Joseph Scheller/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Team USA will head into the 2026 Winter Olympics as the slight favorite to win the gold in women’s hockey. The squad will be looking to bounce back after settling for a silver in Beijing, and Abbey Murphy showed she is more than ready for what’s in store with the absurd assist she pulled off while gearing up during a game at Minnesota.
Canada and the United States are the only two countries that have earned a gold medal in women’s hockey since the event debuted at the Winter Olympics in Nagano in 1998.
Team USA won the inaugural tournament before their foes to the north rattled off four consecutive wins, and while the Americans were able to snap that streak in PyeongChang, the Canadians will head to Italy trying to go back-to-back after ending up on the top of the podium in 2022.
The 2026 Games will be a swan song for legendary Team USA captain Hilary Knight, who will be aiming to add a second gold to a collection that also boasts three silvers. She’ll be helming a team comprised of a number of fellow veterans as well as some younger stars they’ll be passing the torch to, and Abbey Murphy has given fans a reason to be very excited for the future thanks to a dangle she pulled off during an NCAA game.
Minnesota forward Abbey Murphy was responsible for one of the best assists you’ll ever see in a hockey game
Murphy made her Olympic debut in 2022 at the age of 19, but she didn’t have a major impact during a tournament where she notched a lone assist in the seven games she appeared in.
The Illinois native has been honing her skills at the University of Minnesota since joining the Golden Gophers as a freshman in 2020, and she’s emerged as one of the best players (and biggest pests) in the country while more than ensuring she’d be tapped to return to the Olympics in 2026.
Murphy is currently in the midst of her final season at Minnesota as a graduate student, and the team was sitting at #3 in the country with a 16-4 record heading into a home-and-home with #12 Minnesota State over the weekend.
The Golden Gophers improved to 18-4 with a couple of wins over the Mavericks. Murphy had three goals and an assist in an 11-3 effort on Friday, and she was responsible for three more points with an additional tally and a couple of helpers in a 4-3 victory on Saturday.
However, none of her contributions were more remarkable than the assist that stemmed from the move she pulled off to give her team a 2-0 lead in that second contest.
Minnesota was up one with around four minutes to go in the first period when Murphy broke up the ice with the puck and zoomed into the Minnesota State zone before undressing Lauren Zawoyski by lobbing the biscuit to herself, batting it down between the defender’s legs, and dishing a pass that Anabella Fanale deposited into the back of the net.
This view of Abbey Murphy’s assist to Bella Fanale yesterday is ridiculous. The guts to try this at full speed, and skill to pull it off…she’s a fun player to watch. pic.twitter.com/9UcKBdAyAg
— Ian Kennedy (@IanKennedyCK) January 11, 2026
Unreal.
We’ll get our first look at Murphy and the rest of Team USA when they face off against Czechia at Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena on February 5th.