American star Brady Tkachuk says there's hatred in USA-Canada rivalry ahead of gold medal match

Team USA prima guardant Brady Tkachuk said determination is simply a hatred betwixt the Americans and Team Canada up of Sunday’s highly anticipated golden medal match. 

Tkachuk, 26, said, for a batch players connected the team, the Olympic showdown with Canada volition beryllium the biggest crippled of their careers.

"There's hatred there," Tkachuk told ESPN. "I mean, they've been the apical dog. They've been the champion for the past clump of years, and for us, we privation to beryllium successful that position, beryllium the best. So, it's going to beryllium a crippled wherever I deliberation a batch of guys could say, 'This is the biggest crippled that they've ever played in.'"

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Brady Tkachuk of the United States takes the crystal earlier a semifinal crippled against Slovakia during the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games astatine Milan Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena successful Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (James Lang/Imagn Images)

Team USA defeated Team Canada successful the round-robin of the 4 Nations tournament, a crippled that featured 3 fights successful the archetypal 9 seconds, but it did not bushed Canada successful the finals. 

The U.S. mislaid to Canada successful overtime erstwhile Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid scored to dash the Americans' hopes. Tkachuk said that nonaccomplishment stung and stuck with him. 

CANADA CAPTAIN SIDNEY CROSBY A GAME-TIME DECISION FOR GOLD MEDAL HOCKEY GAME VS TEAM USA

The United States’ Brady Tkachuk scores a extremity during a men’s crystal hockey semifinal crippled against Slovakia astatine the 2026 Winter Olympics successful Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Julien De Rosa/Pool Photo via AP)

"I mean, we were 1 changeable distant past year, and sometimes you got to spell done that adversity, that sadness, those pugnacious times for the bully times to consciousness adjacent better," Tkachuk said. "It was decidedly a pugnacious mates days, mates weeks, months aft that game. And I cognize I don't privation to consciousness similar that ever again."

The United States women’s hockey squad defeated Canada 2-1 successful a thrilling overtime win, and the men are looking to travel suit. The U.S. men person not won a golden medal since the 1980 Olympic Games. However, determination were nary NHL players successful the 2018 oregon 2022 Games. 

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Linesperson Scott Cherrey (50) tries to abstracted Slovakia’s Erik Cernak (81) and the United States’ Brady Tkachuk (7) during the 3rd play of a men’s crystal hockey semifinal crippled astatine the 2026 Winter Olympics successful Milan, Italy, Feb. 20, 2026. (Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo)

One cardinal quality betwixt the 4 Nations tourney and the Olympics is that warring is prohibited astatine the Games. But the crippled volition surely beryllium physical. 

The golden medal lucifer begins astatine 8:10 a.m. ET. 

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