02/22/26 02:11:00
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02/22 02:10 CST It's on: US and Canada face off for Olympic gold in men's
hockey as Winter Games come to a close
It's on: US and Canada face off for Olympic gold in men's hockey as Winter
Games come to a close
By STEPHEN WHYNO
AP Hockey Writer
MILAN (AP) --- It had to be the U.S. and Canada for Olympic gold.
As the 4 Nations Face-Off a year ago showed, the North American powerhouses are
atop the hockey world on the international stage. They proved it at this
tournament, with the U.S. going through Sweden and Canada getting past Czechia
and Finland to make the most-anticipated final possible happen.
A gold medal would still mean everything to the players and coaches involved,
but it feels right to have the two border rivals as the last teams standing in
Milan.
"If you're going to get through to your goal, you're going to probably have to
go through them at some point," U.S. winger Matthew Tkachuk said. "They've had
the success in pretty much all the Olympics that NHL players have been going
to. Two great teams, and I can only speak for ourselves, we're just so excited
for this opportunity, honored to represent our country and honored to be in
this position."
Canada won the past two Olympics where NHL players participated, in 2010 and
2014. The U.S. has not taken home gold in men's hockey since the 1980 "Miracle
on Ice" team.
That's ancient history. These countries have more recent history from two epic
4 Nations games, including the first one that opened with three fights in nine
seconds. Fighting is not allowed at the Olympics, though Canada's Tom Wilson
didn't care about the automatic ejection when he dropped the gloves against
France.
"There's no fighting (but) I expect a hard-fought game, the same as it was the
last two times we played them," U.S. forward J.T. Miller said.
Canada may be shorthanded: Captain Sidney Crosby left the quarterfinal game
against Czechia with an apparent right knee injury and did not play in the
semifinal against Finland, when his teammates rallied from a two-goal deficit
to advance to the final.
The U.S. should be at full strength after winger Tage Thompson --- tied for the
team lead in goals with three --- left the semifinal against Slovakia after
blocking a shot. Thompson is expected to be good to go for what is the biggest
game of a lot of players' careers.
"Everybody that's playing is going to be 50 years old one day, not playing in
the NHL anymore and playing thousands of games hopefully, and you're going to
remember start to finish a handful of games," Tkachuk said. "This is probably
one of them."
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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
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