By Amy Tennery and Trevor Stynes<\/p>\n
MILAN, Feb 21 (Reuters) \u2013 Canada and the United States open a fresh chapter in their epic Olympic rivalry in Milan on Sunday, facing off in a heaven-sent gold-medal game that North American fans were praying for in the men\u2019s ice hockey tournament.<\/p>\n
The National Hockey League could scarcely have written \u200ba better script when they agreed to send their players back to the Games for the first time \u200cin 12 years, with the world\u2019s foremost ice hockey powerhouse nations facing off with their all-NHL rosters.<\/p>\n
For Canada, the final represents a chance to underline their legacy and bring home a 10th gold to the country that originated the sport and regards it as a national religion.<\/p>\n
For the United States, it offers a chance at revenge, 16 years after Canada denied them the top of the podium in overtime heartbreak and 46 years \u200csince \u200bthey last claimed Olympic gold.<\/p>\n
\u201cNHL players have not had the ability to play in \u2060the Olympics since 2014, that\u2019s 12 \u2060years. Some of these kids were in diapers then,\u201d Canada coach Jon Cooper said, referring to the Sochi Games.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve never been part of this. There is so much pride. The hockey has been so great and so close. That\u2019s why the Olympics are unique. There is nothing like it in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
GOLD MEDAL IS \u2018EVERYTHING\u2019 IN HEAVYWEIGHT BOUT<\/p>\n
Both teams \u200bconfidently marched through the group stage, providing little intrigue in what at first appeared to be an inevitable trip to the championship game.<\/p>\n
That narrative got obliterated in the quarter-finals, where each team faced a major overtime test that nearly derailed their \u2060respective campaigns, as Canada clawed back from a deficit against the Czech \u2060Republic and the United States kept their cool after Sweden netted the equaliser with just \u200b91 seconds in regulation.<\/p>\n
Their paths diverged at Friday\u2019s semi-final stage, where the United States easily cruised by Slovakia 6-2 while Canada \u200bhad a harder time holding off the defending champions Finland without their injured captain Sidney Crosby.<\/p>\n
Cooper said \u200con Friday that it was too soon to say whether Crosby, who left the ice during their quarter-final match with an unspecified injury, would return for the final.<\/p>\n
Either way, Canada can expect to rely on the absurd talent of 29-year-old future Hall of Famer Connor McDavid \u2013 the points leader through five games with two goals and 11 assists \u2013 and the prodigy 10 years his \u2060junior Macklin Celebrini, who poured in five goals. They also have the NHL\u2019s leading goal-scorer in Nathan MacKinnon as an added bonus.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s everything. It\u2019s the gold medal at an Olympic Games,\u201d said MacKinnon, a forward for the Colorado Avalanche. \u201cWe are very lucky \u2060to be here and it\u2019s a great \u200copportunity. We have got to be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n
The United States, uninterested in handing more golden hardware \u2060to their neighbours to the North, will hope to replicate the success of their female \u200bcounterparts, who \u200cbeat Canada for gold in a thrilling women\u2019s final on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Quinn Hughes, the tournament\u2019s \u200bhighest-scoring defenceman with \u2060a goal and six assists, will hope to make winning a family affair for the United States with his brother, Jack, who has contributed three goals and three assists through five games.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe this is the best group in the whole tournament and the best group in the world,\u201d said Jack Hughes, who scored twice in Friday\u2019s 6-2 win over Slovakia. \u201cWe are proud Americans, and we are excited to have a chance at the gold medal.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Reporting by Amy Tennery, Trevor Stynes, Giulio Piovaccari and Lori Ewing in \u200bMilan; Editing by Bill Berkrot)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Amy Tennery and Trevor Stynes MILAN, Feb 21 (Reuters) \u2013 Canada and the United States open a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":481586,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":{"0":"post-481585","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-united-states-of-america","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","14":"tag-us","15":"tag-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}