Canada, U.S. playing for gold medal at Olympics ‘a celebration of hockey’

MILAN -- The ad aired on NBC even before the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. Actor Jon Hamm spoke to the United States men’s hockey team in a locker room to pump up the players.

“You’re going to Milan to bring home the biggest prize of all,” Hamm said.

“Canadian tears,” center Jack Eichel said, nodding.

“Exactly,” Hamm said. “Wait. What? What did Canada do?”

“Stuff,” forward Brady Tkachuk said, looking angry.

NBC cut to footage of Tkachuk fighting Canada forward Sam Bennett during the 4 Nations Face-Off last season.

The network capitalized on the U.S.-Canada rivalry in that tournament to promote the Olympics, and the countries will meet again in the gold medal game at Santagiulia Arena on Sunday (8:10 a.m. ET; Peacock, NBC, ICE Tele, CBC Gem, CBC, SN [JIP], TSN [JIP], RDS2).

“It’s the matchup everybody wanted, right?” Team Canada forward Tom Wilson said. “And I think we’re excited for it. Obviously, both teams know what each other are going to bring. It’s going to be everything that we have.”

The NHL and NHL Players’ Association staged the 4 Nations Face-Off. It featured Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States in the first best-on-best tournament since the World Cup of Hockey 2016. But two nations made it wildly successful, attracting an audience beyond the hockey world.

The U.S. defeated Canada 3-1 in an intense, physical game at Bell Centre in Montreal on Feb. 15, 2025. It was a 2-1 game until Jake Guentzel sealed it with an empty-net goal with 1:19 to go.

Then Canada defeated the U.S. 3-2 in overtime in the championship game at TD Garden in Boston five days later. The U.S. had chances in OT, but Canada center Connor McDavid scored the winning goal and authored a signature moment.

The championship game drew 16.1 million viewers across North America -- 9.3 million in the U.S. and 6.8 million in Canada. The only hockey game in a decade to draw more viewers was the Florida Panthers’ 2-1 win against the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, which drew 16.3 million across North America.

“I think if 4 Nations taught us anything, it’s how beautiful this game is and how intense it is,” Canada coach Jon Cooper said. “And if that was the appetizer, I think this is going to be the main course of having an Olympic medal at stake.”

This is the first Olympics with NHL players in 12 years. Canada wants to reassert its dominance, trying to win its fifth straight best-on-best tournament and third straight Olympic tournament with NHL players. Team USA is trying to win its first best-on-best tournament since the World Cup of Hockey in 1996 and first Olympic gold medal in men’s hockey since Lake Placid in 1980.

Each 25-man roster is stacked with NHL stars. There are too many players with too many trophies to mention. The U.S. has 21 players who played at 4 Nations. Canada has 19.

WATCH: Men's Hockey Highlights from the Olympic Winter Games

Each team feels it has improved from a year ago too. Two examples: The U.S. added Quinn Hughes, who couldn’t play at 4 Nations due to an oblique injury and won the Norris Trophy in 2023-24, when he was voted the NHL’s best defenseman. Canada added 19-year-old forward Macklin Celebrini, who ranks fourth in the NHL in scoring this season with 81 points (28 goals, 53 assists) in 55 games for the San Jose Sharks.

“Just some outrageous star power on both sides,” said U.S. forward Matthew Tkachuk, who won the Stanley Cup with the Panthers each of the past two seasons. “But it seems like when you put all these great players on one ice sheet together, it’s the defense that is probably the thing that’s most noticeable, and the tight checking. … It’s as tight of hockey as you’re going to find in the world maybe ever, so it’s going to be a great game.”

Hardcore hockey fans will tune in, even if they must get up early on a Sunday morning. Other folks will flip on NBC out of curiosity. Maybe they saw that Jon Hamm ad. Will the Americans draw Canadian tears, or will the Canadians win gold again? If these players are so fun to watch in the Olympics, what are they like in the NHL?

“In a lot of ways, it’s a celebration of hockey,” U.S. coach Mike Sullivan said. "We talked about that at the 4 Nations experience. These guys are savants with how they play the game, their creativity, the pace that they’re able to execute high-level plays at both sides. As coaches, we have the best seat in the house, and we marvel at what they do out there. These are the very best in the sport that are going to go against one another.

“I think from that standpoint, if you’re a hockey fan, regardless of where your affinity lies ... there’s no better game to watch than the one that’s going to take place tomorrow.”