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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 winning goal in overtime. He was able to get the team’s second goal of the game beating Jordan Binnington. The Americans won the match 2-1 and captured their first gold medal since 1980 with the “Miracle on Ice” team.
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Canada head coach Jon Cooper talks to his players after their victory against Finland in a men’s ice hockey semifinal match at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
At the Olympics, overtime is played 3-on-3. The United States defeated Sweden in overtime in their quarterfinal matchup, while Canada needed overtime to beat the Czech Republic. Canada also defeated Team USA in the 4-nation matchup in overtime, but it was played 4-on-4.
“If you take four players off the ice, hockey isn’t hockey anymore,” Cooper said after the game, via The Hockey News. “There’s a reason they play overtime and penalty kicks — it’s all on TV to finish the games, so it’s not a lot of time. There’s a reason (3-on-3) isn’t in the Stanley Cup Final or the playoffs.”
Cooper emphasized, however, that the format was not the reason the team lost the game.
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Canada head coach Jon Cooper watches the game 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)
“Every team knows the rules beforehand. So you can’t come here and say we’re the losing team because we lost 3-on-3 and that’s not fair,” Cooper said. “We knew the rules from the beginning. We won one game in this tournament 3-on-3, so it’s not like that.”
Canada had plenty of opportunities to score, but was frustrated either because it missed big opportunities or because Team USA’s Connor Hellebuyck was making almost all the stops.
Hellebuyck had 41 saves in the win and was a big reason Canada couldn’t score during a prime 5-on-3 penalty opportunity 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 surpass Hellebuyck.
