During the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, both the USA men’s and women’s hockey teams beat Canada in their gold medal games. The US women’s team defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime on February 19 and the men won in the same fashion on February 22. This is the first time in Olympic history that both the men and women’s USA hockey teams have taken home gold at the same games.
The men’s team opened their Milano olympic campaign with a strong 5-1 victory over Latvia. From there they moved onto their second preliminary match versus Denmark. This was Denmark’s only second ever appearance at the Olympics and when the two nations last played in 2025, the USA won 5-0. This game ended in a 6-3 win favoring the United States. The final preliminary match was against Germany where the US once again dominated, ending in yet another victory of 5-1. The assertive performance by the men’s team sent them into the quarterfinals which were played on February 18th.
The USA men’s team played Sweden in the quarterfinals. Jack Hughes scored the game winning goal in overtime leading to a 2-1 win and a ticket to the semifinals. In the semifinals they played Slovakia and had a decisive 6-2 win. The gold medal game was set to be against Canada. Canada has nine previous gold medals while the USA only had two. Ahead of the game, the USA forward told NBC, “It’s going to be a battle for the ages,” and that it was. The game was a battle through and through, but in the end team USA came home with gold after a 2-1 overtime victory.
The women had a similar campaign winning all of their preliminary matches. In the first match they won 5-1 against Czechia. They continued their dominance in their game against Finland, winning 5-0. Team USA would then go on to defeat both Switzerland and Canada in their last two preliminary matches 5-0. The US women had two more shutouts defeating Italy in the quarterfinals 6-0 and Sweden in the semifinals 5-0. Heading into the gold medal game against Canada, the United States were 3-1-1-6 against Canada in all Olympic competitions. This means that they had three wins, one regulation loss, one overtime loss, and six shootout losses. The United States women’s team took home gold after beating Canada 2-1 in overtime.
Hillary Knight, five time Olympian, two time gold medalist, three time silver medalist, and team captain after the game said, “I love this group. It’s so special to be able to play at this level,” demonstrating how much she enjoyed playing with the 2026 team and her gratitude for the game. For Knight and ten other USA players, this game was revenge for losing against Canada in the last Olympic final in 2022. In the final, Knight scored the game tying goal to send the game to overtime. She told NBC, “There was no way we were losing this game.” Knight’s passion for the sport and her country is what earned her the nickname “Captain America” by fans.
The men’s USA win marks their first gold medal in 46 years, as they last won in 1980. The men now have three gold medals, eight silver medals, and one bronze medal. The women now have three gold medals, four silvers, and one bronze. Team USA as a whole in the 2026 Olympics brought home 33 medals from Milano Cortina, including 12 gold medals, 12 silver medals, and nine bronze medals. This is the most gold medals USA has ever won in a single winter Olympic games.
