United States eager for ‘battle of the ages’ against Canada for Olympic gold medal

MILAN -- And so, it comes down to this.

The Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 -- the first Olympics showcasing NHL players in 12 years -- will climax with Team USA taking on Team Canada 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).

The Americans earned another shot at their nemesis with a 6-2 win against Team Slovakia in the semifinals Friday, and they will try to win gold in men’s hockey for the first time since the “Miracle on Ice” team did it at Lake Placid in 1980.

“It’s best on best,” forward Matthew Tkachuk said. “It’s what every American and Canadian grows up watching, grows up caring about. This is the pinnacle of the sport. This is as good as it gets and a rivalry that’s as good as it gets, so there will be not one TV without this game on in the United States and Canada, and that should get you pretty fired up.”

Forward Dylan Larkin said: “It’s going to be a battle of the ages, I think.”

This group of Americans has been waiting for this opportunity for a year, since Connor McDavid scored in overtime to give Canada a 3-2 win against the United States in the championship game of the 4 Nations Face-Off on Feb. 20, 2025.

USA Hockey has been waiting for it since 2010, when Sidney Crosby scored in overtime to give Canada a 3-2 win against the U.S. in the gold medal game of the Vancouver Olympics, and since 2002, when the U.S. lost to Canada 5-2 in the gold medal game of the Salt Lake City Olympics.

The United States hasn’t defeated Canada in a winner-take-all game in a best-on-best tournament since the last time it won a best-on-best tournament, defeating Canada 5-2 in Game 3 of the best-of-3 final of the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. Keith Tkachuk -- the father of forwards Matthew and Brady Tkachuk -- was on that team.

“Can’t really script it any better than that,” Brady Tkachuk said. “I mean, I know for us, it’s just, all we cared about was putting ourselves in that position. Didn’t really matter who we were going to play. But now that it’s all set in stone, everything happens for a reason.”

To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best. Canada is the best until proven otherwise. The Canadians have won the past four best-on-best tournaments, including the last two Olympics with NHL players: Sochi in 2014, when they defeated Team USA 1-0 in the semifinals, and Vancouver.

But the Canadians have looked human in their past two games. They trailed 2-1 and 3-2 against Team Czechia in the quarterfinals Wednesday before Mitch Marner scored to give them a 4-3 win in overtime. They trailed Team Finland 2-0 in the semifinals Friday before Nathan MacKinnon scored with 35.2 seconds left to give them a 3-2 win.

Crosby left with a lower-body injury against the Czechs and didn’t play against the Finns.

And the Americans just gave their best performance of the tournament. They were one shot away from defeating Canada a year ago and brought back 21 players from 4 Nations -- plus defenseman Quinn Hughes, who was supposed to play but couldn’t due to an oblique injury. He leads Team USA with seven points (one goal, six assists) in five games.

“I think this American team is the best team that I’ve ever been around,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “This group of players has a certain personality to them that is contagious with their energy and resilience, and their care for one another and how hard they play for each other, and that excites me about just having the opportunity to compete with these guys. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

A gold medal would leave a legacy for this generation of American players, many of whom played at the USA Hockey National Team Development Program and have worn the red, white and blue at international tournaments at various levels.

“We all take a lot of pride in wearing this sweater and what that means and representing USA Hockey and being that sort of new wave of players representing our country,” center Jack Eichel said. “To be here at the Olympics, it’s such an honor. Yeah, we understand the magnitude of it, and it’s been a minute since USA Hockey’s won a tournament like this, so we’re going to do everything we can to try to change that.”

A gold medal would inspire the next generation, the way the World Cup title did in 1996, the way the “Miracle on Ice” did in 1980.

“Chills, honestly,” Larkin said of what he feels when he thinks of that possibility. “Maybe we wouldn’t even realize the impact it would have. I hope the way this tournament has gone and how everyone has seemed to want the U.S.-Canada final, hopefully it’s really building some tension and people are excited about Sunday, as we are.”