GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The White Sox interrupted their Sunday morning Spring Training work at Camelback Ranch to celebrate with the rest of the country as the USA men’s hockey team won the gold medal at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
Players watching televisions in three or four different areas of the clubhouse hung on every overtime move until Jack Hughes connected on the medal winner for a 2-1 victory over Canada. The White Sox players jumped to their feet as if reacting to a walk-off home run.
“That was great. I don’t really watch hockey much, but I knew it was an important game,” said left-hander Noah Schultz, who was watching the action with 16 to 18 teammates in the main clubhouse area. “It was pretty electric watching it with the guys. Go America. It was great. Hard to believe.
“I didn’t even see it go in. I just heard everyone else kind of screaming so I stood up and kind of joined in. It was great. Definitely something we won’t forget. That was awesome.”
Manager Will Venable was able to see the end of the third period and the overtime while preparing for Sunday’s 5-2 victory over the Brewers at Camelback Ranch. He also called the finish “awesome.”
Hockey picked up a number of new fans through Sunday’s exciting finish, not to mention the gold medal earned by the USA women’s hockey team in overtime against Canada. Count the No. 49 prospect overall per MLB Pipeline among that group as Schultz watched the moving medal ceremony with his teammates.
Although at 6-foot-10, 240 pounds, Schultz knows he picked the right sport in playing baseball.
“I’m not joining hockey any time soon,” said a smiling Schultz. “I don’t really know too much about hockey, but it looks hard enough and then it’s on the ice. You have to take into account skating and all that. I can’t even imagine. It was impressive. It was pretty special to watch.”
STARTING OPTIONS
Sean Burke and Mike Vasil, who are both battling for rotation spots during Spring Training, pitched Sunday as the White Sox improved to 3-0 in Cactus League action.
Burke, who was the team’s Opening Day starter in '25, struck out one in two scoreless innings. Vasil, who posted a 2.50 ERA over 47 games, walked two while giving up one run over 1 1/3 innings.
“I’m more process oriented and that’s what’s the most frustrating about today, not getting ahead, not doing the little things we talked about,” Vasil said. “But that’s why I’ve got another one coming up to be able to crush those goals.”
“Obviously you want to make strides and work on things and get good results in spring,” Burke said. “But the main goal is taking care of your body and building up that workload so you're ready to go for the season."
Vasil made three starts over his 47 appearances in '25 and will have a role on the Opening Day roster even if it’s not as a starter.
“We’re going to see where it all shakes out here at the end, but certainly someone who’s deserved this opportunity to compete for a rotation spot,” Venable said. “We want to give that to him. Just know he’s somebody we can use in a lot of different ways.”
MURAKAMI AT WORK
There were no traffic issues for first baseman Munetaka Murakami’s second start, as he smiled and said he just walked from the clubhouse to Camelback Ranch. Murakami finished 0-for-2 at the plate, but made a nice catch near the White Sox dugout of a Jeferson Quero foul popup in the fifth.
“Once I got to it, there was a fence right over here, so I was pretty surprised, but I'm really glad that I got it,” said Murakami through interpreter Kenzo Yagi. “Just practicing on all the basics and fundamentals to keep me prepared for any kind of ball in play.”
Murakami is scheduled as the designated hitter Monday at the Rockies, with a day off Tuesday and then playing back-to-back on Wednesday and Thursday. He leaves Thursday for the World Baseball Classic with Team Japan.