There is little love lost between Team USA and Team Canada with regards to international hockey competition, something that Brady Tkachuk confirmed in blunt language on Saturday, February 21, the day before two of the sport’s elite global powers battle for gold at the Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy.
Tkachuk spoke to ESPN reporter Emily Kaplan and detailed why Sunday’s showdown is arguably a more meaningful contest for every player on Team USA’s roster than any in which they have competed before, including those in the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“There’s hatred there,” Tkachuk said of the United States-Canada rivalry. “They’ve been the best for the last bunch of 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 that they’ve ever played in.”
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Kaplan noted that the U.S. has not out-dueled Canada in a “best-on-best” competition since 1996. The United States got a taste of victory against its neighbor to the north in the 4 Nations preliminary stage in 2025, but fell to Canada in the finals of that competition by one goal in an overtime period.
The loss, and the accompanying feeling, is something Tkachuk has not forgotten.
“I mean, we were one shot away last year,” he told Kaplan. “And I know I don’t want to feel like that ever again.”
Sunday’s gold-medal contest marks the 46-year anniversary of the “Miracle on Ice,” when the United States bested the Soviet Union in arguably the biggest upset in the history of international sports. That happened to be in the semifinal game, but it put the U.S. into the finals where the team defeated Czechia to win the country’s second, and last, hockey gold medal in Olympic history.
Tkachuk, and his brother/teammate Matthew Tkachuk, will get the opportunity to make it three Olympic golds for Team USA Hockey against Canada on Sunday.
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