Canada and USA coaches set sights on Milano Cortina 2026

If the Four Nations Face Off earlier this year showed us anything, it is that next February is shaping up to be something special. The tournament, featuring the best of the USA, Canada, Sweden, and Finland, offered a clear preview of how razor-thin the margins will be in Milan.

Just ask the coaches who finished first and second, Canada and the United States.

“It’s immeasurable what’s gone on here,” Jon Cooper told Global News of the North American league’s players returning to international competition. The head coach of Team Canada for 2026 and the Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL added, “to be around this group and understand who we have, how they can play, what they can do, build the relationships. We’re just that much farther ahead.”

Cooper says the modern men’s game has never been tighter at the top. “The gap in talent between countries has almost closed shut,” he noted, a truth reflected in Canada’s 3 to 2 overtime win over the US at the Four Nations final. If that is any indication, the Olympic tournament is just too close to predict.

Across the ice stood Mike Sullivan, head coach of the New York Rangers and Team USA. Like Cooper, he views the Olympics as “the pinnacle of international play,” a stage where legacies are built. “Anytime you have an opportunity to represent the nation, you become part of something bigger than yourself, in a lot of ways bigger than sport,” he told NBC earlier this year.

Sullivan believes this may be the strongest generation of American male players yet. With NHL stars returning to the Games for the first time since Sochi 2014, he says the stakes could not be higher. “They all have terrific NHL careers, some of them are Stanley Cup winners; I’m not sure there’s been a deeper pool of American-born players. That speaks volumes for the growth of the sport in the United States.”

Regardless of who ultimately makes the team, Sullivan is clear on the identity he wants to build. “We want to play the game with courage, and we want to care for one another. We want to care so much that we’re willing to do whatever it takes to win,” he said at orientation camp in Michigan this past August.

And when it comes to coaching at Milano Cortina 2026, both Cooper and Sullivan land on the same word: honoured.

“There is an expectation in this country, and it’s our job to fulfil it. The responsibility is real,” Cooper told NHL.com. “Growing up as a fan, I know how much this means to people. I don’t take that lightly. To me, there’s no bigger honour.”