The US have lost all but one game against Canada in best-on-best international play dating to the preliminary round of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics; the lone victory was in the 4 Nations round-robin on Saturday, a game so good it turned Thursday’s sequel into one of the most anticipated international hockey events in decades.
Connor McDavid scored at 8:18 of overtime to give Canada a 3-2 victory over the United States on Thursday night as the North American rivals turned what had been a tune-up for the 2026 Olympics into a geopolitical brawl over anthems and annexation as much as international hockey supremacy.
“You can’t take our country – and you can’t take our game,” Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau posted on X in a cross-border callback to US president Donald Trump’s chatter about turning one of the United States’ closest allies into a 51st state.
The already ripe rivalry between the two North American hockey powers took on an added intensity during the tournament following Trump’s tariff threats and talk of making Canada the 51st US state.
”A lot of stuff going on with Canada and the USA right now, and us playing against each other was kind of a perfect storm for our sport,” said Nathan MacKinnon, who was selected the MVP of the new tournament with four goals in four games.
