The U.S. hockey team won the gold medals at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games this year. The team included at least two players of Ukrainian descent — brothers Matthew Tkachuk and Brady Tkachuk. Besides them, there is another star player who most likely does not have Ukrainian roots, but in his hockey career owes his growth and success precisely to Ukrainian factors. We are talking about Auston Matthews — the legendary American hockey player.
Briefly about his hockey achievements: participant in the NHL All-Star Game in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, and 2024; winner of the Maurice Richard Trophy in 2021, 2022, and 2024; winner of the Calder Memorial Trophy in 2017; member of the NHL All-Rookie Team in 2017; member of the NHL Second All-Star Team in 2021; member of the NHL First All-Star Team in 2022; winner of the Hart Memorial Trophy in 2022; winner of the Ted Lindsay Award in 2022. To this should be added numerous records and personal accomplishments: in his first two games for the Toronto Maple Leafs, he scored two hat tricks; he was selected captain for the 2024 NHL All-Star Game; he became the ninth player in NHL history to reach 60 goals in a season for the second time; on April 6, 2024, he recorded his 100th point of the season; he became the first American to captain the Toronto Maple Leafs; on January 3, 2026, Matthews scored his 421st goal, surpassing Mats Sundin as the top goal-scorer in Toronto Maple Leafs history. And, of course, there is the 2026 Olympic gold medal. Incidentally, in the final game Auston Matthews was the captain of his team and, as its leader, guided it to the championship.
Impressive, is it not? This entire body of work — and, I am sure, future successes as well — has its foundation, which consists of many factors. Among these key factors in Matthews’ personal and professional development, there is one that is connected to Ukraine and Ukrainian hockey.
His Formation as a Hockey Player
It should immediately be noted here that a decisive role in Matthews’ development as a hockey player was played by a Ukrainian specialist — Borys Dorozhenko. Borys Dorozhenko is a figure who deserves a separate story of his own. Here, however, I will focus on his coaching role in the development of Auston Matthews and other famous hockey players, NHL stars, and world-class legends.
In particular, the website of the Ice Hockey Federation of Ukraine writes the following: “a figure who is, without exaggeration, legendary… Borys Dorozhenko was considered a top hockey specialist… Among his students is Andrii Denyskin, one of the best contemporary Ukrainian hockey players. However, the specialist fully realized his coaching potential overseas… It is enough to mention just one name and surname — Auston Matthews. The 24-year-old Toronto Maple Leafs forward was recently named the most valuable player of the 2021/2022 season in the National Hockey League. Mr. Dorozhenko is one of those figures who made a substantial contribution to the hockey development of the American star. And not only his, but that of many other NHL players as well.”
U.S. media wrote the following: “Matthews came through the Arizona minor leagues and benefited greatly from working with Brad Bayer, Ron Filion, and Boris Dorozhenko — prominent figures in the world of youth hockey and player development programs. In particular, Boris Dorozhenko’s ‘Next Generation Hockey’ school is a highly structured program with incredibly inventive drills designed to improve the key aspects of a hockey player’s game, with an emphasis on skating.”
Matthews’ father said the following: “Despite the relatively small number of rinks in Arizona, there is a very high concentration of coaches, including non-NHL specialists such as Brad Bayer, Ron Filion, and Boris Dorozhenko, who played an important role in Matthews’ development.”
This is what Borys Dorozhenko himself said about working with Auston Matthews: “I worked with Auston Matthews from childhood for ten years. More than that, he is practically like a member of our family. We are friends with his parents. His mother is Mexican, and his father is an American who speaks Spanish very well. And after leaving Ukraine, I worked in Mexico for a long time. That is where my knowledge of Spanish comes from. Auston’s father Brian calls me brother, and I call him the same. His brother died at a young age because of lung problems, and he accepted me as a member of the family. Auston’s grandfather and grandmother became like my American parents.” Borys’ account resembles a warm family story. It is very emotional and touching. After all, Borys came from Ukraine to Mexico, and then continued to develop his hockey project in the United States. There he found considerable support from the parents of his students. One may even confidently say that he found a second family in the United States.
I will not now describe in detail the many years of cooperation between the Ukrainian specialist and the future American NHL star. Instead, I will focus on one more unique and interesting Ukrainian factor in Matthews’ sports career. About this truly historic moment, Borys Dorozhenko said the following: “I think very few people know that in childhood Auston Matthews managed to play for Druzhba-78.”
An American on the Druzhba-78 Team (Kharkiv, Ukraine)
Now it is worth telling a little more about the Druzhba-78 team. The club was founded by Ivan Pravilov in the early 1980s in Kharkiv (at that time Ukraine was occupied by the USSR). The training methods used by the team were innovative for that time. And indeed, the skill level of the young Ukrainian hockey players only kept growing, and their results at both the national and international levels pleasantly surprised parents and coaches and impressed specialists even overseas. First and foremost in the United States and Canada, where the Ukrainian team Druzhba-78 repeatedly traveled for competitions.
About one of the many tours of the Ukrainian team to the United States in 1993, the press wrote the following: “This summer, from July 30 to August 10, a youth hockey team from the city of Kharkiv stayed in the twin cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis. If one can imagine something extraordinarily perfect, for comparison something like the youth choir ‘Shchedryk’ from Kyiv, which this spring charmed listeners in many cities of North America with its beautiful voices, then the hockey team Druzhba-78 belongs in that same league of something extraordinary — perfect hockey on ice skates. Spectators, even those who had seen hockey for the first time in their lives, were enchanted by these boys, and the organizers and participants of the tournament could hardly believe such perfect technical execution.” What a favorable review! Even more than that — it was a complete victory for the Ukrainian hockey players in the United States, both on the ice and among the fans. The players of Druzhba-78 captivated the large Ukrainian community in the United States. The attention of leading specialists and scouts from U.S. and Canadian hockey clubs was also closely focused on the Ukrainian players.
A leading figure of the Ukrainian diaspora in the United States, Oleksander Polets, proudly predicted victories for the young Ukrainians at world championships or success at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. And these were not groundless predictions, but the reality of those years in Ukrainian youth hockey.
So, that year in Minnesota, the most prestigious summer international festival-tournament among youth hockey teams in the world took place. It featured the best teams from the United States (from the states of Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota), Canada, Druzhba-78, and four teams from Russia. In total, there were 79 teams.
Unfortunately, Druzhba-78 encountered certain obstacles in getting to the United States. But all the challenges were overcome thanks to the Ukrainian diaspora in the United States. The following was written about this: “Of course, the American and Canadian teams have funds to participate in such events, someone sponsored the four Russian teams, while the Ukrainian team only managed with difficulty to get to the city of Washington, where they participated in a minor tournament there (it is said ‘with difficulty’ because enemies in Ukraine were always putting obstacles in their way; in the end they traveled to America through Moscow).” This is ужасаюче. What young Ukrainian hockey players were forced to endure in order to get to the United States to participate in tournaments.
Fortunately, the Ukrainian community, represented by Ivan Kramarchuk (head of the student club and a member of the Ukrainian Youth Association of America) from Minnesota, resolved all the inconveniences faced by the young Ukrainian hockey players. It turned out that Ivan had already witnessed the skill of the Ukrainian hockey players in Chicago the previous year. And now he decided to organize a fundraising campaign to ensure Druzhba-78 could safely travel to the international tournament. There was very little time — only a week to resolve all the organizational problems connected with the team’s arrival. It was also necessary to arrange for the organizers to include the Ukrainian team in the tournament schedule.
The entire local Ukrainian community raised funds. The rest of the money came from concerned individuals. In the end, $5,000 was collected. This was enough for the Ukrainian team to feel comfortable during the trip and throughout the tournament. With its play, Druzhba-78 sincerely thanked its Ukrainian supporters in the United States. Newspapers wrote about it as follows: “What happened during the tournament cannot be described. The kind of publicity created by these young hockey players and their coach Ivan Pravilov cannot be bought for any amount of money. Wonderful play, impeccable discipline, the players’ unprecedented restraint, and the coach’s control of the game were so evident that all those present could not come out of their amazement. But the greatest satisfaction and pride was felt by our local youth. A large group of SUM and ODUM members with flags greeted every victory of the Ukrainian team — and they had one in every game. It was wonderful to see the Ukrainian flag displayed, to hear the Ukrainian anthem, to see shirts being sold on which the Ukrainian flag was printed together with others, and most importantly, to see the Ukrainian team in first place in this major tournament.” This is just one example of how skillful, strong, and also patriotic the Ukrainian youth were.
For such excellent bearing and skillful play, the Ukrainian community in the United States repeatedly supported Ukrainian athletes in general and the hockey players of Druzhba-78 in particular. During one of the team’s subsequent tours of the United States, the Ukrainian youth received hockey uniforms, equipment, and financial support as gifts. Among the donors were benefactors from New Jersey and Philadelphia (the Credit Union in Newark-Whippany, USVT “Chornomorska Sich,” Whippany, USO “Tryzub,” Philadelphia), as well as many individual donors. One of the most active enthusiasts dealing with organizational matters and fundraising was Myron Byts.
How, then, did Auston Matthews end up on the Druzhba-78 roster? Borys Dorozhenko gives the answer to this question: “At one point Pravilov called me and asked for one or two children who could strengthen his team at the children’s world championship in the ‘PV’ category in Quebec. The training camp was held in New Jersey. Matthews was 11 or 12 years old. The most interesting thing is that Auston only made it in time for the second period of the game against the Devils school — he went straight from the plane to the game.” That is how life and sports sometimes work. Coincidences are not accidental.
How did young Auston Matthews play for Druzhba-78? Again, we read Borys Dorozhenko’s answer: “After the match Pravilov called me and said words he rarely ever said. ‘Borys Yuriiovych, I take my hat off to you. Your boy arrived and outplayed everyone here. He came straight from the plane, made it in time for the second period, and scored three goals in one period. This boy will be a star. Remember these words.’ Those words stayed with me. It was unlike Pravilov. He was a very restrained and secretive man who controlled everyone around him and never praised anyone.” It turns out that Auston so impressed the coach of the Ukrainian club with his extraordinary play that he predicted huge success for him in hockey.
An interesting fact is that not only young Ukrainian players traveled to the United States — the reverse also happened. Can you imagine that? In the early 2000s, young people from the United States, Mexico, and the Czech Republic came to Ukraine to improve their skills. About this “miracle,” the American press wrote the following: “Thirteen athletes from the U.S. women’s Olympic hockey team arrived to prepare for the new season in Sievierodonetsk, Luhansk region.” All of them were trained by the founder of Druzhba-78. Probably, this too had an impact on the development of women’s hockey in the United States. And perhaps the success of the U.S. women’s national hockey team at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games also has roots in the Ukrainian factor. After all, the international press writes that Hanna Bilka, who has Ukrainian roots, became an Olympic champion as part of Team USA.
So, we truly have every reason to be proud of whom and what we have!
Author: Oleksii Lyakh-Porodko
