Two of these three Americans get to keep chasing the double. The third still has gold, no matter what happens over the next two weeks.
