• No hockey finals for Trump
Donald Trump was rumored to be attending Sunday’s Golden Match at the Santagiulia Arena – but that doesn’t appear to be the case.
Italy’s Corriere della Sera reports that the US President is scheduled to meet at the White House over the US Supreme Court’s rejection of Trump’s trade tariffs. The trip to Milan has been canceled, the newspaper writes, citing a statement from Washington DC via the US Consulate in Milan.
Donald Trump contributed significantly to the heated atmosphere surrounding the final two hockey games between the United States and Canada at last year’s Four Nations Tournament. He then said Canada should become the 51st state of the United States, and a year later relations had barely improved.
Although Trump will not appear at Sunday’s hockey final, other government officials have visited Milan during the Olympics in the past. For example, both Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance attended the opening at the San Siro soccer arena, where the latter was loudly booed.
• Sidney Crosby uncertain card
Did Sidney Crosby play his last Olympic game? That remains to be seen.
Due to an injury to his right leg, Canada’s team captain had to sit out the quarter-final against the Czech Republic and was completely absent from the following semi-final against Finland. The question on everyone’s mind now is whether the hockey-mad nation’s most decorated player will have time to prepare for the gold medal game against the United States.
National coach Jon Cooper didn’t want to ignore the 38-year-old Crosby after Saturday’s ice session:
– I saw him skating today. We will meet tonight and make a decision about what will happen tomorrow. He won’t put himself or the team in danger.
• McDavid can extend his scoring record
He arrived as the best player in the world and in Milan Connor McDavid did not disappoint. In the semi-final against Finland, the 29-year-old set a new goal record for NHL players at the Olympic Games.
While McDavid didn’t score more than two goals in five games, he added 13 points with 11 assists – two more than previous record holders Teemu Selänne and Saku Koivu, who both scored 11 points when Finland won silver in 2006.
Undisputed king of points overall? Amateur player Harry “Moose” Watson scored 37 points and won gold with Canada at Chamonix in 1924.
• More fights planned?
As soon as the first fight between Canada and the USA in the Four Nations began in Montreal, American brothers Brady and Matthew Tkachuk threw off their gloves and began fighting with Canadians Sam Bennett and Brandon Hagel.
At the Olympic Games, however, it is the rules of the International Ice Hockey Federation that the referees adhere to – and not those of the NHL, which applied at the Four Nations. This means that brawls are not tolerated to the same extent and what results in a five-minute suspension in North America can result in a match penalty in Milan. Whether this will result in would-be fighters staying in their skin in an adrenaline-fuelled Olympic final remains to be seen.
• 16 years of waiting over
In the women’s tournament, this happens at almost every Olympic Games – but the last time Canada and the USA met in a decisive battle for Olympic gold in the men’s event was 16 years ago. The venue at the time was the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, where 22-year-old Sidney Crosby stepped forward and decided the dream finale with his 3-2 goal in extra time.
The meeting between the two countries in last year’s Four Nations Tournament, the first in the group stage and the second in the final, can in retrospect be seen as a foretaste of what awaits at the Santagiulia Arena.
This is the kind of clash that will be career-defining for many players when they one day hang up their skates and sticks: the biggest of games on the biggest national team stage – between the two biggest rivals.
Read more:
Under pressure in the final – then the USA turned around and won gold
America’s Tyrants: The Brothers Who Like to Provoke
