Team USA lost the Four Nations Face-Off final on Thursday night, dropping a 3-2 overtime decision to Team Canada, but The Athletic’s Michael Russo reports that Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin was among several American players who chose to look forward to the next big match-up between the U.S. and Canada:
The players Bill Guerin assembled to don Team USA sweaters for the grand success that was the 4 Nations Face-Off were only together for 12 days, but they bonded and invested much into trying to win a tournament that will never happen again. And even though they fell to the archrival Canadians, 3-2 in overtime, they cannot wait to regather in less than a year in Milan, Italy, for the 2026 Olympics.
“There is something to look forward to with this group, which is great,” said Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin, who was great in all four games for the Americans. “That’s the big one. And I know that it’s a little bit of a different tournament, different rules, but we really feel like we can play any kind of game on any kind of surface and anywhere against anyone.
“Billy built the team that can do that, and we’re confident about that. Would have loved to have this thing keep going and play some more hockey against those guys.”
Larkin also told Russo that the Americans experienced tremendous cohesion on and off the ice, starting with a team-building dinner in Montreal last Monday night:
“This has been a first-class experience, and something that I’ll always remember,” Larkin said. “I’ll always be proud that I was just a part of it, and that I can say right now that I gave it my all for this team and the guys in this room. That dinner we had in Montreal, when Bill brought back the legends from the ’80 team and Mike Modano and (Gaudreau’s dad, Guy), like, that was the coolest night of all of this. And then we just continued to make great memories. It was a tremendous group to be around.”
Larkin and the rest of the Americans can’t wait to put on that dark blue USA Hockey sweater again at the 2026 Olympics for their next chance to slay the dragon that always seems to get the best of them: Canada.
Update: For what it’s worth, Sportsnet’s Emily Sadler gave Larkin a strong grade for his Four Nations Final performance:
Dylan Larkin: 8/10
Larkin’s ascension from the fourth line to the first is now complete, with the Red Wings captain capping what’s been a really solid tournament with one of his best efforts. While he was held off the scoresheet Thursday night, his speed up and down the wing to generate scoring chances — and a close call in the first, that almost saw him tie things up after breaking free and picking up his own rebound — helped the U.S. match Canada’s pace, and his penalty kill prowess came up clutch, too.
