On Sunday morning, Team USA hockey won its first gold medal in the better part of five decades with a thrilling win over the Canadian National Team at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy. It was a tightly contested game throughout, with Team USA ultimately getting the better of Team Canada with an overtime goal from Jack Hughes.
Still, not everyone on Team Canada is convinced that the better team won on Sunday.
“You be the judge of who was the better team today,” said Nathan MacKinnon, a player for the NHL's Colorado Avalanche, per Joshua Clipperton of the Canadian Press on X, formerly Twitter.
Predictably, American fans in the comments were quick to mock MacKinnon for the comment.
“You know the better team is whoever scores more goals, because that's the point of the game bro,” wrote one fan.
“Sometimes the better team doesn't win..case in point..hats off to the US team for finding a way to get it done while being outplayed,” opined another.
Indeed, the Canadian national team seemed to be slightly more in control of things throughout the day on Sunday, but ultimately fell short when Hughes' overtime shot found the back of the net.
It certainly would have helped Canada to have Sidney Crosby in the lineup, but unfortunately, the Pittsburgh Penguins icon was unable to go in this one after suffering a lower body injury in an earlier round of the Olympics.
This will certainly be a bitter pill to swallow moving forward for Canada, and clearly, the players are having some difficulty coping with the loss so far.
Meanwhile, Team USA has now won its first gold medal since 1980's iconic “Miracle of Ice” against the Soviet Union, and will look forward to being honored further at the Olympics closing ceremony later in the day on Sunday from Milan.
