NEWYou can now listen to Pakinomist articles!
Team USA star Brady Tkachuk said there is animosity between the Americans and Team Canada ahead of Sunday’s highly anticipated gold medal game.
Tkachuk, 26, said that for many players on the team, the Olympic showdown with Canada will be the biggest game of their careers.
“There’s hate there,” Tkachuk told ESPN. “I mean, they’ve been the top dog. They’ve been the best for the last several years and for us, we want to be in that position, be the best. So it’s going to be a game where I think a lot of guys could say, ‘This is the biggest game they’ve ever played in.'”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON Pakinomist
Brady Tkachuk of the United States takes the ice before a semifinal match against Slovakia during the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics at the Milan Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in Milan, Italy, on February 20, 2026. (James Lang/Imagn Images)
Team USA defeated Team Canada in the round-robin of the 4 Nations tournament, a game that featured three games in the first nine seconds, but did not beat Canada in the finals.
The USA lost to Canada in overtime when Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid scored to end the Americans’ hopes. Tkachuk said the loss stuck with him.
CANADA CAPTAIN SIDNEY CROSBY A GAME-TIME DECISION FOR GOLD MEDAL HOCKEY GAME VS TEAM USA
USA’s Brady Tkachuk scores a goal during a men’s ice hockey semifinal against Slovakia at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, on February 20, 2026. (Julien De Rosa/Pool Photo via AP)
“I mean, we were a shot away last year and sometimes you got to go through that adversity, that sadness, the hard times to make the good times feel even better,” Tkachuk said. “It was definitely a rough couple of days, a couple of weeks, months after that fight. And I know I don’t want to feel like that ever again.”
The US women’s hockey team defeated Canada 2-1 in a thrilling overtime victory, and the men look to follow suit. The U.S. men have not won a gold medal since the 1980 Olympics. However, there were no NHL players in the 2018 or 2022 games.
Lineman Scott Cherrey (50) tries to separate Slovakia’s Erik Cernak (81) and USA’s Brady Tkachuk (7) during the third period of a men’s ice hockey semifinal at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, on February 20, 2026. (Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo)
An important difference between the 4 Nations tournament and the Olympics is that matches are prohibited at the Games. But the game will definitely be physical.
The gold medal game begins at 8:10 a.m. ET.
