BRADENTON, Fla. — The images on the TV screen in the Pirates’ clubhouse at LECOM Park were instantly iconic. In the aftermath of one of the greatest gold medal hockey games ever played Sunday, there were the members of Team USA, draped in American flags and forever bonded by what they had just accomplished together in a 2-1 overtime win over Canada.
Pirates ace Paul Skenes watched as the Americans celebrated the country’s first Olympic gold medal in men’s hockey since the famed “Miracle on Ice” in 1980 — 22 years before he was born.
“It’s pretty cool,” Skenes said, eyes glued to the screen. “It’s what we’re walking into.”
Skenes, the former Air Force cadet turned Cy Young winner, altered the trajectory of the American entry in the 2026 World Baseball Classic when he committed to the cause early.
After Team USA won the global baseball event in 2017, manager Mark DeRosa’s squad had no trouble recruiting some of the best position players in the game in 2023. But the country’s top pitchers were a tougher sell … until Skenes became the 2026 club’s pitching pillar. Tarik Skubal, Logan Webb and other All-Star arms followed in line, and now Team USA has one of the best baseball rosters ever assembled.
With multiple family members having served in the military, the 23-year-old Skenes takes his commitment to his country seriously. And those Olympic images only intensify his excitement for the World Baseball Classic, which for Team USA formally begins with pool play against Brazil on March 6 in Houston.
Though admittedly no hockey expert (and somewhat reluctant to root against a Canadian team that had Penguins hero Sidney Crosby on its roster), Skenes knows what that moment meant to the Americans on the ice.
“I watched the movie ‘Miracle,’ and I’ve watched the Olympics and the 2017 WBC when Team USA won,” said Skenes, who has donned a belt with a small image of the American flag and red, white and blue cleats during this camp. “And I’ve also gotten the chance to play for Team USA a couple times. We haven’t won the gold yet. It’s not a good feeling to go to another country and lose to them. We’re looking to change that.”
Come March 1, Skenes will be departing the Pirates’ Grapefruit League grounds and head off to Arizona to train with Team USA. Those images he saw Sunday only intensified his desire to return to the Buccos in March with the gold-medal goal accomplished.
“It’s bigger than all of us,” he said of representing the U.S. in the World Baseball Classic.
