Canada's Hockey Coach Takes a Swipe at Olympic Rules and It's Not a Good Look

Since the U.S. Men's Hockey Team took home the gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, Italy, on Sunday, there has been a noticeable spring in America's step. It was the overtime goal by Jack Hughes that won the game for the U.S., combined with the fact that it happened 46 years to the day that the U.S. beat the Soviet Union in what has come to be known as the "Miracle on Ice" game in the 1980 Lake Placid Olympic Games. But maybe the cherry on the cake of the Americans' victory was the fact that it was over Canada, the birthplace of hockey.

I just have one thing to say to Nathan MacKinnon and Jon Cooper:

Cry harder.https://t.co/JEbc1dYOom
— John Simmons Jr. (@JohnSimmonsJr7) February 22, 2026

Now, after the stunning overtime win by the U.S., Jon Cooper, coach of Team Canada, is crying foul over Olympic overtime rules and described them as "not hockey anymore." According to Olympic rules, overtime is played three-on-three. The U.S. defeated Sweden with the three-on-three format in the quarter finals, while Canada defeated the Czech Republic in a three-on-three overtime. This configuration speeds up games that go into overtime, but Cooper gave his theory for why the three-on-three is used, saying,

“You take four players off the ice, now hockey’s not hockey anymore. There’s a reason overtime, and shootouts are in play — it’s all TV-driven to end games, so it’s not a long time. There’s a reason why (3-on-3) is not in the Stanley Cup final or playoffs.”

But Cooper was quick to add that he was not calling sour grapes on why his team lost. He added,

“All the teams know the rules going into these beforehand. So you can’t come up here and say we’re the losing team because we lost in a 3-on-3 and that’s not fair. We knew the rules coming in. We won a game in this tournament 3-on-3, so that’s not the way it is.”

Then why bring up the rules? If Cooper has a legitimate beef with Olympic rules, then by all means, bring it to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). But the Olympics are not the NHL playoffs or the Stanley Cup finals. That means they are free to use the three-on-three overtime rule.

Jon Cooper is such a wimp making excuses for why Canada lost to #USAHockey. He wouldn't be pissing and moaning about the OT format if they won the gold 🥇 and he wasn't bitching about 3-on-3 OT when they beat the Czechs in the QF in OT. He should just shut up and take the L...
— James Leonard 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@jimleonardbklyn) February 23, 2026

Cooper may not be trying to make excuses for his team, but it was just more bad timing of comments on Team Canada's loss. As the U.S. men celebrated their victory, my colleague Nick Arama was covering the celebration on social media. Included was this gem from Canada's Nate McKinnon after the game, "You be the judge of who was the better team today."

ALSO READ: Hot Takes: Great Patriotic Message As US Wins Gold, Inspires Memes Dunking on Canada

Maybe Cooper and McKinnon could both take a lesson from Team Canada and St. Louis Blues Goalie Jordan Binnington, who gave up the winning goal to the U.S. and stated, “What a hockey game. We left it all out there, and we’ve got to hold our heads high." It was a classy move by the guy affectionately known in St. Louis between the pipes as "Binner."

Just in case Jon Cooper wasn't aware, there are different rules in college hockey from the NHL as well. He has a lot of time to decide if he wants to take up his rules beef with the IOC before the 2030 games.

It’s hilarious how Canadien Hockey Fans are Bitching about the Overtime Olympic Rules.

Did you guys forget that you needed OT to Beat Czech and Finland to even get to the Gold Medal Game?

Canada is a bunch of Sore Losers. Cry more.
— Minnesota Sports Insider (@CoachBGonzo) February 22, 2026

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