{"id":461440,"date":"2026-02-08T09:05:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T09:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/461440\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T09:05:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T09:05:09","slug":"canada-carries-gold-or-bust-expectations-into-milano-cortina-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/461440\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada carries gold-or-bust expectations into Milano Cortina Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"

That message — at least in terms of what it meant to Canada\u2019s men\u2019s squad — resonated with Winnipeg Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey<\/a> as he looked around the Hockey Shrine during the orientation camp five months ago. There, the 30-year-old saw remnants of his own international success as part of the 2015 World Junior team and 2025 4 Nations team.<\/p>\n

Now, heading into Canada\u2019s first game against Czechia on Thursday (10:40 a.m. ET; Peacock, USA, CBC Gem, CBC), the mantra remains the same.<\/p>\n

Gold or bust.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, the bottom line is, we don\u2019t have to be told that,\u201d Morrissey told NHL.com. \u201cNo one is telling us that. We already know that. All of us. It\u2019s how all of us, I guess, see it.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing in that room, seeing all the championships, the history, the legacy of Canadian championship teams, that was so cool. And a lot of us were, in some way, already part of at least one of those teams. So we know what\u2019s expected. It\u2019s what we expect from ourselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou look at the teams that have paved the way for us, they proved what can be done when the aim is high. I mean, it\u2019s not pressure if you don’t let it be.\u201d<\/p>\n

* * * *<\/p>\n

On Thursday, CBC premiered a documentary entitled \u201cRIVALS: The 4 Nations Face-Off.” It was a behind-the-scenes look at the tournament, which Canada won on Connor McDavid<\/a>\u2019s overtime goal for a 3-2 victory against the U.S. in the title game, and featured interviews with, among others, McDavid, fellow players Brady Tkachuk<\/a>, Matthew Tkachuk<\/a> and Brandon Hagel<\/a>, and even former Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most telling quote, however, came from Canada coach Jon Cooper.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re representing the country of Canada, you\u2019re in it to win gold,\u201d Cooper said. \u201cYou\u2019re not in it to participate.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDavid couldn\u2019t agree more.<\/p>\n

The Edmonton Oilers superstar grew up in Newmarket, Ontario, about 40 miles north of Toronto, with a poster of his idol Crosby on his bedroom wall. He remembers watching the Golden Goal with his minor hockey teammates, jumping up like the rest of them when the puck entered the net.<\/p>\n

Fifteen years later, there he was, in the Team Canada dressing room, waiting for overtime of the 4 Nations title game, when he saw that same Crosby, not letting the nerves take over, just acting matter-of-factly like there was a job to be done.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember looking around and there was Sid, (Brad Marchand<\/a>), (Drew) Doughty. And I really just remember how calm they were. They weren\u2019t afraid of the moment. All these legends of the game, just in the zone, tying their laces, retaping their sticks, locked in,” McDavid wrote as part of an article entitled \u201cDear Canada\u201d on The Players\u2019 Tribune website Monday.<\/p>\n

“And I had this cool little moment, and I\u2019m sure a lot of the younger guys in that room had the same feeling. Maybe it was the red Canada jerseys. But you just looked at those guys and remembered, \u2018Man, I grew up a fan of you. I watched you on Saturday nights. This is such an honor.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

At 8:18 of overtime, he created his own legendary moment, snapping the tournament winner past U.S. goalie Connor Hellebuyck<\/a>. He admits that when the puck hit the back of the net, he \u201cblacked out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"That message — at least in terms of what it meant to Canada\u2019s men\u2019s squad — resonated with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461441,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-461440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461440"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461440\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}