Boston Bruins
“I kept telling them, ‘We did it. We did it.’ Because you can’t do it by yourself.”
Charlie McAvoy embraced his father after winning Olympic gold on Sunday. Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
February 27, 2026 | 7:47 AM
5 minutes to read
Charlie McAvoy admittedly doesn’t remember all that much as soon as Jack Hughes’ sharp wrist shot sailed past Jordan Binnington and into twine.
As an avalanche of red, white, and blue cascaded over the boards in Milan, only a few fleeting memories rattle through the Bruins defenseman’s sensory rolodex.
There were plenty of hugs as McAvoy and his Team USA brothers swarmed Hughes along the glass. There was the cacophony of cheers of the crowd mixed with the elated roars of victory on the ice. And of course, the twangy guitar solo of “Free Bird” that announced the Americans’ long-awaited coronation on the Olympic hockey stage.
At long last, McAvoy had summited one of hockey’s highest peaks.
It was a triumph that the 28-year-old defenseman didn’t want to just share with his teammates, or his father-in-law, Team USA head coach Mike Sullivan.
As he scanned the frenzied crowd in Milan — with an American flag draped over his shoulders — McAvoy reached up and held his son, Rhys.
With his family and friends cheering from the top railing, McAvoy boosted himself up to embrace his father, Charles Sr. — the man who first set him on the course to follow his dreams on the ice.
For McAvoy, Sunday’s OT victory represented far more than a lifelong goal realized.
Rather, the gold medal that hasn’t left his side in the last few days is a collective achievement for him and his family.
“Don’t ever stop dreaming,” McAvoy said Thursday. “Just work as hard as you can and you never know what could happen. I can’t believe some of the things that have happened in my life and where I’m at and how I’ve got here.
“I had an embrace with my dad — they got some good pictures of — but I jumped up and pulled myself up to grab him and he’s crying. That’s the guy that had me on the ice when I was 2 at the little rink in Long Beach, New York.”
“It does take a village. Just to have that feeling of just pure pride, but like I kept telling them, ‘We did it. We did it.’ Because you can’t do it by yourself.”
Family matters more than ever to McAvoy, especially given the trials and tribulations that he faced over the past year.
Despite the initial elation that came in January 2025 when McAvoy and his wife, Kiley, welcomed Rhys, McAvoy’s fortunes shifted on the ice.
A shoulder injury suffered during the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament not only knocked the bruising blueliner out of the title game against Canada — it required an extended stay at Mass. General Hospital to treat an infection.
McAvoy didn’t return to the ice for the rest of the season, with Boston bottoming out in the standings and dealing away several key fixtures in the Bruins’ lineup.
The 2025-26 campaign represented a clean slate for McAvoy and the Bruins — one that was shattered after he took a Noah Dobson slap shot to the jaw on Nov. 15 in Montreal.
The damage? A fractured jaw, several lost teeth, a metal plate inserted into his broken maw, and an extended liquid diet that resulted in him dropping 20 pounds in less than two weeks.
A health scare for Rhys further put the McAvoy’s under duress amid the string of misfortunes that hindered the Bruins top D-man — who avoided further calamity after taking a cheap shot to the head from Florida’s Sandis Vilmanis in Boston’s final game before boarding his flight to Milan.
If McAvoy’s fortunes were going to change, he was hoping that it would be on the Olympic stage.
“We had talked about it leading up to this tournament, just how much has gone on in our lives this year,” McAvoy said of what his family has gone through this year. “Lot of it public. But a lot of it not; what we’ve gone through as a family this year. We just kept in my head that, ‘We deserve this. We deserve something good to happen to us.’ Try and just be a good person, and sometimes good things will happen to you.
“This was just amazing for my family to have them there [at the Olympics], every one of them. My wife and kid. My family. My buddies from Long Beach My whole immediate family. We all got to celebrate this and enjoy it together. We’ll have this memory forever. The McAvoys needed a win this year.”
McAvoy made his presence felt throughout Team USA’s run to a gold medal — logging the second-most ice time on the US squad behind his D partner, Quinn Hughes.
Even though he didn’t record a point, McAvoy thrived as the Americans’ go-to shutdown option, contributing on a penalty kill that went a perfect 18-for-18 during the international tournament.
Ahead of the US’ gold-medal bout against Canada, McAvoy had no shortage of inspiration to draw from.
Upon arriving in Italy for the Winter Games, McAvoy found out that his wife had a box of letters for him — all penned by members of his family. After first reading them before the Olympic games commenced, he gave them another read through before Sunday’s showdown with the US’ top foe.
“None of this would mean really anything, what it’s meant, if I didn’t have my family to share it with,” McAvoy said.
Connor Hellebuyck might have stolen the show with his play in net against Canada, but McAvoy also helped keep the USA afloat — at one point saving a goal after batting down a Tom Wilson shot while planted behind Hellebuyck at the goal line.
“Probably the only thing that got past Helly that whole game,” McAvoy joked.
McAvoy doesn’t have much time now to rest on his Olympic laurels.
He was back in the lineup Thursday against Columbus — looking to help Boston punch their ticket to the playoffs amid a frantic stretch that will include 25 games over the next 48 days.
After receiving an ovation from the TD Garden crowd on Thursday, he logged a team-leading 23:55 of ice time and recorded an assist in Boston’s eventual 4-2 win over the Blue Jackets.
The Bruins play a video tribute for all of their Olympians – with McAvoy and Swayman sharing a hug on the bench.
Team USA and Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski also gets a nice ovation. pic.twitter.com/UlUju2jyrK
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) February 27, 2026
The Bruins’ defenseman now has one of the most coveted trophies in hockey with his Olympic gold medal. He’s looking to add to that collection with another cherished trophy in the coming years.
“I had two things in my hockey career that I wanted to accomplish, honestly,” McAvoy said. “When you’re a kid, you’re looking at this and saying, ‘If I could be an Olympian, that would be amazing.’ And that was a check. And then to be an Olympic gold medalist is just a whole other level. So, I put that on par with the Stanley Cup.
“I did one, I can say I’m a winner now. …Hopefully a Stanley Cup isn’t too far behind.”
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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