2026 Olympic Hockey

[jncuse]

I was thinking men's and women's as opposed to just men's but you are right, up until Sunday, we probably thought of them as more of a rival than they thought of us.

I could see same thing happening in hoops if France is able to take the gold in '28.

The woman's rivalry has been strong for a long time because they are the only teams that are good.. Going back to the 90's, those teams have been involved in the World Championship Final for 23 out of the 24 times the event has been held... and the results have been fairly balanced. Canada is a bit ahead I think, but its close to 50/50.

In terms of the men's, Canada and US have had a pretty good rivalry, but it has been elevated say around 2018 when it became clear that the US has rose to the first tier with Canada above everyone else in terms of NHL performers. (even if Canada was a bit better). US has its Golden Age of draft classes from 2015-2019.

There was no best on best tournaments from 2016 to 2025. And its worked out that finally when there has been best on best after a long time off, the two teams have met in the final which strengthened the rivalry.

Pre 2010, Canada has had its moments against the US (1991 and 1996 Canada Cup, 2002 Salt Lake). But the US was just one of the teams, especially in the mid 2000's. US was really strong from 1995-2002 - a lot of star power, and did slip for some years after that.

 

[jncuse]

The US (and Canada for that matter) needed this win for the rivalry. It’s not a rivalry if one team never wins. Olympics, World Cup , four nations, you name it the US has been body bagged by Canada. Not this time. This is great for the rivalry and even Canadians will realize this eventually when their tears are dried

One factor that can't be ignored is that a fair bit of the Canadian population is upset at the US politically - many feel hurt, frustrated, disappointed. I'm not going to turn this into a political thread -- people can make there own judgments as to who is right or wrong or if some sides are taking things too personally. But fact is the political environment has created tension and how Canadians feel, so this game just becomes an outlet for those frustrations in both the February 2025 and February 2026 games.

I think Canada has realized that the US is "the" hockey rivalry for a while. As mentioned in my post above about the late 2010's is when it became clear that these were the clear two hockey powers (even if Canada was a bit above), especially as the US was strong in drafts at the time. There was a long dry patch for best vs best hockey from 2016 to 2025. By the time 2025 hit, Canadians wanted Canada vs US (for hockey reasons... and then other reasons) and we have got it 2 years in a row. Unlike the 2010 or 2014 Olympics, the level of talent between the two teams is far closer now. Those strong drafts from 2015-2019 have a lot to do with it.

I think we are pretty close to equals right now and I don't think that will change for a while... the US will be able to run its strong 2015-2019 drafts into the 2028 World Cup and the 2030 Olympics. But Canada will likely make a push back by 2030-2034, as they have dominated the top of the NHL draft in the 2020's.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

One factor that can't be ignored is that a fair bit of the Canadian population is upset at the US politically - many feel hurt, frustrated, disappointed. I'm not going to turn this into a political thread -- people can make there own judgments as to who is right or wrong or if some sides are taking things too personally. But fact is the political environment has created tension and how Canadians feel, so this game just becomes an outlet for those frustrations in both the February 2025 and February 2026 games.

I think Canada has realized that the US is "the" hockey rivalry for a while. As mentioned in my post above about the late 2010's is when it became clear that these were the clear two hockey powers (even if Canada was a bit above), especially as the US was strong in drafts at the time. There was a long dry patch for best vs best hockey from 2016 to 2025. By the time 2025 hit, Canadians wanted Canada vs US (for hockey reasons... and then other reasons) and we have got it 2 years in a row. Unlike the 2010 or 2014 Olympics, the level of talent between the two teams is far closer now. Those strong drafts from 2015-2019 have a lot to do with it.

I think we are pretty close to equals right now and I don't think that will change for a while... the US will be able to run its strong 2015-2019 drafts into the 2028 World Cup and the 2030 Olympics. But Canada will likely make a push back by 2030-2034, as they have dominated the top of the NHL draft in the 2020's.

Canada will have a leg up more often than not simply due to culture. Just like the US can’t seem to make inroads into the soccer world despite huge numbers of participants .

 

[jncuse]

Canada will have a leg up more often than not simply due to culture. Just like the US can’t seem to make inroads into the soccer world despite huge numbers of participants .

Depends if our culture starts to produce goaltenders!
We relied on Quebec for a long time to supply us elite goaltenders and that well is dry.

 

[BuffOrange]

As much as Canada mostly dominated, couldn't you argue it was the right result when you zoom out a bunch of years? It's not often a Tournament winner avenges a loss in the Prelims & that happened in both 2010 & last year. Unless you think they were just playing possum in those initial games which I don't buy. It'd be like if the Bills got a lucky bounce or a call or a sliver of injury luck vs the Chiefs in the playoffs (God forbid).

 

[Forza Azzurri]

One factor that can't be ignored is that a fair bit of the Canadian population is upset at the US politically - many feel hurt, frustrated, disappointed. I'm not going to turn this into a political thread -- people can make there own judgments as to who is right or wrong or if some sides are taking things too personally. But fact is the political environment has created tension and how Canadians feel, so this game just becomes an outlet for those frustrations in both the February 2025 and February 2026 games.

I think Canada has realized that the US is "the" hockey rivalry for a while. As mentioned in my post above about the late 2010's is when it became clear that these were the clear two hockey powers (even if Canada was a bit above), especially as the US was strong in drafts at the time. There was a long dry patch for best vs best hockey from 2016 to 2025. By the time 2025 hit, Canadians wanted Canada vs US (for hockey reasons... and then other reasons) and we have got it 2 years in a row. Unlike the 2010 or 2014 Olympics, the level of talent between the two teams is far closer now. Those strong drafts from 2015-2019 have a lot to do with it.

I think we are pretty close to equals right now and I don't think that will change for a while... the US will be able to run its strong 2015-2019 drafts into the 2028 World Cup and the 2030 Olympics. But Canada will likely make a push back by 2030-2034, as they have dominated the top of the NHL draft in the 2020's.

Yup. No question that post WWII world order has been upended, at least until 2028 and, perhaps, beyond.

Trump has gone after pretty much everyone but I agree that Canada has been treated particularly harshly (the 51st state, the tariffs etc.)...

I'll leave it at that since it is a sports board.

I was actually up in Montreal at the beginning of Feb, and am going back in Mid-April. It is a great city.

I was interested to see how I was going to be treated and, at least for the people with whom I interacted, Canadians appear to be differentiating between Americans and Trump. Not an easy thing to do.

I am not a hockey guy. I watch NHL playoffs but that is about it. But I do love Olympic hockey. Having NHL players makes it even better.