Take that, USA!
It’s our game and we are the champions.
Connor McDavid made sure of that when he scored the 3-2 winner 8:30 into overtime to defeat the United States and seal the deal in the championship game of the 4 Nations Face-Off Thursday night in Boston.
It was sweet vindication for Team Canada, who lost 3-1 to the U.S. in a fight-filled game on Saturday.
Jordan Binnington was otherworldly in net for Canada and the St. Louis Blues goalie was at his best with six stops in overtime, including a point-blank blocker save to deny Auston Matthews, on his way to a 31-save game.
Jon Cooper, Canada’s Prince George-born-and-raised head coach, rushed onto the ice to put the bear hug on Binnington while the celebration went on.
For the 57-year-old Cooper, a two-time Stanley Cup winner with the Tampa Bay Lightning, winning the battle of the best of the best in the four-team tournament was another major accomplishment to add to his incredible coaching career.
But as Cooper said in his post-game interview, this one is different, coming as it did at a time when political tensions between Canada and the United States are simmering around the threat of Trump’s proposed tariffs and their potential effect on the two countries’ intertwined economies.
“I just hope Canada’s proud, because every player in that room is proud to be a Canadian,” said Cooper.
“We needed a win, not only our team, but Canada needed a win. The players beared that on their shoulders. This one was different, this wasn’t a win for themselves. This was a win for 40-plus million people, and the guys knew it and they delivered.”
Cooper stuck with Binnington as his goalie and he played every minute of every game in the tournament and proved any doubters wrong with his spectacular effort in the final. Asked what Cooper said to him in their embrace right after the game, Binnington replied.
“He was just saying he was proud and we were just enjoying the moment together,” said Binnington. “There’s a lot of noise in this game and I think that was a moment we got to share with each other and I’m just grateful he shared that confidence in me to get the job done.
“It’s been incredible just seeing him day to day, just how he can work a room and just lead a meeting and inspire the guys. It’s been awesome.”
Coooper came to Binnington’s defence when the media questioned his ability following the loss to the U.S. and his faith in him was richly rewarded.
“To be perfectly honest, probably the most scrutinized position going into this thing was goaltending and for me it was, you’ve got your guy and you roll with your guy,” said Cooper.
“I never doubted one ounce about ever pulling him, ever taking him out of the game. You would lose confidence in him because his gamesmanship, and his ability to rise to the big moment. And don’t judge him. You could say one slipped by him against Sweden and he made a big save in overtime. Don’t judge him. We lost to the US and that hurt, but it wasn’t the winner take all game.
“When it came to overtime (Thursday) and we needed him most to make the saves your supposed to and make a few that you’re not and he saved his best for last, and that’s what winners do. There wasn’t a chance I was not going to back the winner.”
The winning goal came after a face-off win and a dump-in from defenceman Cale Makar after Braden Point raced into the zone to beat out an icing call. Makar sent the puck in behind the net for Mitch Marner, who fed a perfect pass from the corner right onto the tape for a wide-open McDavid in the slot to roof it into the corner of the net behind Connor Hellebuyck.
Tournament MVP Nathan MacKinnon opened the scoring with a long screened shot five minutes in and the lead lasted until Brady Tkachuk fired the equalizer late in the first period. Jake Sanderson put the Americans up 2-1, 12:28 into the second period, and Sam Bennett knotted the score six minutes before the intermission.
It was a close game throughout and it had all the tension of a seventh-game Stanley Cup final - the biggest game in the careers of many of the players on both sides.
“It’s not just a little tournament,” said McDavid, before joining his teammates for the on-ice photo with the trophy. “It means the world to us to find a way to get it done.”
Cooper has been selected as Canada’s head coach for the 2026 Olympic tournament to be played in Milan-Cortina, Italy and he was asked how much the experience of winning the 4 Nations title will help in build the nucleus of the team that will wear the maple leaf next year.
“To be around this group and understand who we have, how they can play, what they can do, build the relationships, which is a massive part of everything that goes into it, we’re just that much farther ahead,” said Cooper.
“It was talked about tonight, how much this tournament will help us moving forward as a group and myself personally. It was a massive success all the way around and for moving on to Milan this is big step forward.”
Cooper talked about the different roles his players had to take on and the adjustments they had to make in their playing styles to become a successful team in a short period of time and he’ll have to go through that again next February trying to find the right blend to bring home Olympic gold to Canada.
“The puck is on your stick for literally, if you do a stopwatch, for the best players 10, 15, 20 seconds in a game, and it’s what you’re doing in that time the puck’s not on your stick,” Cooper said. “That’s the selfless acts that go into superstars that are used to having it on their stick and they did all the right things.
“They checked and you have to check. For this group of players and the talent level they have, for them to do what they did away from the puck, that’s the Canadian way. That’s going to a restaurant and opening the door for somebody to walk in first. That’s the Canadian way and they couldn’t be more proud.”
He had high praise for his captain, Sidney Crosby, one of the leading scorers in the tournament with a goal and four assists.
“He’s done so much to benefit our group, I’ll save that for the book someday,” said Cooper. “What an incredible leader. Even when you show him situations he was put in, in video, and maybe he could have done something differently he would be like, ‘I think the team should see this, they should see me make an error.’
“You think about somebody of his stature, he wants the players to learn that, ‘Hey, I make mistakes too, but I want them to see me make mistakes because that’s what leaders do.’ Just little things like that just, you take a step back and go wow.
“I see why every time he puts the Canadian jersey on he’s standing on the podium that’s just a bit higher than everybody else.”
