Knies and McCabe were among the Americans smiling ear-to-ear when you stepped foot in the Maple Leafs' dressing room on Sunday.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have several Canadians and Americans on their team. Still, everyone was thrilled to see captain Auston Matthews with a gold medal around his neck on Sunday morning after defeating Canada in overtime.
"It was so fun to watch, especially in overtime, what a way to do it," said US-born Matthew Knies, who represented the Americans at the 2022 Olympics. "So happy for (Matthews) and USA in general."
Most of the Maple Leafs watched the gold medal game from inside their practice facility ahead of a practice later in the day.
Head coach Craig Berube and his staff watched it in the coaches' office. The players had numerous places to watch the game, whether in the gym, the players' lounge, or right in the dressing room.
"We had a meeting as soon as the game was over," Bobby McMann told The Hockey News, "and then 30 minutes later we're on the ice."
Entering the gold medal game, there were some entertaining behind-the-scenes moments among the Maple Leafs who had skin in the Canada-United States Olympic final.
"There's a lot of loud guys," Knies smiled.
"(Steven Lorentz) was loud, (Scott Laughton) was loud. The Americans were a little quieter until we won, to be honest. But yeah, it was a fun time to be with each other."
Knies was also pretty vocal, McMann revealed.
"We all kind of turn into fans a little bit, the way we're watching the game. You're not watching it for the systems or anything," McMann continued. "You're just watching it back and forth, watching the puck. So yeah, we were yelling back and forth.
"(Jake McCabe) was yelling a good amount. (Simon Benoit) was into it, too, for the Canadian side."
But when Jack Hughes won the game for the Americans in overtime, the Maple Leafs' focus shifted from cheering for their country to being happy for Matthews, who was bringing a gold medal back to Toronto.
"It's sweet," McMann said.
"It's going to be so cool. Really happy for him. Been in the US program for a long time. He's the leader of that group, and it's pretty special that he was able to pull that one out with those guys. I can't wait to talk to him about it, and hopefully I get to see that medal at some point."
All along, Berube has said he's cheering for his players first over his home country, Canada.
So when Matthews put the gold medal around his neck, all the head coach could do was smile and be proud of his player, who finished the Olympics with three goals and seven points, including an assist in the final, through six games.
"It's great for him. We're very happy for Auston. Congrats to him and the USA team," Berube said.
"He's obviously the captain of the team and a leader there, so I thought he had a great Olympics, and their team won. So he'll come back, should be pretty excited, and a big boost for him, anytime you win something like that. It's good. Happy for him."
Because the Canadians lost to the US, the Canada-born players on the Maple Leafs owe the American-born players a dinner.
Where and what that will be remains to be seen, but: "I think there's gonna be a party over there (in Milan, Italy)," Knies grinned, "so we're gonna celebrate over here."