NHL Teammates Turn Olympic Rivals as Team USA Faces Canada for Gold

Professional hockey players who normally play together in the NHL will compete against each other Sunday as Team USA takes on Canada for Olympic gold in Milan. Nearly 150 NHL players participated in the Olympics for the first time since 2014, with teammates now finding themselves on opposite sides of the ice.

Professional hockey teammates will transform into Olympic adversaries Sunday when Team USA battles Canada for gold in what promises to be a championship showdown that NHL fans have been dreaming about.

Close to 150 NHL players traveled to Milan to compete in these Winter Games, marking the premier league’s first Olympic participation since 2014. Now 50 players remain in contention for gold as this historic hockey rivalry takes center stage once again.

Canada’s Sam Reinhart, who plays alongside Team USA’s Matthew Tkachuk on the Florida Panthers, acknowledged the challenge ahead. “It makes it harder,” Reinhart explained. “You know how competitive they are, you know how nice it is to have them on your team when the games get the tightest.”

Every single NHL franchise had representation among the four semifinal teams, which also featured Finland and Slovakia, creating exactly the type of star-studded tournament the league envisioned when announcing player participation two years ago.

Nathan MacKinnon, the NHL’s leading goal scorer, says temporarily setting aside professional loyalties hasn’t been difficult in Milan. The Canadian star will face his Colorado Avalanche teammate Brock Nelson on Sunday.

“You have new teammates right now,” MacKinnon stated. “New teammates, new brothers, in this short amount of time we’ve become really close.”

The NHL entered the Milano Cortina Games with strong momentum, as ESPN and ABC viewership climbed 39% compared to last year during the season’s first four months, helped by marquee players and the television hockey hit “Heated Rivalry.”

Before men’s competition even started, Olympic officials expressed hopes that elite North American league players would become regular Olympic participants in future Games.

This championship matchup between longtime rivals – predicted by both betting experts and casual observers – should elevate excitement even higher, as the Americans pursue their third Olympic gold while Canada seeks their tenth men’s tournament title.

Team USA’s Jack Eichel will see several Vegas Golden Knights teammates wearing Canadian jerseys, including Mitch Marner, Mark Stone, and Shea Theodore. “We’re all competitors and we want to win,” Eichel said. “We can go back to being teammates after the game.”