Connor Hellebuyck shows why he’s the U.S. starting goalie at the Olympics

United States' goalkeeper Connor Hellebuyck makes a save during a preliminary round game of men's ice hockey between the United States and Germany at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

MILAN (AP) — Connor Hellebuyck could not be doing much better midway through the Olympics.

“Is there more than 100%?” he asked with a laugh after backstopping the U.S. past Germany in the round-robin finale. “I feel good. It’s pretty hot out there. I’m sweating a lot now I have to stand around and do a bunch of (interviews), so I’m going to chill now. I guess I’m at 99% right now as we speak. But, yeah, I feel good out there.”

The Americans feel good about him. Hellebuyck showed in the preliminary round why he’s the U.S. starting goaltender in Milan, leading the tournament with a .952 save percentage and matching Canada’s Jordan Binnington for the best goals-against average at 1.00.

“He’s one of the best goalies in the world,” U.S. forward Matt Boldy said. ”He’s confident. He wants to be in the net. He wants to make the saves and to make a big difference. He has the skills to back it up, but I think that attitude and how confident he is in himself and in his game is I think what makes him so great.”

Hellebuyck started two of the three group-play games and stopped 40 of the 42 shots he faced against Latvia and Germany. Jeremy Swayman was shaky against Denmark, but bounced back from allowing a goal from nearly center ice to get the win.

Jake Oettinger dressed once as the No. 3 netminder, with coach Mike Sullivan repeatedly saying how tough a decision he and his staff had at the position with three options just about any country would love to have.

It was always Hellebuyck. He was the guy at the 4 Nations Face-Off last year and is the reigning NHL MVP and Vezina Trophy winner as the league’s best goalie

“He’s won a lot of trophies,” winger Jake Guentzel said. “We feel good with him back there.”

Not tested a whole lot by Latvia, Hellebuyck was there when Leon Draisaitl, Moritz Seider, Tim Stützle and Germany had quality scoring chances. He allowed just one goal to Stützle, and Sullivan called it Hellebuyck’s best game yet.

“You could feel his confidence from the bench just watching him make the saves,” Sullivan said. “When he’s at his best, my observation of him is he has economy of motion, and a lot of pucks just hit him, and he makes it look easy the way he squares up to pucks, but his rebound control, he swallowed everything. There was no rebounds for Germany to have an opportunity to create a next play.”

Hellebuyck figures to be in the crease in the quarterfinals Wednesday night when the U.S. faces the winner of the qualification playoff between Sweden and Latvia. He feels in a good rhythm after playing twice in four days, with a little bit of rest before the next start.

“There was a conversation about how we wanted to go about things, and this just made the most sense,” Hellebuyck said.

It never made sense for anyone but Hellebuyck to be the U.S. starter, even if his season with the Winnipeg Jets was not going all that well. He has a 2.79 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage after a league-best 2.00 and a .925 in 2024-25.

None of that matters at the Olympics, where his teammates are counting on Hellebuyck being the backbone of what they hope is a deep run.

“I expect just him being him,” defenseman Zach Werenski said. “We have full trust in him. I train with him in the summers. I know how hard it is to score on him consistently. He’s just super solid back there. He’s steady, doesn’t give up much, doesn’t give up any rebounds and it makes us have a calming presence in front of him.”

The U.S. is rolling into the quarterfinals after outscoring opponents 16-5. For all the scoring talent up front, the team needs Hellebuyck to be at his best the rest of the way given the difficulty level ratcheting up.

That should not faze Hellebuyck.

“He has so much fun out there, and I think for us seeing that, it just kind of gives us a boost of confidence because he’s just so steady in the net,” captain Auston Matthews said. “Never really seems like he’s in a panic or anything. He’s just in such good position and that’s why he’s one of the best in the world. That’s a guy that we’ve got a lot of faith in back there.”

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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press