Isaac Howard on winning gold, Cutter Gauthier, free Chipotle

Jan 11, 2024, 10:00 AM ET

Isaac Howard knows how to make an impression.

At the 2022 NHL draft, when he was selected 31st overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning, Howard wore a vivid white suit, a blue turtleneck and a gold chain, tying it all together with an American-flag belt buckle. He declared himself “the best-looking guy here” during an interview with ESPN’s Emily Kaplan.

At the 2024 world junior championships in Sweden, Howard scored seven goals in seven games to help the Americans win gold, including two in the championship final against the home team.

He goes by “Ike.” He goes by “Ice Man,” a nickname from his dad because he wouldn’t ever get off the ice as a kid. He’s a sophomore star at Michigan State. And he just earned free Chipotle food for a year.

Howard joined “The Drop,” ESPN’s hockey podcast, for a conversation that covered everything from the world juniors to Cutter Gauthier rejecting the Philadelphia Flyers to Alex Ovechkin.

“The Drop” has new episodes Tuesday and Thursday each week, available on all podcast platforms and on YouTube on the “NHL on ESPN” feeds. Enjoy!

Where does the gold medal go?

Howard: I haven’t thought about that yet, to be honest. I’m thinking probably just hanging it next to my bed just so I can see that every day, you know what I mean? It’s a fun thing to look at, so I’ll probably just put it up on, like, a hanger in my room.

The gold-medal game was awesome against the Swedes. Obviously very intense. What was the deal with the brawl at the end of the game? And on top of that, how would you describe your teammate Lane Hudson’s fighting style?

Howard: The emotions were high in that gold-medal game. They were kind of looking for something at the end of the game and a couple things led to another. And then Huddy got in a nice little scrap there and I thought he did good. Like he kind of dodged a big right hand and was able to take the guy down. And it just added to how fun the win was. Everyone on the bench was going nuts and loving it.