MILAN — Rematch.
Dream match.
This time for gold.
One country is going for three straight Olympic championships with NHL participation.
The other has been waiting since the miracle of 1980 to leave golden.
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Keep up with Olympic men’s hockey
The men’s hockey tournament at Milano Cortina 2026 runs from Feb. 11-22. Follow along with all the scores and standings.
Here is what the members of Team USA had to say about facing Team Canada immediately after the 2026 Winter Games hockey final got set in stone….
Matthew Tkachuk: “Best on best. It’s what every American and Canadian grows up watching, grows up hearing 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. There will be not one TV without this game on in the United States and in Canada — and that should get you pretty fired up.”
Quinn Hughes: “We have a really great team, great coaching staff. Understand the system well. We’re competitive. And all the things that make us confident should make them confident as well.
“And if we played them in a best-of-seven, it probably goes seven. So, it’s just going to be whoever’s better on that day. You want to go through the best. And right now, that’s them after winning 4 Nations. And I think we got a great opportunity to try to win gold.”
Jack Hughes: “(Our) group, we believe it’s the best group in the whole tournament, best group in the world. So, we’re really proud Americans, and we’re excited to have the chance at the gold medal.”
Charlie McAvoy: “This group has just been incredible to be a part of. It’s been the time of my life playing in this tournament, really. It doesn’t get any better than this. I think this team is extremely close, and I think that we’ve gotten better every game. So, going into Sunday, I hope it’ll be our best one yet.”
Brady Tkachuk: “Just can’t reality script it any better than that. I know for us, all we cared about was putting ourselves in that position. Didn’t really matter who we were gonna play. Now that it’s all set in stone, everything happens for a reason.”
Zach Werenski: “I expect it to be high tempo, high pace, physical. We’re excited for it. It’s the matchup everyone wanted, and we didn’t want to look ahead too far. We knew we had to get through Sweden, get through Slovakia, and now that it’s finally here, we can shift our focus to Canada.”
J.T. Miller: “Well, there’s no fighting. I expect a hard-fought game, the same as it was the last two times we played them.”
Dylan Larkin: “It’s what everyone wanted, this matchup in the gold medal game. Yeah, I’ve thought about it a lot. It’s going to be a battle of the ages.”
Matt Boldy: “It’s the final that we wanted and the team that we wanted to play. It’s exciting for the fans and for hockey and everything like that.
Jack Eichel: “It was a great opportunity for us last year (at 4 Nations). We weren’t able to get the job done. It was a really tight game. I mean, one play here, there, right? They end up making the extra play, and they’re the champions of that tournament. So, it’s a great opportunity for us to go win this one.”
Connor Hellebuyck: “I’m gonna be honest. I’m not thinking about it right now. I’m gonna enjoy the win and then prepare tomorrow.”
Mike Sullivan: “Canada is an elite team. They’re one of the very best. We think we’re an elite team, also. And when I look at the players that we’ve assembled in our locker room, I’ve never been around a better team and from a talent standpoint, character standpoint. And we’re proud of this group, and we’re going to go out and try to play our game.”
Vincent Trocheck: “It’s a gold medal. I don’t think you need any more motivation than that…. This is what you’re dreaming of here, right?”
