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Zach Werenski is primed to be in the thick of the Norris Trophy discussion again in 2025-26. (Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images)

Blue Jackets Excited & Confident After Zach Werenski Captures Gold

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Mark Scheig | Last updated Feb 26, 2026 10:05 AM ET

Zach Werenski achieved one of his lifelong dreams. He was a big part of Team U.S.A. winning the gold medal at the recently completed Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina. Some have dubbed his pass to Jack Hughes “the golden apple.” The replay of the goal will live on for generations.

Back in Columbus, the Blue Jackets resumed practices in advance of the resumption of their season. They will open with a massive game against the Boston Bruins Thursday night at T.D. Garden.

The gold medal game took place in the middle of the mini training camp the Blue Jackets had. Head coach Rick Bowness said on Saturday that Sunday’s practice would begin 45 minutes after the conclusion of the game. Sure enough, at about 11:15 A.M. eastern time, goaltender Elvis Merzlikins took the ice for practice.

Before practice, most of the Blue Jackets gathered at Nationwide Arena to watch the gold medal game. It is a predominately Canadian presence in this locker room. While their hope was for Canada to win, they were in a win-win situation no matter what.

That’s because of Werenski’s presence on Team U.S.A. While all of the Canadians we spoke to were rooting for their home country as expected, they got the ultimate silver lining with Werenski striking gold.

Not only were the guys excited for Werenski, they’re confident this could be a boost towards a potential push to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Blue Jackets React to Werenski’s Gold Medal

Throughout the course of the week of the mini training camp, we spoke to a few Blue Jackets’ players to get their reaction to Werenski’s performance as well as what kind of boost this could give them.

Two things are clear. Everyone, even the Canadian players, are excited for their teammate. And they are confident in what the rest of the season could become.

“I was super happy,” Elvis Merzlikins said of Werenski. “I really cheered for him. There’s many Canadians here on the team so I was all against them. They didn’t like it but I was cheering for my teammate. That’s what I told them. What’s wrong with you? Even if they’re Canadians, they’re your teammate. So we were shooting some jokes around. But definitely I’m proud of him and he deserves it. I think he did amazing in the Olympics as well. I’m super happy for him and can’t wait when he’s going to come home to give him a hug.”

“It’s a pretty special thing,” Charlie Coyle said. “We were saying before overtime started, really wanted Z to score to see who his real friends are in the locker room to see if there’s any cheers from Canadians. Of course, he had a factor in it and made a great play to win a battle and get it over to Hughes. So I don’t thing guys can be too upset by that. Us Americans are pretty happy. There were only a few in there. But it was just an awesome game to watch.”

Merzlikins and Coyle each spoke after practice on Sunday. We caught up with Canadians Cole Sillinger and Jet Greaves on Tuesday to get their reaction. Their responses said it all.

“I’m at a Canadian at heart,” Sillinger said. “I was born in Columbus and am a duel citizen. But I consider myself a true Canadian. When you have a teammate playing in the game, you obviously are rooting for him as well. I thought it was a great game. It was a very exciting game and you want to see anybody play there. Overall, it was probably one of the most exciting hockey games people got to see in a while.”

“Some of my earliest memories in hockey (were) watching Team Canada play,” Greaves said. “Cheering for Canada. But it was an amazing hockey game. And to see Z play such a big part in the game-winning goal, I’m so happy for him. All of us in this locker room, Canadian, American, whatever it is, we all have so much respect for Z and who he is as a player and as a person. So to be able to see him be a part of that moment, that’s something that’ll be remembered forever. I’m super happy and super proud of him.”

Ready & Confident Moving Forward

Werenski will be super motivated to help get the Blue Jackets into the playoffs after his performance. His teammates are right there with him.

The players admitted there is an opportunity to turn this momentum into something positive. For Merzlikins in particular, he too got to play at the Winter Olympics. His experience there along with Werenski has him ready to make an impact down the stretch of this season.

“Get to the playoffs,” Merzlikins said of what’s he focused on now. “The last two days when we (Team Latvia) were already done and was looking at pictures, I was missing home. I wanted to get back here because we have something special. I really wanted to get back to work and end the season how we’re supposed to and then have a good outcome of it.”

“I’m eager to get back,” Sillinger said. “I think as a group, we’re eager to get back. We’ve had a lot of good practices here. After that, there’s not going to be much time to breathe (because) we’re playing hockey which is exciting.”

“There was a lot of positive things before the break, but we also know that doesn’t necessarily mean that things are just going to happen for us,” Greaves said. “We have to continue to do the right things everyday, come prepared, be ready to earn positive results and wins. We do feel there were a lot of positives but there’s a lot of urgency in this group to play good hockey and win these important games down the stretch.”

FanDuel’s Dave Maetzold reported on Wednesday that Werenski met his teammates at the hotel and appears to be ready to go for Thursday night’s big game. The players have been itching to return for a while now. They hope that the combination of Werenski winning the gold and their confidence especially from before the break will be enough to propel them to a playoff spot.

The Blue Jackets play their final 26 games in the next 48 days. The talking is over. Let the games begin.