#olympic-hockey

#olympic-hockey

I've thought about it so much, Larkin said. It's what everyone wanted, this matchup in a gold-medal game. Yeah, I've thought about it a lot. Those thoughts become reality Sunday when the North American countries that have become the preeminent global hockey powerhouses face off in a titanic final of a best-vs.-best tournament with many of the NHL's biggest stars. The U.S. against Canada on the biggest stage in sports should be hard-hitting, quick-skating, must-see entertainment.

Brad Hall's Team GB are next. They get off quick with 4.78 start but with perfection required this is a little short. There are a couple of errors in turns one and two, with speed not picking up further down the course. The time of 54.66secs is much better than their second run (55.04) but Lochner's team is further off in the distance, 1.23secs ahead.

Burned in Zach Werenski's memory is the first U.S. practice at the 4 Nations Face-Off last February. You look around and see the skill, Werenski said. I was like, This is fast.' It's wave after wave, player after player. He and his countrymen fell short at that tournament, which was designed to be an appetizer of sorts for the return of NHL players to the Olympics.

In that time, they've reached the final twice, both times in North America, and lost both of them. The US men have never won gold outside their home country. The famous win was, of course, in 1980. They also won in 1960. Share NBC, meanwhile, has brought out 1980 men's hockey legend Mike Eruzione to talk about what it means to play for the USA. He says this is the best US team ever assembled.

Over the course of the twelve-year gap between Olympic appearances, the NHL has drastically evolved. Most of the legendary trios of the 2010's, namely Drew Doughty-Dustin Brown-Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings and Duncan Keith-Patrick Kane-Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks, have drifted apart in some form. Superstars Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews, in addition to future stars Macklin Celebrini and Connor Bedard, got drafted into the league.