‘You guys scripted this pretty well’: USA’s McAvoy on gold medal matchup vs Canada
The men’s ice hockey tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics are almost at its end, and like many expected, the gold medal is going to come down to Canada and the United States after the respective countries won their semifinal games.
Many pundits considered this gold-medal showdown to be an inevitability, especially when both were such significantly better teams than the rest of the field on paper. According to USA defenseman Charlie McAvoy, that commentary did not escape the players.
Charlie McAvoy on USA vs. Canada: “We’ll be on a collision course for the finals. That was all I saw. So, you guys scripted this pretty well.” 🇨🇦 🇺🇸
“We’ll be on a collision course for the finals. That was all I saw,” McAvoy told reporters after USA’s win. “So, you guys scripted this pretty well.”
Canada and the United States secured their appearance in the gold-medal game on Friday with wins in the semifinals. Canada had a bit of a tougher time getting there, facing a 2-0 deficit to Finland halfway through the game before rallying with goals from Sam Reinhart, Shea Theodore and Nathan MacKinnon to win 3-2. USA had a much easier time getting the win over Slovakia, as they had a 2-0 lead after the first period and a 5-0 lead after the second, and riding out the game to a 6-2 win.
On one hand, McAvoy’s comments acknowledge the obvious: Canada and the United States are the top two teams in the tournament, and if the hockey world wanted the best possible gold medal game, these two teams were going to create it. In doing so, McAvoy is acknowledging both how well his USA team is playing, but also how tough Canada is going to be to beat.
But the comment almost comes with a bit of shade towards the media and fans about how this matchup was treated as an inevitability. In doing so, it ignores the road both teams took to get there. Even if it felt like this was going to be the gold-medal game, both teams were tested at some point on route to the final.
Canada and the United States will face off for gold on Sunday at 8:10 a.m. ET. The game will also close out the Winter Olympics, as the event is the final one before the closing ceremonies later that day.