Winter Olympics live: USA take on Canada in ice hockey gold medal grudge match
The US and Canada will do battle in a politically charged ice hockey gold medal match
The blue riband event of the Winter Olympics takes place today as the US and Canada face off in the men’s ice hockey gold medal match.
The two teams were the hot favourites to make a highly anticipated final, which is set to be played out amid the backdrop of escalating political tensions between the two countries.
US president Donald Trump was rumoured to be attending in Milan, but Italian outlet Corriere Delle Sera has reported that his travel arrangements have been cancelled and he will remain in Washington.
Canada won Olympic gold on home turf in Vancouver 2010, beating the US for the title, and were last crowned champions in 2014, while the US will be bidding to end a gold medal drought going back to 1980 - the year of the infamous ‘Miracle on Ice’.
Elsewhere on the final day of the Games the men’s four-man bobsleigh medals will be decided, as well as the women’s curling gold medal match and the women’s cross-country skiing 50km mass start, before the curtain comes down on Milano-Cortina 2026 at the Closing Ceremony in Verona.
Follow all the action with our Winter Olympics live blog below:
When is USA v Canada in Winter Olympics ice hockey final? Start time, TV channel and how to watch gold medal match
The unmistakeable political edge attached to the USA and Canada’s blockbuster ice hockey final
Zoe Atkin soars to half-pipe bronze to cap Team GB’s best ever Winter Olympics
Team GB’s curlers condemned to second successive Olympic heartbreak in Canada defeat
NHL teammates become foes with gold on the line
NHL alliances will be ripped apart in relentless pursuit of Olympic gold - for three periods, at least - as Canada and the United States face off in a dream championship game for National Hockey League fans
Nearly 150 players from the NHL came to compete in Milan, with the top-flight league participating in the Games for the first time since 2014, and 50 remain in the hunt for gold as one of the Winter Games' great rivalries is renewed.
"It makes it harder," said Canada forward Sam Reinhart, whose Florida Panthers teammate Matthew Tkachuk is an alternate captain with the United States. "You know how competitive they are, you know how nice it is to have them on your team when the games get the tightest."
All 32 NHL teams were represented on the four semi-final rosters, which included Finland and Slovakia, in the kind of showcase that the league hoped for when it announced two years ago that it would permit its players to compete in Milan.
Reuters
'Beers before breakfast' as Canada prepare for ice hockey final
It will be beers before breakfast in Canada when some bars will open their taps hours earlier than usual as the nation rallies behind its men's ice hockey team in the gold medal showdown against the United States at the Winter Olympics.
In Canada's most populous province, Ontario, Premier Doug Ford has allowed eligible licensed establishments to begin selling alcohol at 6 a.m. ET (1100 GMT), just over two hours before the puck drops at Milan's Santagiulia arena for the hotly anticipated match between two teams packed with National Hockey League players.
In the western province of British Columbia, Premier David Eby has also given the green light for bars there to open their taps to bleary-eyed hockey fans ahead of traditional breakfast hours.
This game marks the first time since the 2010 Vancouver Games that the neighbouring nations will compete in the men's Olympic ice hockey final. Canada won the 2010 final on Sidney Crosby's overtime goal and successfully defended at the 2014 Sochi Games, which was the last Olympics to feature NHL players.
Reuters
What happened the last time the USA played Canada in a men's ice hockey match
USA's results to reach gold medal match
Group stage
February 12: Latvia 1-5 USA
February 14: USA 6-3 Denmark
February 15: USA 5-1 Germany
Quarter-finals
February 18
Sweden 1-2 USA
Semi-finals
February 20
USA 6-2 Slovakia
Zoe Atkin soars to half-pipe bronze to cap Team GB’s best ever Winter Olympics
Zoe Atkin capped Team GB’s best ever Winter Olympics with a bronze medal in the freeski half-pipe, to go with three golds and a silver won earlier in the Games.
The 23-year-old is the reigning world and X Games champion and had qualified in top spot, but China’s Eileen Gu recovered from a poor qualifying performance to win gold in her best discipline, defending her title from Beijing four years ago.
Atkin was a disappointing ninth in Beijing and withstood the pressure in Livigno Snow Park to seal a first Olympic medal despite a crash on her second run, equalling her older sister Izzy’s slopestyle bronze from Pyeongchang 2018.
Zoe Atkin soars to half-pipe bronze to cap Team GB’s best ever Winter Olympics
Why the rivalry between the USA and Canada has become so heated
This will be the eighth time the USA and Canada have clashed for men’s Olympic gold, but the first since 2014, when NHL players last competed.
Trump’s comments about Canada — posting memes about his desire to make it the 51st state and referring to its former prime minister, Justin Trudeau, as a “governor” — lend an unmistakable political edge.
When the sides met at last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off, it came at the height of a tariff spat between the countries. The United States won in Montreal, but Canada responded in Boston to claim the overall tournament. One contest was only seconds old before a fight ensued; both anthems were loudly jeered and the atmosphere turned sour.
After the final victory, Trudeau posted: “You can’t take our country — and you can’t take our game.”
Canada's results to reach gold medal match
Group stage
February 12: Czech Republic 0-5 Canada
February 13: Switzerland 1-5 Canada
February 15: Canada 10-2 France
Quarter-finals
February 18
Czech Republic 3-4 Canada
Semi-finals
February 21
Canada 3-2 Finland
The unmistakeable political edge attached to the USA and Canada’s blockbuster ice hockey final
It is hard to know what hockey-mad Canadians would find less palatable — Donald Trump following through on his rhetoric about annexing their country or losing this weekend’s Olympic men’s hockey final to the United States.
Losing your country or losing a game shouldn't really be a choice but this is Canada, where hockey is the cultural cornerstone.
The sport has long provided an athletic outlet for political tension: the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union and the Miracle on Ice at the 1980 Winter Olympics remain prime examples.
These two teams of NHL team-mates know there is more than gold on the line in Milan before they jet back across the Atlantic to resume their seasons.
When it comes to hockey, these neighbours are anything but neighbourly — and this is the final neutrals have longed for, a Sunday showdown to bring the Games to a fitting close.
The political edge attached to the USA and Canada’s ice hockey final
Men’s Winter Olympics ice hockey schedule
The past three winners of the gold medal have been Finland, Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) and Canada, in 2014. Four years before that, in 2010, Canada took home the gold once more, after beating the US in the final in Vancouver.
The USA has 11 medals in total for competition in ice hockey but has not taken home the gold medal since 1980, over 45 years ago. Their only other gold medal came in 1960.
But 2026 will mark the first time since 2014 where NHL players have participated in Olympic ice hockey. Historically the NHL and International Olympic Committee have failed to reach an agreement on allowing NHL players to participate. In both 2018 and 2022 this was the case, affecting the USA, Canada and many other countries.
How to watch
The match will be shown on NBC and Peacock in the United States, CBC in Canada and BBC or Discovery+ in the United Kingdom.
Canada vs USA (8.10am ET/1.10pm GMT)
Hello and welcome
The blue riband event of the Winter Olympics takes place today as the US and Canada face off in the men’s ice hockey gold medal match.
The two teams were the hot favourites to make a highly anticipated final, which is set to be played out amid the backdrop of escalating political tensions between the two countries.
US president Donald Trump was rumoured to be attending in Milan, but Italian outlet Corriere Delle Dea has reported that his travel arrangements have been cancelled.
Canada won Olympic gold on home turf in Vancouver 2010, beating the US for the title, and were last crowned champions in 2014, while the US will be bidding to end a gold medal drought going back to 1980 - the year of the infamous ‘Miracle on Ice’.
Elsewhere on the final day of the Games the men’s four-man bobsleigh medals will be decided, as well as the women’s curling gold medal match and the women’s cross-country skiing 50km mass start, before the curtain comes down on Milano-Cortina 2026 at the Closing Ceremony in Verona.
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