Canada trounces France 10-2 in Olympic men’s hockey

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This article was published 15/02/2026 (222 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MILAN — Bring on the elimination games.

An epic mismatch on paper proved to be just that on the ice Sunday afternoon, as Canada routed France 10-2 to finish round-robin play with a perfect 3-0 record.

File this one under the category of “necessary evil.”

Unfortunately for France, Canada had every incentive not only to win, but to fill the net as much as possible, based on the tie-breaking procedures used by the International Ice Hockey Federation at the Winter Olympics. And so the star-studded squad kept coming, foot firmly on the gas even when the final result was crystal clear.

It paid off.

Canada clinched the No. 1 seed by virtue of goal differential, despite sharing the same 3-0 record with the United States, which beat Germany 5-1 on Sunday evening to win its group.

There are 12 men’s teams competing here in Milan, divided into three groups. Group winners earn seeds one through three; second-place teams are ranked four through six; third-place teams seventh through ninth; and fourth-place teams 10th through 12th.

The top four seeds receive a bye directly to Wednesday’s quarterfinals, while the remaining eight teams must play qualification games Tuesday (5 vs. 12, 6 vs. 11, 7 vs. 10 and 8 vs. 9).

Canada, the No. 1 seed, will face the winner of No. 8 Czechia vs. No. 9 Denmark. The United States (No. 2) will meet the winner of No. 7 Sweden vs. No. 10 Latvia. No. 3 Slovakia will play the winner of No. 6 Germany vs. No. 11 France, while No. 4 Finland takes on the winner of No. 5 Switzerland vs. No. 12 Italy.

You can see why avoiding the No. 2 spot mattered. Sweden, despite finishing 2-1, placed third in its group based on tie-breaking procedures with Slovakia and Finland, which were also 2-1. But make no mistake: the Swedes are loaded with star power and remain a very dangerous team.

The Americans, for their part, needed a 10-goal victory to leapfrog Canada — a margin that ultimately proved too steep.

“For me, talking to the team had nothing to do with where we’re going to finish, what we’re going to do, how many goals we’re going to score. It was about, are we getting better as a team?” said Canadian head coach Jon Cooper.

“And the whole thing was about how are you playing without the puck. I don’t care about the rest of the stuff. You want to win this tournament. You better be giving up one or two goals a game. Anything more than that, the game’s in jeopardy. And so that was how it was for me. And for the most part in this tournament, we’ve done a pretty good job.”

As for the game itself, Connor McDavid made Canadian hockey history with a third consecutive three-point performance. His nine points broke the previous Olympic record of eight in a single Games, set by Winnipegger Jonathan Toews in Vancouver 2010.

Macklin Celebrini, just 19 years old, continued his remarkable showing by scoring in a third straight game. He finished with two goals and an assist, including a silky-smooth penalty-shot marker.

Winnipegger Mark Stone had a strong outing, scoring shorthanded and adding two assists. Sidney Crosby (1G, 2A), Tom Wilson (1G, 1A) and Mitch Marner (2A) also recorded multi-point games, while Brandon Hagel, Bo Horvat, Cale Makar and Devon Toews chipped in the other goals.

Wilson may have made Olympic history of his own with what appeared to be the first Gordie Howe hat trick at the Games. He dropped the gloves late in the third period with Pierre Crinon, minutes after the French forward struck Nathan MacKinnon in the head — a penalty initially called a major before being reduced to a minor.

“He elbowed me in the face and I was nowhere near the puck,” said MacKinnon, who appreciated Wilson stepping up on his behalf. Wilson was irate after Crinon yanked on his jersey, causing him to fall face-first to the ice.

“That guy obviously didn’t want to fight Tom. He just wanted to wrestle,” said MacKinnon. “I wouldn’t want to fight Tom either.”

Although fighting in the Olympics comes with an automatic game misconduct, there will be no additional penalty such as a suspension.

“I think that’s kinda the special part, one of the special part about when you get opportunities like this. You see how close the team gets, how much guys come together when you put on this jersey,” Crosby said of Wilson.

“Regardless where you played before or what’s happened in the past, we’re in it together. That’s something that goes a long way. It was great to see. Obviously it’s a team sport and we’re a team. It thought that was a good example.”

Hagel joked that Wilson dropping the gloves at some point was probably inevitable given the hard-nosed way he plays.

“That’s just what Willy does, he sticks up for teammates,” he said. “Obviously we didn’t like what happened to Mack behind the net. That’s what you call a team. That’s why everyone praises and loves Tom Wilson because that’s the stuff he does.’’

Goaltender Jordan Binnington — who went extended bouts with no action around him — stopped 12 of the 14 shots he faced, while Canada fired 46 shots at the other end.

“I felt OK. It’s a little bit of a different game,” he said. “Obviously we had a lot of offensive time tonight. I was just trying to stay focused, stay in the game. Obviously I’m not going to complain about it.”

Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey missed a second straight game after suffering a lower-body injury in Thursday’s opener against Czechia. The good news: He skated Sunday morning, and head coach Jon Cooper believes he could be ready to return as early as Wednesday.

Elkhorn’s Travis Sanheim delivered a solid performance on the Canadian blue line, finishing plus-three with two shots on goal while leading all skaters with 18:53 of ice time.

Brad Marchand, who is nursing a minor injury, and third-string goaltender Darcy Kuemper were Canada’s two other scratches.

Winnipegger Seth Jarvis, skating in his second straight game, registered one shot on goal in 10:35 of ice time. Six of his closest childhood friends made it to Milan in time to watch after scrambling to arrange last-minute travel when Jarvis was added as an injury replacement for Anthony Cirelli.

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