Mac Engel: Team Canada hockey player reveals what he did with his Olympic 'stuffie'

Mac Engel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Feb 27, 2026

Published in Olympics

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

DALLAS — One of the most powerful images from the 2026 Winter Olympics is that of the members of the Canadian men’s hockey team wearing their silver medals while being handed a stuffed animal.

Here’s this adorable stuffed animal to go with the silver medal you don’t want.

There were some of the best hockey players in the world — All Stars, Hall of Famers, badasses — wearing expressions as if they were responsible for the death of a beloved family member while holding a cute stuffie.

In the case of the medal ceremony, however, it’s a reminder that when God closes a window, He may just offer a nice parting gift. These players could make bank on these stuffies.

The Tina the Stoat mascot plush toy from the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina was the hot item of the Games; one where the manufacturers did not produce enough, which drove up the demand and the price.

The going rate for that stuffie is $440 on EBay. Even after taxes, put that on a DRIP, and it can buy maybe two new tires (if it’s a sedan).

Dallas Stars defenseman Thomas Harley is one of the members of Team Canada who is now the lucky owner of one of those prized stuffies.

“I just kind of stuck it in my bag,” he said Wednesday morning after the Stars’ morning skate. “I still have it. I mean, my girlfriend wanted it, so she’s getting it. That’s fine with me. I really didn’t have any use for it.”

(BTW: All medalists were handed one of the plush toys during the medal ceremonies.)

As all of Team USA celebrates its gold medals in men’s and women’s hockey via wins over the Canadians, there is the other side to this equation, and a darker set of emotions.

The gold-medal games for both the men’s and women’s teams may have been ideal for the International Olympic Committee, NBC and the CBC, but the outcomes were crushing, not only for the Canadian players, but a country that claims the sport as theirs. Because it is.

Watching Canadian men lose the gold to the United States in hockey is akin to seeing the USA “win bronze” in the 2004 Summer Olympics in men’s basketball. There are some instances when anything less than first is truly a failure, however warped that might be.

You can’t win them all, but when it comes to hockey, Canada expects to win every single game. There should never be shame in silver, but for a Canadian hockey player, second will always suck.

What happened Sunday in Milan is going to take some time.

“I think looking back on it, in a couple of years, it will be pretty cool. When I’m done playing,” Harley said. “But when you go to a best-on-best tournament, and you play for Canada, anything other than gold is disappointment.

“So it’s just disappointing. That’s all.”

Every Canadian player involved understands what can happen in the game; that one man can rob you of the final score “you deserve.” Team USA goalie Connor Hellebuyck did that, and gave his team enough time to score the golden goal.

In the case of the women’s gold-medal game, Team USA was the far better team, but needed overtime to win. For the men, Canada was the far better team, but did not capitalize on the one good scoring chance it created in overtime, or the many others in regulation.

For the American players, winning gold for the first time since 1980 in men’s hockey was the goal, but to do it against Canada solidified the accomplishment. Similar to defeating the Soviet Union in the semifinals of the 1980 Olympics; for the Americans to win gold in both tournaments required a win against the best team in the field.

“It would feel great no matter who you played, but I think Canada is the standard for a long time in men’s and women’s,” Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger said Wednesday. He was a backup goalie for Team USA. “They are the measuring stick. Couldn’t have drawn it up better for hockey to have it USA-Canada overtime. Incredible for the game, and a great ending for USA hockey.”

And it came with a stuffie, too.