The Winter Olympics hosted NHL players for the first time in 12 years this February. The Canadian men’s hockey delegation headed to Milano Cortina as the subject of high expectations for success. Stacked with generational talent, ultra-competitiveness, and a best-on-best victory at the 4 Nations already under their belts, Team Canada had one objective: win gold. 

However, after pushing through close-quarter and semi-final games, Canada lost a devastating final match to American rivals, ultimately taking home silver. 

The team started off strong in the preliminary rounds, opening the round-robin with a 5–0 win over Czechia. Canada went on to go 3–0 in the preliminaries, beating Switzerland 5–1 and France 10–2 and punching their tickets to the quarter-finals as the first seed. 

There was a question of whether or not goalie Jordan Binnington — who has an .867 per cent save average this season with the St. Louis Blues — would be able to repeat the success he found at the 4 Nations Face Off last year. He briefly quieted down the conversation by making 26 saves on 26 shots, earning a shutout in the opening game. 

Defence Josh Morrissey, an important part of Canadian Head Coach Jon Cooper’s defensive lines, suffered a lower-body injury, which ended up ruling him out for the rest of the tournament. 

Elimination rounds begin 

In the quarter-finals, Canada faced Czechia for the second time. Both teams scored in the first 10 minutes, but a power-play goal from forward David Pastrnak had Canada trailing 1–2 after 20 minutes of play. Forward Nathan MacKinnon scored in the second period with his own power-play goal, bringing Canada back into the game. 

That high turned low fast as Canada was dealt a devastating blow. Captain and forward Sidney Crosby took an awkward hit from Czech defenseman Radko Gudas, which ultimately sent him to the dressing room. He did not return to the game. 

Things looked grim for Canada in the third period as forward Ondrej Palat gave Czechia a pivotal 3–2 lead. Team Canada rallied, and a wide tip-in from forward Nick Suzuki with just 3:27 minutes left tied the game 3–3 and called for overtime. A nailbiter extra period, which nearly saw Canada out of the medal race, ended after forward Mitch Marner skated through three Czech players and scored off the backhand to send Canada to the semi-finals 4–3. 

The penultimate game, which was played against Finland, got off to a rough start. The first period ended with Canada trailing after a goal from Finnish forward Mikko Rantanen. Things did not turn around quickly in the second after forward Erik Haula scored shorthanded, putting Finland up 0–2. Canada managed to claw their way back later in the period with a power-play goal from forward Sam Reinhart, and Canadian defenseman Shea Theodore tied the game shortly in the third. 

With yet another overtime looming, the pressure was on. Canada could not afford to take the risk of a three-on-three decider. MacKinnon, with 35.2 seconds on the clock, narrowly prevented overtime by slipping the puck between goaltender Juuse Saros and the goalpost, scoring the game-winner. Canada won 3–2 and would head to the finals, the highly anticipated gold medal match versus the USA.

The gold medal match 

Despite some hope that Crosby could recover and return to play, Team Canada unfortunately would not have their captain back on the ice with them for the finals. Much like the previous two games, Canada began the game trailing. 

On just their first shot of the game, Team USA scored, courtesy of forward Matt Boldy. Canada, once more, came back in the second period thanks to a goal from defenseman Cale Makar, scored off an assist from Colorado Avalanche teammate, defence Devon Toews. Despite several chances, Canada struggled to get the puck past goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. 

At the end of 60 minutes of play, the game went where everyone was likely predicting: overtime. Three-on-three. Fifteen minutes. Winner takes gold. 

The trends of the first three periods remained: Team Canada skated fast, made shots, but couldn’t bury them. The USA got a rush into Canada’s zone, and forward Jack Hughes snapped the puck past Binnington, ending the game 1–2 in their favour and taking gold. 

Team Canada lined up, quietly received their medals, then slowly made their way back down the tunnel. It was time to go home. 

What now? 

NHL players made respective returns to their NHL teams after games resumed on Wednesday, February 25. 

While this may mark an end to the Olympic careers of some Team Canada players — such as Sidney Crosby and three-time Olympian Drew Doughty — the future isn’t so bleak for Canadian hockey or best-on-best competitions. Before the Winter Games return in 2030, NHLers will play in the 2028 World Cup of Hockey, where Canada will have a shot at redemption. 

With a stand-out performance from forward Macklin Celebrini in Cortina this year and players like forward Conor Bedard and rookie defence Matthew Schaefer showcasing incredible talent on their respective NHL teams, viewers can look forward to new generational talent on the ice for Canada in the next few years, at least once the sting of this loss eases.