Sophomore forward Tage Thompson has accomplished a couple of important firsts for the UConn men’s hockey program.
Last June, he was the program’s first first-round selection in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.
Six months later, he was the first UConn player to be selected to play for Team USA in the IIHF World Junior Championships, which some would argue is the most prestigious international hockey tournament out there, Olympics included.
On Jan. 5, he was the first UConn player to win gold in that tournament.
“He wants to be a hockey player, he loves being a hockey player, he loves playing at UConn and we’re very happy to have him in our program,” head coach Mike Cavanaugh said after the Huskies’ game against Yale.
Thompson scored what proved to be the game-winning goal against Slovakia, putting the moves on Slovakian Matej Tomek for the goal.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Thompson said. “I was just trying to soak it all up.”
He added four assists as well, including two in the opener against Latvia and one in the gold medal game against Canada.
“We’re really proud of [Thompson] and he represented our program so well,” assistant captain Spencer Naas said. “To have someone win it, for our country, it’s pretty cool.”
Thompson flew back from Montreal on Friday in order to play on Saturday against Yale.
“I was pretty set on playing [Saturday],” Thompson said.