EMILY KWONG, HOST:
Big-time Olympic hockey is back. The men's tournament is finally underway with NHL players taking part for the first time in more than a decade. The U.S. men's team beat Denmark 6 to 3 tonight. On the women's side, Team USA is headed to a semifinal on Monday after outscoring their opponents 26 goals to 1 so far. NPR's Becky Sullivan is following it all from Milan and joins me now from just outside the hockey arena. Hello.
BECKY SULLIVAN, BYLINE: Hi, Emily.
KWONG: Let's start with Team USA men versus Denmark.
SULLIVAN: Yeah.
KWONG: I hear there's a joke going around that the winner gets Greenland...
SULLIVAN: Ah, nice.
KWONG: ...After President Trump earlier this year said he wanted the U.S. to take over the territory. So how is the American team looking?
SULLIVAN: This team is filled with stars. You have, like, the Tkachuk brothers, like Matthew and Brady Tkachuk. You've got Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs. They have already had some moments in these games. Brady Tkachuk and Auston Matthews both had goals in game one. Brady Tkachuk added another one tonight. So - and it's just been amazingly fun to be in this arena. A great environment in there tonight - this very vocal Danish contingent but also a very big American crowd, some of them singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" on the shuttle on the way from the...
KWONG: Wow.
SULLIVAN: ...Metro into the stadium, which was very fun to see, you know? So, the U.S., I think, looking good - could probably be looking a little better, can't rank them above Canada yet. Probably the second-best team here, though.
KWONG: Yeah, what makes Canada so good?
SULLIVAN: Oh, yeah, I mean, well, let me just name some names. You've got Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Macklin Celebrini - that's one guy who, in his prime, was the best player in the world - another guy who is in his prime is currently the best player in the world, and then the 19-year-old who might turn out to be the best player in the world when he reaches his prime. So let me just, you know...
KWONG: Wow.
SULLIVAN: ...It's insane. The team is insane. They won their first two games by big scores, 5 to 0 over Czechia, 5 to 1 over Switzerland. I think for Canada, it'll be a huge disappointment if they don't win the gold medal. So, you know, U.S. - I think they want to be, the Americans want to be in that match playing against the Canadians, but it would be a huge achievement if the Americans win.
KWONG: Let's talk about Team USA women's hockey team. How are they doing?
SULLIVAN: Oh, yeah. Oh, I mean, this team is so epic, Emily. I mean, this - what the U.S. women are doing at this Olympics is one of the most dominant hockey performances I think I've ever seen. I mean...
KWONG: Wow.
SULLIVAN: The scoring margin has been absolutely crazy. You said it, 26 goals to 1.
KWONG: Yeah.
SULLIVAN: The scores are so lopsided. But I think if you, like, look closer at the numbers, it's even crazier. So, like, just in the quarterfinal last night versus Italy, the Americans had 51 shots while the Italians had only six, which is madness. And so their next game is the semifinal on Monday, as you say. Historically for Team USA, the biggest competition has been Canada in the women's game. That's their most likely gold medal opponent if they make it to a gold medal match.
But over the past few - or, like, over the past year, the women have played a handful of times against Canada, and the U.S. has really dominated those games. That has continued here in Milan. They played a group stage game together a few days ago, and the US won 5 to 0. It was just, like, a total beatdown. And it made me feel that, honestly, the U.S. is just so much better than Canada right now that not only should the Americans be favored in a potential gold medal match, but they should also be favored in maybe any gold medal matches in, you know, the next four to eight years to come.
KWONG: Looking beyond hockey, what else is happening at the Olympics today?
SULLIVAN: Yeah, I mean, tons. Never stops here in Italy. One fun thing to mention, there was a new Olympic event that had a medal today called dual moguls in women's skiing. So basically, you have two mogul skiers who are racing each other side by side until - you know, until which ones - they figured out which ones are left standing. And so, two Americans took home silver and bronze. Those were Jailen Kauf and Liz Lemley. Each of them now have two Olympic medals to their names this time around.
The other big headline from today is the speed skater Jordan Stolz, who is on this quest to win four gold medals in this sport. He'd be the first American speed skater to do that in many, many decades. He won his second gold medal today, so he now has the 1,000-meter to his name along with the 500 meter. He said afterward today, that 500-meter race was...
KWONG: Wow.
SULLIVAN: ...The weakest of his events. So now that one's out of the way. No biggie.
KWONG: OK.
SULLIVAN: He's got two more to go. Either way, an incredible feat for him already, and it'll be epic to see what he does.
KWONG: NPR's Becky Sullivan in Milan, thank you.
SULLIVAN: You're welcome.
KWONG: For more Olympics coverage, check out Up First Winter Games, a new video podcast from NPR. You can find that at youtube.com/npr. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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