Hockey officials reject Canadian coach's complaints of 3-on-3 overtime rules after Olympic loss

Team Canada men’s hockey coach Jon Cooper may not like the Olympics’ three-on-three overtime format, but it doesn’t matter at all. 

It’s staying in place. 

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) president Luc Tardif told The Athletic that, despite Cooper’s complaints following his team’s gold-medal loss to Team USA on Sunday, they will continue using the format in future tournaments. 

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"It’s the best rules to fit in a tight schedule," Tardif told the outlet. "We have to figure out 30 games in 11 days for men and for the women 28 games in 13 days – 58 all together in 16 days. 

"Huge challenge."

The IIHF wanted to introduce the three-on-three format the NHL uses during its regular season to prevent the use of the shootout. However, the NHL does make the change to five-on-five hockey during the playoffs with no shootouts – only the game-winning goal. 

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Cooper, though, couldn’t help himself when he ripped into the overtime format after watching Jack Hughes snipe the gold-medal goal past his goalie, Jordan Binnington. 

"You take four players off the ice, now hockey’s not hockey anymore," Cooper said, per the New York Post. "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 it’s not in the Stanley Cup Final or playoffs."

Overtime in the preliminary rounds of the Olympics lasted five minutes, with a five-round shootout transpiring if a game-winning goal wasn’t scored in that time. For the quarterfinals and semifinals, the overtime was boosted to 10 minutes, followed by 20 minutes in the gold-medal games. 

Canada didn’t get as clean a look at the net as Hughes did on his game-winning shot, but they did have tons of chances during the three periods. In the end, the U.S. was able to keep the game notched at one apiece through 60 minutes, with tremendous saves by goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, who was dubbed the "Secretary of Defense" by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth for his performance. 

After the game, Cooper wasn’t the only Canadian showing some bitterness about the result. Assistant captain Nathan MacKinnon, who missed a wide-open net in the third period that could’ve been the game-winner for Team Canada, made an interesting comment to the press. 

"You be the judge of who was the better team today," he said. 

While Cooper, MacKinnon, and the rest of Team Canada think about the what-ifs, Team USA took Air Force One to visit President Donald Trump on Tuesday prior to his State of the Union Address. The team was spotted in the Oval Office, where Trump congratulated every player in person on their tremendous accomplishment.

The United States won its most golds in a single Winter Olympics (12), which included the women’s ice hockey team also beating Team Canada in overtime thanks to the heroics of Megan Keller.

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Olympic gold medalist US men's hockey team visits White House to celebrate historic win over Canada

Team USA's Olympic gold medal-winning men's hockey team arrived at the White House for their meeting with President Donald Trump on Tuesday, as the players are also expected to attend Trump's State of the Union address. 

The team made history with its 2-1 overtime win over Team Canada at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in the gold medal game on Sunday. New Jersey Devils star Jack Hughes hit the golden goal to deliver the U.S. its first men's hockey gold medal since the 1980 Miracle on Ice team. 

Canada has historically been the most dominant Olympic hockey team in history, with a world-best nine gold medals. Sunday's win also avenged a loss to Canada in the NHL's 4 Nations Face Off exhibition in early 2025, which came amid heightened tensions between the two countries over Trump's tariff policy. 

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Trump called the players after Sunday's win, congratulating and thanking them during the locker room celebration.

Trump told the men's team after inviting them to Tuesday's State of the Union that he'd "have" to invite the women's team, otherwise "I probably would be impeached." The players laughed in response to Trump's joke. 

Video of the exchange has since gone viral, with some women's hockey fans criticizing Trump and the men's players for making light of the women's team's gold medal victory, which also came against Canada. The women's team has since declined Trump's invitation to Washington, citing scheduling conflicts. 

Dylan Larkin and Zach Werenski opened up about where their American pride came from as they celebrated their Olympic accomplishment.

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Larkin and Werenski appeared on Fox News Channel’s "Fox & Friends" on Tuesday morning, hours after celebrating their gold medal victory against Canada in Miami. The two opened up on what it meant to them to represent the Stars and Stripes.

"I think a lot of us played at the U.S. National Team Development Program … When we were there, you get to put the jersey on every day for two years, before you’re drafted. We go through training. We’re not military by any means but they put us through some training, and they really instill in you some pride," Larkin said. "Once you go through that, you take the jersey off … and every time you take it off, for me at least, I don’t know the next time I’m going to put it on.

"So, every time I get the chance to represent the United States of America, I put that jersey on, I’m all in. I love doing it, and it’s just something special. I could go on all day about how great our country is. Just being home and seeing our friends and family, it’s just special."

Werenski was asked whether playing in other countries made him more proud to be an American.

"I think you’re spot on. I remember my first World Championships with him was in Slovakia. I’ve been to Denmark, I’ve been to Czech (Republic) – these are all great countries, and you play in them, and it’s a ton of fun. The Olympics were in Italy were in Italy, which is an unbelievable country," he said. "You get reminded of how great the United States of America is when you get back here. And we love representing our country, we love wearing those colors.

"Like Dylan said, we learn about it from a young age. We’re allowed to live out our dream because of the military – the people that serve, the first responders. It’s just an incredible country. It’s the best country in the world, and we love wearing these colors, and you definitely get an appreciation for it when you go overseas and play."

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