USA into the men’s hockey gold medal game, a day after winning women’s hockey gold

The United States beat Slovakia 6-2 on Friday in the men’s Olympic semifinal. They will play Canada in the gold medal game, after the Canadians beat Finland 3-2 earlier in the day.

This is the first time that NHL players are playing in the men’s Olympic hockey tournament since 2014. In the last 4 Olympic hockey tournaments with NHL players, the US has made the semifinals 3 times and the finals twice.

The last time the US has been eliminated by a team other than Canada in an Olympic hockey tournament where NHL players were competing was in 2006. The US lost to Canada in the 2002 gold medal game, beat Canada in the 2010 Olympic hockey group stage, before losing in overtime to Canada in the gold medal game. The US also lost to Canada in the semifinals of the 2014 Olympic hockey tournament.

The last best on best tournament the US and Canada played was the 2024 Four Nations Faceoff. Much like the 2010 Olympic hockey tournament, the US beat Canada in the group stage, before losing to them in the gold medal game in overtime.

The last time the US won a best on best hockey tournament was the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, where the US beat Canada in 3 of their 4 games. This is considered the best US hockey team ever assembled. But Canada also has one of, if not the greatest teams in their history, with players including Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar.

It should be noted that the US is historically and currently better than Canada in all other major sports besides hockey, and that hockey is the 5th most popular sport in the US, while it has always been by far the most popular sport in Canada.

Hockey is used as an expression of being Canadian, and held up as the one thing that Canada is better than the US in. With the US and Canada having such incredible teams, and playing such entertaining games in the 4 Nations Faceoff, Sunday’s Gold Medal game could be a classic.

Added is the geopolitical tensions between the two countries, with President Donald Trump frequently referring to Canada as the 51st state. This has led many Canadian fans to boo the US national anthem before games.

With the US beating Canada handily, 5-0 in the women’s hockey group stage, followed by coming from behind to beat Canada in the women’s hockey gold medal game, it seems like everything is coming to a head on Sunday.