A little over a month after their historic Olympic gold medal victory, Team USA forward Matthew Tkachuk is offering insights into the contrasting atmospheres between the two teams in the moments before the 2026 Winter Olympics men’s hockey final.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Wingmen podcast which he co-hosts with his brother Brady Tkachuk, Matthew shared his observations on the contrasting energy between Team Canada and Team USA as they stepped onto the ice ahead of the gold medal game.
“Walking to the game in the finals and we’re walking through Canada when they’re standing out in the hall,” Tkachuk recalled. “Canada was so tense and just so military-esque. That was insane. And we’re just having fun, making fun of each other. The personalities are what I’m going to miss the most. The characters, just like the chemistry that we all had.”
“There’s like 10 personalities there that wouldn’t let you get away with anything before practices or before morning skate or before the games in the locker room,” he explained. “It was just so loose and guys were having so much fun and you couldn’t say anything without getting made fun of.”
According to Tkachuk, the U.S. team’s success came from genuine camaraderie and an ability to keep things light even under immense pressure.
Matthew Tkachuk shares Olympics anecdote about Quinn Hughes
During the segment, Tkachuk shared that the energy in the locker room had been the same throughout the tournament for Team USA. After defenseman Quinn Hughes scored the game-winning goal against the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals, he attempted to deliver an inspirational speech to rally the troops.
“I remember Quinn. Quinn just scored the biggest goal in U.S. recent history in the quarters,” Tkachuk said. “He’s like, ‘boys, come on, this is our time, no regrets.'”
The rousing call to arms didn’t quite land as Hughes intended.
“And all of us start making fun of him saying, ‘no regrets,’ We’re the Millers,” Tkachuk laughed, referencing the 2013 comedy film. “And we just started making fun of him for the next 15, 20 minutes.”
The United States finished the tournament with a perfect 6-0 record outscoring opponents 26-9 on their way to gold. They defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime on Feb. 22, exactly 46 years after the legendary “Miracle on Ice” victory.
Jack Hughes scored the golden goal just 1:41 into overtime while goaltender Connor Hellebuyck stopped 41 shots to secure the victory and was named Best Goaltender of the tournament.
Edited by Anjum Rajonno