By Tee Haskell

Brady Tkachuk fights Sam Bennett. Photo credit: @bradytkachuk.

On February 15, 2025, one of the greatest showings of patriotism in sports was seen by more than 21,000 fans in Montreal, Canada for a hockey game between Canada and the United States. After the Canadian fans booed the American national anthem, tensions were running high between the two teams. This game was fueled even further by President Trump’s recent rhetoric about Canada becoming the 51st state. 

When both countries set up for the opening faceoff, American Mathew Tkachuk and Canadian Brandon Hagel dropped their gloves, the universal hockey sign for a fight. After Tkachuk and Hagel finished their skirmish and both skated to the penalty box, another faceoff was underway. 

Before play could start again however, the second Tkachuk brother, Brady, dropped his gloves. Canadian Sam Bennett accepted the duel. Tkachuk ended up on top of Bennett, and the fight was broken up shortly after. At this point, only three seconds had passed in the game, and a total of four players were in the penalty box.

A third faceoff was won by the US, they took a deep shot, and a scrum ensued in front of the goalie. A late cross-check in the back caused the third fight of the evening, between the US’s J.T. Miller and Canada’s Colton Parayko. While Miller was comparatively undersized, he held his own against the 6’6” behemoth St. Louis Blues defenseman. Three fights, seven players in the penalty box, nine seconds, and American honor defended.

This game was part of the 4 Nations Face-Off, last year’s replacement for the NHL All-Star Game. The tournament consisted of the United States, Canada, Sweden, and Finland. While the Russian hockey team would have been a force to be reckoned with in the tournament, ultimately the International Federation of Hockey banned both Russia and Belarus from competing in international hockey games for two years because of their involvement in the war in Ukraine. Ultimately, Canada won the tournament in their second match against the US on February 20, 2025, ending 3-2 in overtime.

The Four Nations was regarded as one of the best uses of any all-star game in professional sports purely for one reason: the players actually cared. The NBA and NFL’s versions of their all-star games have been under severe scrutiny recently, because the players avoid any chance of an injury, and the game’s intensity suffers immensely. The last time the NBA played a full All-Star game in 2024, the game ended 211-186. For reference, the average NBA team last year scored 115 points per game. The NFL’s Pro Bowl has also fallen victim to a lack of intensity. While originally the game was played with the same tackling ability seen in middle school football, the players still felt like it was too much of an injury risk, and many sat out of the game. In 2023, the Pro Bowl switched to the Pro Bowl Games, headlined by a non-contact flag football game that some players still refused to play in.

Due to these all-star games becoming shells of their former selves, viewership started to take a hit. The Pro Bowl flag football game only drew 2.2 million viewers in 2026, and the NBA All-Star game bracket pulled 8.8 million in 2026, the most since 2011. The finals of hockey’s 4 Nations, on the other hand, brought in 19 million viewers, blowing every other game out of the water. The Stanley Cup finals in 2025 drew an average viewership of 2.2 million, whereas the round robin of the Four Nations pulled an average of 4.6 million fans. Not only was the 4 Nations better than every other all-star game on the market, but it was even more watched than the NHL finals.

Coming off of the success of the 4 Nations, the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy couldn’t have come at a better time. There were 12 teams in the tournament, which were then divided into three groups. Group A consisted of Canada, Switzerland, Czechia, and France. Group B had Finland, Sweden, Slovakia, and Italy. Finally, group C was composed of the United States, Germany, Latvia, and Denmark. Canada was the favorite to win the gold medal, while the US had slightly worse odds. Finland and Sweden had the next best odds, but everybody knew that the gold was going to end up going to either Canada or the US. 

Megan Keller scores against Canada.

Both the Canadians and Americans cruised through the group stages, going undefeated, and were poised to meet in the gold medal game. They also made light work of the teams in the knockout rounds, with the only hiccups coming in the quarter final games. The Canadians narrowly escaped Czechia 4-3 in overtime, and the US beat Sweden 2-1 in overtime on a Quinn Hughes walk off goal.

The US women’s team had also been dominating their bracket; coming into their gold medal game against Canada, they had outscored their opponents 31-1, including a 5-0 victory over the Canadians. The gold medal game, however, would not be a rerun of their first matchup. 

The Canadians struck first, with a goal early in the second period. The game would remain a stalemate for the next 35 minutes, as neither team was able to make any offensive progress. The Americans were forced to pull their goalie to allow for a sixth skater on the ice. Their tactic worked out, as the US scored with two and a half minutes left in regulation. The game moved to overtime, played as three versus three in Olympic rules. After four minutes, American Megan Keller deked her defender and scored the game winner, winning 2-1. The incredible game, watched by 7.7 million people, created even more excitement for the gold medal game on the men’s side a few days later.

Connor Hellebuyck saves a shot from Devon Toews.

The American men struck quickly with a goal from Matt Boldy after six minutes of game time. After this point, the Americans were forced to play extremely defensive hockey for nearly the rest of the game. The Canadians had 42 shots on goal, compared to the Americans measly 28. The US was anchored by Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck, a goalie who had often been accused of being a choker in the NHL playoffs. During the gold medal game, however, he put all of those accusations to bed, he ended with  0.976 save percentage, including one of the most incredible saves of all time.

The Canadians scored in the second period, with Cale Makar putting it in the net. The US had a chance to score after Sam Bennett knocked out one of Jack Hughes’ front teeth, allowing for a four-minute power play. Neither team could score again in regulation, causing the game to enter overtime at 1-1. 

With Canada’s roster including with the best hockey player in the world, Connor McDavid, people thought that the Canadians would swiftly put the Americans to bed because of the 3v3 format. The game ended quickly in overtime, but not in the way people thought. After a minute and 30 seconds, Hellebuyck made a save and quickly sent the puck up the ice to Zach Werenski, who then sent the puck across the ice to Jack Hughes, who snuck it past Canadian goalie Jordan Brinnington to win the gold for the US 2-1.

Jack Hughes celebrates the Gold Medal win.

The ending couldn’t have been more storybook, because as the Americans were celebrating, two players went into the crowd and found the parents of Johnny Gaudreau, a former United States hockey player who passed away after being hit by a drunk driver while riding bikes with his brother. Not only did they bring his jersey down to be a part of all of the pictures, but they also brought down the children of Gaudreau to participate in the ceremony. All of this occurred on the anniversary of a certain miracle on ice that occurred on Lake Placid, New York, 46 years ago when the United States beat the USSR in the Olympic semifinals.

All photos from @ushockey unless otherwise noted.