00:00The biggest rivalry on ice is back at the Olympics, with the biggest stars taking center
00:05stage once again.
00:07It's Team USA vs Team Canada.
00:09Let's break down this historic rivalry between these two nations.
00:14Team Canada has dominated men's Olympic hockey for more than a century, and they're the obvious
00:19favorites heading to Milan.
00:21In 23 Olympic appearances since 1920, Canada has won 16 medals, including 9 golds.
00:28Of the 7 best-on-best tournaments featuring NHL players, the Canadians have won 6 of them.
00:33The Olympics in 2002, 2010 and 2014, the World Cup in 2004 and 2016, and the 2025 Four Nations.
00:43Canada effectively defended their supremacy at the NHL's Four Nation tournament last February,
00:49with Connor McDavid's overtime winner over the United States serving as a spectacular
00:53preview of what's to come.
00:55Now, with the NHL stars back on the top international stage, returning veterans Sidney Crosby and
01:01Drew Dowdy will lead a new generation aiming to reclaim Olympic glory.
01:06The United States men's hockey team has a legitimate chance to win Olympic gold for the first time
01:10since the iconic 1980 miracle on ice.
01:14With 11 total Olympic medals and their only other gold coming in 1960, the Americans are
01:19eager to show how much the game has grown in the United States over the past two decades.
01:24Team USA has won silver eight times, most recently in 2002 and 2010.
01:29Their rivalry with Canada was front and center last February at the NHL's Four Nations face-off.
01:35In their first meeting in 15 years, the Americans set the tone with three fights in the opening
01:39nine seconds, before ultimately finishing second once again in the tournament.
01:44Now, led by a core that blends elite skill with toughness, featuring the Kachuk brothers,
01:49Quinn Hughes, Austin Matthews, and Jack Eichel, Team USA is looking to assert itself on the
01:55world's biggest stage.
01:56Team USA has faced Canada more than any other opponent in the Olympics, doing so 19 times,
02:03the last of which was a 4-2 win at the Beijing Games in 2022.
02:08The overall record, though, is not so great.
02:11Just 4-10-2 with three ties in Canada's favor.
02:14And the US has beaten Canada just once in Olympic competition when NHL players have been involved.
02:20That was in the group stage in 2010, which Canada avenged in the gold medal game just a week later.
02:25Two games in particular stick out when it comes to the rivalry in the Olympics.
02:30History was on the line in the 2002 gold medal game in Salt Lake City.
02:34The US could win their first gold medal since 1980, and Canada was looking to break a 50-year
02:39gold medal drought, having failed to medal altogether in 1998 when NHL players returned
02:44to the games in Nagano.
02:46With the games tied at two in the second, Joe Sakic sniped one past Mike Richter to give
02:50Team Canada a 3-2 lead.
02:53Jerome McGinley doubled Canada's lead, and Sakic put it away on a breakaway as Team Canada defeated
02:58Team USA 5-2 to take home the gold for the first time since 1952.
03:02Quote, we knew we were going to win, said Theo Fleury at the time with the Rangers.
03:07We believed in ourselves and in the process and got better and better as the tournament
03:11went along.
03:12This is still the country that produces the most hockey players in the greatest league
03:16in the world.
03:17And then there was the 2010 final in Vancouver.
03:20The US had scored a shock victory over Canada in the group stage, but trailed 2-0 in the second
03:26period.
03:27Ryan Kessler cut it to 2-1 and Zach Parise pounced on Patrick Kane's rebound with 25 seconds left
03:32in regulation to force overtime.
03:35But in sudden death, Jerome McGinley found Sidney Crosby off a no-look pass from the corner
03:40and buried it 5-hole on Ryan Miller, leaving Team USA to lick its wounds with silver.
03:45Now there are many other instances where Team USA and Canada have met outside the Olympics,
03:50but last year's Four Nations face-off set the stage for Milan.
03:54Just like in 2010, the US got the better of Canada in the group stage.
03:58In front of a hostile crowd in Montreal that booed the Star Spangled Banner, the Americans
04:03put forth a performance to remember.
04:05The game stunningly started with three fights and nine seconds, setting the tone for a bruising
04:11physical game.
04:13Connor McDavid split Charlie McAvoy and Zach Wierenski to open the scoring for Canada, but
04:17that was the last best part of the evening for the home side.
04:21Jake Gensel tied it at one before Dylan Larkin scored the eventual winner and Gensel added
04:26an empty net goal.
04:27But it was Team USA's defense that stole the show.
04:31The Americans' superb structure in defending a lead for much of the evening vexed a star-studded
04:35Canadian roster and carried the US to its biggest win in years.
04:40Five days later was the rematch of the century in Boston, with the Four Nations Championship
04:45on the line.
04:46Tied at one after one, Jake Sanderson buried a goal in front of Jordan Binnington to put
04:51Team USA up 2-1.
04:53But with six minutes to go in the second, Mitch Marner dropped one for Sam Bennett, who tied
04:57the game back at two where it stayed until overtime.
05:00Binnington saved the game for Canada in the extra period, stopping Austin Matthews twice in
05:04front of the net before a ridiculous save on Brady Kachuk.
05:08Like Crosby had 15 years prior, Connor McDavid made the Americans pay, scoring for Marner's
05:13feed to put Canada back on top in best-on-best competition.
05:17What does it all mean?
05:18For Canada, hockey is woven into its national identity.
05:22It's been well over a decade since NHL players last took the Olympic stage, and the Canadians
05:27are looking to remind the rest of the world that hockey is theirs.
05:31Taking into account the political climate between the two countries, it would be a major
05:35point of pride as well.
05:37A Canadian win in Milan would also be celebrated as a reaffirmation of its place at the top
05:42of the sport.
05:43For the United States, a victory over Canada, especially in the Olympics, would represent
05:48a historic breakthrough.
05:49The U.S. men have not won gold since 1980, in large part because beating Canada was too
05:54heavy a lift in 2002 and 2010, the two times the Americans have made it to the gold medal game
06:00since the Miracle on Ice.
06:03Expectations are higher than ever, and this year's gold medal game will be played on February
06:0622nd.
06:08That's the same date the Americans beat the Soviets in 1980, so maybe it's a sign the
06:12hockey gods will be on the American side.
06:14And that's a brief look inside the Team USA and Canada rivalry through the years.
06:18Stay tuned for more Olympic coverage as Ethan and I will have you covered all throughout
06:22the Winter Games.
06:24For more, head to the New York Post Sports YouTube page and read our coverage at newyorkpost.com
06:29slash sports.
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