The two teams seemingly destined to square off in the gold medal game each won their opening game of the Milan Olympics; each team also scored five goals.

Before diving into the games, let me just rant for a second. It is absolutely ridiculous that the Olympics does not allow any social media account in the world to share highlights from the games. It’s likely a huge reason that the NHL from a league point of view is always hesitant to send their product to play in this tournament. With the tournament being in Milan, games are played at 6am, 10am, and 3pm… for most people those games are during the workday making it borderline impossible to watch. The least that could be done is to have the highlights broadcasted on X (the everything app), Facebook, or Instagram so people could follow along. I don’t understand the benefit of holding the highlights hostage either. I’m sure the Olympics is well aware of the ratings boost they get during the Winter games when NHL talent is allowed to participate, I can only assume it would garner even more viewership if everyone in the world saw the Mighty Ducks-esque passing play the USA demonstrated on their 4th goal. I feel like watching Mackinnon score a goal from McDavid and Crosby would also enhance interest. This ridiculous rule helps no one and hurts the NHL from a growth potential. Bush league stuff.

Regardless of all that, we did have Canada and the US play their first games. Canada swiftly dealt with Czechia and the US promptly dismantled Latvia. It was pretty evident that both of these teams are head and shoulders above the rest of the field. We witnessed Sweden struggle to score against Italy of all teams and just this morning they lost 4-1 to Finland. Honestly, this is all good news. I think everyone wants Canada and USA in the gold medal game. A matchup at any point would be amazing, but having it be for gold is what the world wants to see.

In terms of Canada, what a performance. Not only were they dominant offensively all game, but they also played stellar defense. Sure, the Czech’s aren’t nearly as talented, but David Pastrnak was held to one shot on goal. Every single time the Canadian defensemen didn’t have a lane for a clean pass they calmly lifted the puck to center ice; they essentially erased any chance at a mental mistake getting in the way. When shots did get through, Jordan Binnington was solid as he seemingly always is during international play. The big three centers all got on the scoresheet: McDavid three assists, Crosby two, and Mackinnon a power-play goal (assisted by the other two guys). The only fear I have about Canada is the fact McDavid is doing what he always does. He is producing bundles of points during non-elimination games and will likely wilt as the games become more meaningful. Luckily for Canada, Sidney Crosby never wavers and can be relied upon in the elimination rounds. Outside of Crosby and McDavid, every single player that touches the ice for Canada is NHL all-star leveled talent so it might simply not matter if McDavid goes silent when the lights get bright, as he usually does. The first goal of the game was scored by Celebrini, assisted from Makar. Bo Horvat, Nick Suzuki, and Mark Stone also scored. It’s such an insane collection of talent that I truly believe they only way they fail to win gold is only because Conor McDavid was born to be one of the world’s greatest losers.

As for the United States, they were clearly the better team versus a C/D tier team Latvia. Latvia always seems to surprise someone on the international stage, so good for the red, white, and blue taking care of business. My biggest takeaway from the game was that Auston Matthews just isn’t the guy. Sure, he has been, and likely still is, playing with a bad back but everyone else seemed more dangerous than him. While I find it insane that Jason Robertson and Cole Caulfield aren’t on this team, having Quinn Hughes healthy and adding Tage Thompson does make them a significantly more credible opponent to Canada. Thompson was very good yesterday, and Mike Sullivan smartly put him on their top power-play unit because he likely has best shot on the team (especially with the Matthews back problem). Jack Hughes also had himself a game, good for Mr. McRae. Hughes was bad in the four nations tournament, he’s playing injured, and his NHL team is a mess so having a good performance must have felt extra sweet. The other Hughes brother, Quinn, is the most important piece to any USA success though. USA can have Quinn Hughes or Zach Werenski on the ice for roughly 80% of the game, those are two of the three best defensemen in the NHL. Not only are they certainly passable in the defensive zone, but they can also create offense in the blink of an eye. Whether it is creating for themselves, Werenski leads Columbus in goals, or dishing the puck to one of the juggernauts up front those two defensemen are the engine that will make the United States go forward. I do sense that it’s not going to be enough against Canada though. Canada will still boast the four best players, maybe five, when they matchup. The biggest X-factor is Connor Hellebuyck, who like McDavid, is known to flounder in big spots. He only allowed one goal in the four nations final but was a mess in the Stanley Cup playoffs last year. Hellebuyck is the reigning league MVP so conventional wisdom would say he’s going to be fine, and if he is fine, he will give the USA a good chance at victory, but if he isn’t GGs.