If there’s one thing that we’ve learned from the preliminary group stage of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, it’s that North America appears to have the two best teams. As usual, that also rings true for women’s hockey with Canada and USA set to face off in the gold medal game on Thursday.

In the round robin tournament, Canada dominated their group to easily advance to the men’s quarterfinals. After they shut out Czechia 5-0, they overpowered Switzerland and France to earn a bye. Led by Connor McDavid, whose nine points lead all skaters, the Olympic favorites are clicking on all cylinders. Macklin Celebrini has scored a goal in every game – leading Canada with four entering the knockout stage.

A top-heavy roster that includes Nathan MacKinnon, Sidney Crosby, Cale Makar, Mitch Marner, and Tom Wilson, has looked unbeatable. With Jordan Binnington continuing to play well in net, they remain poised to win Olympic gold. With Czechia holding on to defeat Denmark, the Canadians will again face the Czechs in the elimination stage. Can Czechia put up more of a fight? We’ll find out on Wednesday.

Unlike Canada, who boasts the game’s two best players, USA reached the quarterfinals by running the table in wins over Latvia, Denmark, and Germany. While they weren’t overly impressive in the first two games, the Americans played much better against a quality opponent by defeating Germany 5-1 to earn the bye into the final eight.

Auston Matthews has been their best forward, scoring three goals with two assists for five points. Matthew Tkachuk has five assists with some key primary helpers for younger brother Brady in group play. Jack Eichel and Brock Nelson have had good tournaments, along with Jack Hughes. Both Quinn Hughes and Zach Werenski have played well on the back end. Connor Hellebuyck has been sharp in his two starts so far. He’ll face more of a challenge against formidable Sweden, who took care of Latvia 5-1 to set up a quarterfinal showdown tomorrow night.

The Swedes are led by top scorer Lucas Raymond, Mika Zibanejad, Rasmus Dahlin, Victor Hedman, Gabe Landeskog, Adrian Kempe, and William Nylander. The only question is whether they’ll stick with Jacob Markstrom with a chance to play in the final four. He got the nod over Filip Gustavsson in their win on Tuesday. After sitting out, will Jesper Bratt get back in the lineup? We’ll find out in less than 16 hours.

The best group saw Slovakia edge out both Finland and Sweden to earn a bye into the quarterfinals. Although they lost to Sweden, a late goal gave them the goal differential to avoid the first round.

Juraj Slafkovsky has been superb with three goals and three assists for six points to pace Slovakia. Although they lack a true star, the Slovaks have gotten good contributions from Dalibor Dvorsky, Simon Nemec, Adam Ruzicka, Peter Ceresnak, and Adam Liska.

Samuel Hlavaj has done a good job in net for Slovakia. A former goalie who represented Slovakia three times in the World Juniors, he was signed by the Wild as a free agent on Apr. 5, 2004. He entered the tournament with a 3.33 goals-against-average and .884 save percentage with the Iowa Wild in the American Hockey League. The 24-year-old goalie will face a talented German squad led by Leon Draisaitl, Tim Stutzle, J.J. Peterka, and Mo Seider in tomorrow’s quarterfinal. That game should be a toss up.

The other team to get a bye into the next round is Finland, who finished with an identical 2-0-1 record to rival Sweden. Due to beating them in the preliminary stage, they got the nod as the only second place team to have Tuesday off. The Finns are led by Mikko Rantanen, whose goal and three helpers have him tied with Artturi Lehkonen in points with four.

Even without star Aleksander Barkov, Finland remains pesky enough to make a run. They have gotten contributions from Kaapo Kakko, Sebastian Aho, Erik Haula, Mikael Granlund, Eetu Luostarinen, Niko Mikkola, and Miro Heiskanen. Kakko also has four points for Suomi. He’s historically been a good performer in international competition. If only the former Rangers 2019 second pick could translate that success to the NHL. Juuse Saros is the starting goalie for the Finns.

Finland will draw Switzerland in the knockout stage tomorrow. The Swiss shouldn’t be underestimated due to stars Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, Roman Josi, and J.J. Moser. For the Swiss to pull off the upset, they’ll need to play a patient checking game to try to frustrate the more talented Finns. Akira Schmid will probably have to steal it.

With the quarterfinals all set, the two games to watch are Germany versus Slovakia and Sweden versus USA. Obviously, Sweden isn’t who the second seeded Americans wanted to draw. But that’s the breaks. They’ll have to use their big bodies and strong forecheck to wear down a strong Sweden defense. Maybe having the game-breaking Hughes’ brothers and Werenski can come in handy. They’re very quick in transition at creating offense.

It’s worth noting that USA had a pretty easy group. They took care of business to run the table. Sweden is battle tested due to who they battled it out with. That is something to keep a close eye on. If there was a third strong candidate to compete for gold before the tournament started, it would’ve been Sweden. They’re a very dangerous squad.

Unless Czechia can find a way to break through early on heavy favorite Canada, expect the Canadians to cruise. The Czechs will need big games from David Pastrnak, Martin Necas, and veteran Roman Cervenka. Lukas Dostal is capable of making the clutch saves. Similar to the first game, he’ll be under siege by the much more skilled Canadians.

We’ll see if there are any surprises.