Usa Canada Hockey Game Set to Cappen a Day of Finals at Milan Cortina
The usa canada hockey game is the centerpiece of the final day of the Milan Cortina Olympics, coming after the United States’ 6-2 semifinal win over Slovakia and ahead of a closing ceremony that follows five gold-medal events on Sunday.
Usa Canada Hockey Game: injuries and semifinal form
In the usa canada hockey game, the United States enters having beaten Slovakia 6-2 in the semifinals, but is expected to have a tougher challenge in the final. Canada will again be without defenseman Josh Morrissey, and captain Sidney Crosby, injured in the quarterfinals, hadn’t been ruled out as of Saturday afternoon. The men’s final is scheduled for 4: 40 a. m. ET (10: 40 a. m. in Italy), with TV coverage on Peacock.
TV audience and what’s at stake
The women’s hockey gold medal game between these same two nations drew the largest U. S. TV audience for a women’s hockey game on record, averaging 5. 3 million viewers. The men’s game is probably safe to expect a number topping the 9. 3 million who watched the 4 Nations final last year. A photograph credit appearing alongside coverage reads Geoff Burke / Imagn Images.
Closing-day schedule and broadcast plans
The Milan Cortina Olympics wrap up Sunday with five events, all of which determine gold medals, followed by the closing ceremony. The ceremony is set for 8: 10 a. m. ET (2: 10 p. m. in Italy) with television coverage on Peacock. The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics closing ceremony.
Eileen Gu and a postponed halfpipe final
Snow in Livigno led to the postponement of the final that had been scheduled for Saturday night. Eileen Gu, the 22-year-old who was born in San Francisco, attends Stanford and competes for China; she is the defending gold medalist and qualified fifth for the final, while Great Britain’s Zoe Atkin was the top qualifier. Gu took silver in slopestyle and big air and is seeking to medal in all three freestyle skiing events for the second successive Olympics. That event’s scheduled time is 4 a. m. ET (10 a. m. in Italy), with TV coverage on Peacock.
Historic 50km women's race and cross-country notes
For the first time, women will compete in the Olympics at 50km, a distance the International Olympic Committee called part of making the 2026 Games “the most gender-balanced Olympic Winter Games in history. ” Fifty kilometers converts to a little more than 31 miles, which is longer than a marathon (26. 2 miles). Based on results from 50km classic World Cup races, the top finishers in Tesero, Italy, are expected to take a little more than two hours and 10 minutes to complete the race.
The 50km race will be the final Olympic appearance for the United States’ Jessie Diggins, who earned silver in 2022 in the 30km freestyle — which was the longest women’s race at the time. Diggins earned bronze in the 10km this month, the fourth Olympic medal of her career. Sweden’s Ebba Andersson, who has two individual silvers in these Games, is among the favorites; her teammate Frida Karlsson, who won two individual golds, withdrew due to illness. Heat 3 is scheduled for 4 a. m. ET (10 a. m. in Italy) and Heat 4 for 6: 15 a. m. ET (12: 15 p. m. in Italy), with TV coverage on Peacock.
Heats update: German teams and combined times
In the multi-heat event, German teams have the three fastest combined times through two heats. Germany has claimed gold and silver in each of the last two Olympics and won the event at every Olympics from 1994 to 2006.
Among the lighter and stranger moments of these Games: a dog loping down the homestretch during the women’s cross-country skiing team sprint qualifying, a biathlete who confessed on television to cheating on his girlfriend, and a skier who walked off into the woods after missing a gate on his final run — moments that surfaced alongside the final-day competition.
Sunday’s schedule ends with the closing ceremony at 8: 10 a. m. ET (2: 10 p. m. in Italy); that ceremony follows the five gold-medal finals and is the next confirmed milestone on the schedule.
