United States, Canada to battle for gold medal 106 years after 1st Olympic meeting

One year and two days after they met in the electrifying final of the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off, the most recent of many times they have played each over more than a century on virtually every international stage, the United States and Canada are set to make more hockey history.

Nearly 106 years after the two nations faced off at the Games of the VIIth Olympiad in Antwerp, Belgium, a white-hot rivalry will see its heat turned up another few degrees in Sunday’s gold medal game of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 (8:10 a.m. ET; Peacock, NBC, ICI Tele, CBC Gem, CBC, SN [JIP], TSN [JIP], RDS2).

This will be the 20th time in history that the U.S. and Canada have met on the Olympic rink, the sixth involving NHL player participation. Overall head-to-head, including amateur club and national team representation, Canada holds a commanding 12-4-3 lead; with NHL participation, Canada is 4-1.

Connor McDavid scored at 8:18 of overtime last Feb. 20 at TD Garden in Boston, lifting Canada to a 3-2 victory against the U.S. in the championship game of the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Connor McDavid of Canada celebrates with his teammates after defeating the United States in overtime to win the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off championship game at TD Garden in Boston on Feb. 20, 2025.

Now, the stakes even higher, the two hockey superpowers will collide in Milan, Canada hoping to extend its winning streak to five in best-on-best international tournaments.

Since 1920, Canada and the U.S. have faced each other at the IIHF World Championship, IIHF World Junior Championship, the Olympic Games, in Canada Cup and World Cup of Hockey tournaments and in countless exhibition games at every level.

There’s virtually no hockey tournament in North America worth its vulcanized rubber, from peewees through old-timers, that doesn’t have teams from each country seeing one another on a rink.

It’s possible that Canada and the U.S. met in some kind of competition before 1920, but it was at the Summer Olympics in Antwerp that they probably played their first meaningful head-to-head game.

The 1920 U.S. Olympic hockey team prepares to set sail for Antwerp, Belgium.

Four years before the birth of the Winter Olympics, hockey was included on the Summer Games program in Belgium as a demonstration sport.

In his 1997 book “Canada’s Olympic Hockey Teams: The Complete History 1920-1998,” historian and author Andrew Podnieks digs deeply into the Antwerp gold-medal win by the Winnipeg Falcons, the senior amateur Allan Cup champions who were chosen by the Canadian Olympic Committee to represent the country in Belgium.

With commitments from Belgium, France, Switzerland, Sweden and the newly created Czechoslovakia, the International Olympic Committee moved to include “ice hockey” on the 1920 program.

The global governing body was nudged as well by the managers of Antwerp’s Le Palais de Glace program, who told the IOC that unless hockey was included, their building would be off limits to figure skating.

The 1920 Winnipeg Falcons, who represented Canada at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics and won gold in hockey’s first Olympic appearance, a demonstration sport in the Summer Games four years before the birth of the Winter Olympics.

A unique first-round knockout format would be used for the tournament, games played by seven-man teams in two 20-minute halves. Winners would move on to compete for the gold medal, the losers relegated to a second knockout round for silver and bronze.

Before each North American team sailed to Europe, the Canadians extended their good wishes to the U.S. by way of a telegram sent by William A. Hewitt, manager of the Falcons, secretary of the Canadian Amateur and Ontario hockey associations. The telegram was in reply to a similar message that had been sent to Canada.

“Canadian hockey team reciprocates good wishes of yourself and United States Olympic hockey team,” Hewitt wired the U.S. team in New York, which was about to set sail. “We wish you pleasant voyage and hope that the best team will win at Antwerp.”

The Hewitt name should be familiar to fans of the NHL’s roots; the Canadian manager was father of future legendary “Hockey Night In Canada” broadcaster Foster Hewitt.

Konrad Johannesson, John Davidson and Frank Fredrickson as members of the 223rd Overseas Battalion of the Canadian Army in 1916. Johannesson and Fredrickson were later members of Canada’s gold medal-winning hockey team at the 1920 Summer Olympics.

“Parity” wasn’t a word used by observers of the series, the U.S. opening with a 29-0 win against Switzerland, Canada pounding Czechoslovakia 15-0.

For the first time ever in an important game, Canada and the U.S. met on April 25, 1920, Canada squeezing out a 2-0 win on second-half goals by captain Frank Frederickson and defenseman Konrad Johannesson, scored on U.S. goalie Ray Bonney.

The game wasn’t without controversy even before the puck was dropped, the assigned referee not to Canada’s liking.

“Garon, a native Canadian but an officer of the American Red Cross, who refereed an afternoon game, originally was selected to act as referee tonight,” a wire service report read.

A photo illustration in The Montreal Star of April 27, 1920, following the Winnipeg Falcons’ Olympic victory, representing Canada.

“The Canadians only agreed to accept him only on condition that he could be removed during the game if his work was considered unsatisfactory. Garon refused to serve under the conditions imposed by the Canadiens and finally a Frenchman, De Rauch, was agreed on as a compromise.”

The arena was packed with fans cheering equally for both teams, many American officers in the crowd.

“Canada won the toss and almost immediately took the offensive,” a game story recounted. “Bonney of Pittsburgh stopped the puck at the goal twice in the first two minutes of play. Goheen (of the U.S.) shot hard for a goal moments later and from that moment on during the first half it was a nip-and-tuck exhibition, the fast work and cleverness of the men of both teams bringing the spectators to their feet every minute.”

It was one of Frederickson’s “famous corkscrew rushes” that led to Canada’s first goal, Johannesson scoring seven minutes later. Wally Byron’s airtight goaltending pushed Canada into the gold-medal game, relegating the U.S. into the silver-medal round.

A headline in the April 26, 1920, Saint John (New Brunswick) Standard reports Canada's victory against the U.S.

The Canadians were up 3-0 before they yielded their only goal of the tournament, Einar Svensson scoring for Sweden. They would then pour nine straight goals into their opponent’s net, seven in the second half, to win the gold medal.

The U.S. would defeat Sweden 7-0 in the semifinal of the silver medal bracket, then crush Czechoslovakia 16-0 in the final to finish second overall, the Czechoslovaks awarded the bronze.

On Monday, the players, coaches and management from the U.S. and Canada will fly back to the North American and rejoin their NHL teams, refocusing on the rest of the season with the drive to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

A century and five years ago, the U.S. sailed home with their silver medal, the Winnipeg Falcons soon to be celebrated back home with a free lunch from coast to coast.

The 1928-29 Boston Bruins. Bottom row, from left: Tiny Thompson, Frank Frederickson (who played on Canada’s 1920 Olympic champion), Eddie Shore, Lionel Hitchman, Cy Denneny, Norm Gainor, Hal Winkler. Top row: Cooney Weiland, Harry Oliver, Gord Pettinger, Dit Clapper, Lloyd Klein, Percy Galbraith, Eddie Rodden, Red Green.

First, they would visit the battlefields of Belgium and France before continuing on to Paris, the mayor of Winnipeg hosting the champions with a buffet.

It would be 10 days before the Falcons would dock at Quebec City, heading straight to Montreal then Toronto, celebrated as heroes at every step.

Canada and the U.S. would meet again in the Olympics four years later, this time in Chamonix, France, in the first Winter Olympics. Canada would defeat a rival that would become very much a part of Canada’s hockey fabric, scoring a 6-1 victory in the gold medal game.

NHLPA Executive Director Marty Walsh presents Connor McDavid with the player of the game gift, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman at left, after Canada defeated the U.S. 3-2 in overtime of the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game at Boston’s TD Garden on Feb. 20, 2025.

Now, a year after two fierce rivals met in the 4 Nations Face-Off and 102 years after they faced each other in the first Winter Olympics, Canada and the U.S. are ready to skate into center ring of the five-ring circus, the final medal event before Sunday’s closing ceremony.

The puck will drop shortly after 5:10 a.m. Pacific time, 9:40 a.m. in Newfoundland. From coast to coast to coast, two countries will again hold their breath for 60 minutes, or more, of hockey on the world’s grandest stage.

Top photo: Canada’s Nathan MacKinnon and U.S.A.’s Dylan Larkin (c.), with Jacob Slavin (l.) and Tage Thompson, celebrate semifinal goals that helped propel their teams into Sunday’s Olympic gold-medal game.