I heard this claim during the Sweden-Finland game just now. But this ignores the fact that there have been other international competitions - the Olympics, despite their modern importance, were not a serious tournament before 1998. So what has the American record been like in real top-level international competition?
| Date | Winner | G | Loser | G | OT | Location | Tournament |
| 5-Sep-76 | Canada | 4 | USA | 2 | Montreal | Canada Cup | |
| 3-Sep-81 | Canada | 8 | USA | 3 | Edmonton | Canada Cup | |
| 11-Sep-81 | Canada | 4 | USA | 1 | Montreal | Canada Cup | |
| 3-Sep-84 | Canada | 4 | USA | 4 | Montreal | Canada Cup | |
| 2-Sep-87 | Canada | 3 | USA | 2 | Hamilton | Canada Cup | |
| 2-Sep-91 | Canada | 6 | USA | 3 | Hamilton | Canada Cup | |
| 14-Sep-91 | Canada | 4 | USA | 1 | Montreal | Canada Cup | |
| 16-Sep-91 | Canada | 4 | USA | 2 | Hamilton | Canada Cup | |
| 31-Aug-96 | USA | 5 | Canada | 3 | Philadelphia | World Cup | |
| 10-Sep-96 | Canada | 4 | USA | 3 | OT | Philadelphia | World Cup |
| 12-Sep-96 | USA | 5 | Canada | 2 | Montreal | World Cup | |
| 14-Sep-96 | USA | 5 | Canada | 2 | Montreal | World Cup | |
| 16-Feb-98 | Canada | 4 | USA | 1 | Nagano | Olympics | |
| 24-Feb-02 | Canada | 5 | USA | 2 | Salt Lake City | Olympics | |
| 31-Aug-04 | Canada | 2 | USA | 1 | Montreal | World Cup | |
| 21-Feb-10 | USA | 5 | Canada | 3 | Vancouver | Olympics |
So while the US had a rough stretch from 1976 to 1991, their record against Canada over the last 14 years is 4-4, and they've outscored Canada 27-25. That's a lot more honest than including past Olympic results where Canadian semi-pro teams played US semi-pro teams just five times in almost 40 years:
| 1994 | 3-3 |
| 1992 | DNP |
| 1988 | DNP |
| 1984 | 4-2 Canada |
| 1980 | DNP |
| 1976 | DNP |
| 1972 | DNP |
| 1968 | 3-2 Canada |
| 1964 | 8-6 Canada |
| 1960 | 2-1 USA |
The US came into today's game as much as a 40/60 underdog and they won. That's like the New Orleans Saints beating the Minnesota Vikings to get to the Super Bowl. A great story, but nobody was offering 100-1 odds on the game.