Head coach Jon Cooper reacts to Team Canada’s dramatic 4-3 win over Czechia in the quarterfinal of the 2026 Winter Olympic hockey tournament.
On Mitch Marner coming up big with the OT winner:
This is the — one, two, three, four — fourth tournament I’ve coached Mitch, and he has delivered in every one of them at the biggest moments.
He is the epitome of calm. His pulse rate lowers when times like this come on. That is how he makes plays as he does. It’s how he did it against Sweden in the Four Nations, and how he did it again tonight.
Special player. I can’t say enough about what he does and what he brings. And he can play with anyone.
It is impressive to watch.
On the drama of the overtime win:
Like, this is what it is all about. This is what the Olympics are for. They bring out the best of the best. It puts the greatest hockey countries with the greatest players together, and that is what you get.
We are in the entertainment business, and if you are not entertained by that, I don’t know if you have a heartbeat. That was really, really exciting.
On Nick Suzuki’s play on the tying goal late in regulation:
Nick got better as the game went on. He had to play a big role when Sid went out. But now we need one. I am almost going on 6-on-5 mode. We needed a couple of shifts before we got to that, but you could tell he was just buzzing.
He started feeling it just on his forecheck. He was getting comfortable with his linemates.
To dig that out, throw it up, and tip it… It was big time.
On Jordan Binnington’s performance in net:
It is the irony, right? Get the big save, go down, and score the big goal.
It is tough. Sometimes, especially in that second period, he sat there for a while. He comes out for the third, and now he has to make some saves. We gave up the go-ahead goal.
We know that we have the ability to come back, but for him to shut the door, especially in overtime… Wow.
On whether he selected his overtime lineups beforehand or if it was based on his “feel” from the game:
It is a combination, especially with who we think is going to win the faceoff and what is going to go on. That was in my head, what we were going to do.
On Canada losing Sidney Crosby to injury but finding a way:
A big thing walking out of the room was, “There is no way this is going to be Sid’s last game.” That was the talk coming out. We just had to do it the right way.
We talked about how we don’t know when it is going to come. Don’t rush for it to happen in the first five minutes, because it could come in the last five minutes. Sure enough, it did, and it went overtime.
On whether he is hinting at Crosby’s possible availability later this week:
I am not hinting at anything. I am uneducated on what the answer is. I haven’t been to the room yet.
