The climb toward a gold medal for the US and Canada began long ago

Management and coaches for the U.S. and Canada put hours into constructing 25-man rosters for the Winter Olympics that gave them the best opportunity to leave with gold

MILAN -- When organizers designed the 4 Nations Face-Off to be played in February 2025, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the intent was for it to serve as an appetizer for hockey at the Olympics.

What it turned out to be, beyond a smashing success that put the sport firmly in the limelight, was a blueprint for the U.S. and Canada to build their rosters. The tournament was the first in international play to feature the best in the world in nearly a decade. The lessons learned informed what USA Hockey and Hockey Canada did over the past year.

It worked, with the U.S. and Canada advancing to Sunday's gold medal game, a rematch of the final of the 4 Nations. Canada won that in overtime and put the two teams on a crash course for a rematch. It's not a two-team tournament and there was no guarantee they'd play, but now a lot of the big decisions on either side will be tested, once and for all.

“We didn’t build our team just to play Canada,” U.S. general manager Bill Guerin said. "We built the best team possible. We feel that we built the best team possible. We did that with us in mind. We’re worried about us, not anybody else.”

Guerin and his group opted to bring back forwards like Vincent Trocheck and J.T. Miller who could kill penalties and defend. Left at home were four of the top 10 American scorers in the league: Jason Robertson, Lane Hutson, Cole Caufield and Alex DeBrincat.