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Canadian Olympic men’s ice hockey coach Jon Cooper took issue with the overtime format after the team’s gold medal loss to Team USA on Sunday.
Team USA star Jack Hughes scored the game-winning goal in overtime. He was able to get the squad’s second goal of the game past Jordan Binnington. The Americans won the game, 2-1, and picked up their first gold medal since 1980 with the “Miracle on Ice” team.
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Canada head coach Jon Cooper talks with his players after their win against Finland in a men’s ice hockey semifinal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
In the Olympics, the overtime period is played 3-on-3. The U.S. defeated Sweden in overtime in their quarterfinal matchup, while Canada needed overtime to get past the Czech Republic. Canada also defeated Team USA in the 4 Nations Face-Off in overtime, but that was played 4-on-4.
“You take four players off the ice, now hockey’s not hockey anymore,” Cooper said after the game, via The Hockey News. “There’s a reason overtime and shootouts are in play — it’s all TV-driven to end games, so it’s not a long time. There’s a reason why (3-on-3) is not in the Stanley Cup final or playoffs.”
Cooper stressed, though, that the format was not the reason why the team lost the game.
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Canada head coach Jon Cooper watches play against the United States during the third period of the men’s ice hockey gold medal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
“All the teams know the rules going into these beforehand. So you can’t come up here and say we’re the losing team because we lost in a 3-on-3 and that’s not fair,” Cooper said. “We knew the rules coming in. We won a game in this tournament 3-on-3, so that’s not the way it is.”
Canada had plenty of chances to score but were either shut down by missing great chances or because Team USA’s Connor Hellebuyck was making almost every save.
Hellebuyck had 41 saves in the win and was a big reason why Canada was unable to score during a prime 5-on-3 penalty chance in the second period.
Canada’s Cale Makar (8) is congratulated by Brandon Hagel (38) after Makar scored a goal against the United States during the second period of the men’s ice hockey gold medal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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Only Cale Makar was able to fire one past Hellebuyck.
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