Mar 01, 2026
3 min read
When it comes to North American hockey's neighbors, not much is good.
Contrary to the epigram, when it comes to the United States vs. Canada in hotly contested hockey, nothing seems too much.
Italy has extinguished the burning flame of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo.
Sorry Ohio State vs. Michigan, Duke vs. North Carolina, Boston College vs. Boston University, Red Sox vs. Yankees, Ravens vs. Steelers, Josh Allen vs. Patrick Mahomes, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver vs. Tanking and New York Jets vs. Competency, USA vs. Canada on ice - both men's and women's competitive teams are now the best sports. North America's neighbors gave us two memorable and epic gold medal games at the Cortina Olympics in Milan,both with golden goals in overtime for Team USA's 2-1 victory.
Take a bow for Megan Keller and Jack Hughes, lifelong legends at the Eruzion level.Following Hughes' tie, the men captured their first gold since the iconic 1980 Winter Olympics and their first gold in a Games not held on American soil.Boston Fleet captain and BC product Keller Stick, when the U.S. women introduced skaters to the Five Rings Festival in 1998, won gold for the third time since then.
High-stakes (duty-free) hockey was the best the sport had to offer, as can be seen in these parts of the early games between the Red Sox and the Yankees and the Patriots and the Colts - dramatic, intense and exciting.They are matches that hit that sweet spot where they feel familiar yet unpredictable at the same time, thus causing the heightened excitement of victory and the pain of defeat.
Losing hurts more because they are.
"It's the best rivalry in sports," Canadian women's team captain Marie-Philippe Poulin said after her team's loss.One small correction, Marie-Philippe: no articles are required by the sport.It's the best competition in sports, say the Brits.
The ingredients of any great sporting rivalry are passion, entitlement, rivalry and animosity.Canada vs. USA in hockey knit it all on these sweaters.They stand for national pride and stand in each other's way.
All but one of the eight Olympic women's hockey gold medal games have featured the United States and Canada.Now Canada 4, US 3.
This century, the U.S. men lost to Canada in the 2002 Olympic gold medal in Salt Lake City and Sidney Crosby's golden goal in the 2010 Vancouver Games.Canada's All-Stars lost against the red, white and blue in the 4 Nations final at TD Garden last February, and Connor McDavid did what he couldn't do in Sunday's gold medal game.- in extra time, he passed the puck past American goalkeeper Conor Hellebak.
Watching two gold medal games is a must for sports fans: exciting, mentally exhausting, but awesome.
I could watch the men play each other for a month straight, given how cold war their rivalry is.The American skaters have made no secret of their desire for the Canadian Dream Team in the gold medal game.
“This is the final we wanted and the team we wanted to play,” said Matt Boldi, discussing Millis, who scored the Americans' first goal in the gold medal game.“It's fun for the fans and it's fun for hockey.”
It's time to admit that even though the competition is equally hot on the men's and women's side, it's not equal.
America is the favorite and heavyweight among women.They have bent the ice to the south.They have beaten Canada eight times in a row.
Someone tells the president that most of their games were laughs.Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman admitted he and his USA Hockey teammates shouldn't have played in front of a docile studio audience because of President Trump's humor, which undermined the achievements of their female counterparts.
The men's version of the North American Hockey League was more fractured.The teams have given you an edge-of-the-seat look at their 4 Nations competition.
Thanks to the NHL Players' Association for pushing for a return to the Olympic stage after the league shelved players for PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022. Sometimes the NHL wins despite that.
The Yankees, who finished 6–0, had not defeated Canada in the medal game in the best-of-one tournament since they won the World Cup of Hockey in 1996, defeating their rivals 5–2 in the deciding game of the best-of-three finals.
Unfazed by hockey's Harlem Globetrotters, the United States prevailed with an American attitude, guts, great individual effort to win on the wings with both goals and scoring for the ages from three-time Vezina Trophy winner and reigning NHL MVP Hellebuyck.
Hellebuyck's divine prevention of all but Canada's Devon Toews will forever be a part of American hockey history that will be referenced in bars, rinks and bases.He alone, never saving his 41st overtime, is worthy of the President's Medal of Freedom.
While American players are celebrated by their government for days, the absence of gold for Canadians is a national calamity and cause for soul-searching.This is exacerbated by the current state of relations between the countries.You know, all those 51st state provocations by President Trump.
Always pushed into America's shadow, despite having a high geographical area, it will be difficult for Canada to lose to us in a game so close to their national identity.
Almost as soon as Hughes whistled the puck past Jordan Binnington, there were groans and consternation from north of the border about the players Canadian general manager Doug Armstrong cut with an embarrassing list of riches who looked embarrassed to accept those silver medals.
It would be similar to Toronto-born Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.and the Canadian men's basketball team defeating the USA Basketball Dream Team to win gold at the Summer Olympics.
Only one country won the gold medal in the USA-Canada hockey tournament, but we, as fans of the sport, were rewarded by the strength of both countries.
Best.Rivalry.Going.
Christopher L.Gasper is a Globe columnist.He can be reached at christopher.gasper@globe.com.Follow him @cgasper and on Instagram @cgaspersports.
