After a 12-year absence, NHL players are officially returning to the Winter Olympics.
Here’s everything you need to know about the ice hockey tournament at the 2026 Olympic Games in Milano Cortina, Italy.
NHL Players in the Olympics
NHL players have participated in the Olympics five times. First in Nagano 1998, Salt Lake City 2002, Turin 2006, Vancouver 2010, and Sochi 2014. Since then, NHL players have only competed internationally at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. And also the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off. However, in February 2024, the NHL announced their return to the Olympics. It meant powerhouse teams like Canada, USA, Finland, Sweden and Czechia will feature the world’s best players once again.
Superstars such as Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby headline the tournament. It marks the first Olympic appearances for McDavid and MacKinnon.
When is the 2026 Olympics?
The men’s hockey tournament begins on February 11, 2026. That is the fifth day of the Olympics. The gold medal game will be played on Sunday, February 22, 2026.
Olympic Hockey Schedule
Here is the playing schedule for the Olympic hockey. All start times are listed in EST.
11 February
10.40 AM: Slovakia – Finland 4-1
3.10 PM: Sweden – Italy 5-2
12 February
6.10 AM: Switzerland – France 4-0
10.40 AM: Czechia – Canada 0-5
3.10 PM: Latvia – USA 1-5
3.10 PM: Germany – Denmark 3-1
13 February
6.10 AM: Finland – Sweden 4-1
6.10 AM: Italy – Slovakia 2-3
10.40 AM: France – Czechia 3-6
3.10 PM: Canada – Switzerland 5-1
14 February
6.10 AM: Sweden – Slovakia 5-3
6.10 AM: Germany – Latvia 3-4
10.40 AM: Finland – Italy 11-0
3.10 PM: USA – Denmark 6-3
15 February
6.10 AM: Switzerland – Czechia 4-3 OT
10.40 AM: Canada – France 10-2
1.10 PM: Denmark – Latvia 4-2
3.10 PM: USA – Germany 5-1
17 February
6.10 AM: Switzerland – Italy 3-0
6.10 AM: Germany – France 5-1
10.40 AM: Czechia – Denmark 3-2
3.10 PM: Sweden – Latvia 5-1
18 February – Quarter finals
6.10 AM: Slovakia – Germany 6-2
10.40 AM: Canada– Czechia 4-3
12.10 PM: Finland – Switzerland 3-2
3.10 PM: USA – Sweden 2-1
20 February – Semifinals
10.40 AM: Canada – Finland 3-2
3.10 PM: USA – Slovakia 6-2
21 February
2.40 PM: Slovakia – Finland 1-6
22 February
8.10 AM: Canada – USA 1-2
Olympic Hockey Groups
The groups were determined based on the 2023 IIHF World Championship rankings. Russia remains banned by the IIHF through 2026. They have been replaced by France.
Group A:
Canada, Czechia, Switzerland, France
Group B:
Finland, Sweden, Slovakia, Italy
Group C:
USA, Germany, Latvia, Denmark
Canada Olympic roster
Jordan Binnington, G
Darcy Kuemper, G
Logan Thompson, G
Drew Doughty, D
Thomas Harley, D
Cale Makar, D
Josh Morrissey, D
Colton Parayko, D
Travis Sanheim, D
Shea Theodore, D
Devon Toews, D
Macklin Celebrini, F
Sam Bennett, F
Sidney Crosby, F (Captain)
Branon Hagel, F
Bo Horvat, F
Nathan MacKinnon, F
Brad Marchand, F
Mitch Marner, F
Connor McDavid, F
Seth Jarvis, F
Sam Reinhart, F
Mark Stone, F
Nick Suzuki, F
Tom Wilson, F
USA Olympic roster
Jake Oettinger, G
Connor Hellebuyck, G
Jeremy Swayman, G
Brock Faber, D
Noah Hanifin, D
Quinn Hughes, D
Jackson Lacombe, D
Charlie McAvoy, D
Jake Sanderson, D
Jaccob Slavin, D
Zach Werenski, D
Matt Boldy, F
Kyle Connor, F
Jack Eichel, F
Jack Hughes, F
Jake Guentzel, F
Clayton Keller, F
Dylan Larkin, F
Auston Matthews, F (Captain)
J.T. Miller, F
Brock Nelson, F
Brady Tkachuk, F
Matthew Tkachuk, F
Tage Thompson, F
Vincent Trocheck, F
Sweden Olympic roster
Jacob Markstrom, G
Jesper Wallstedt, G
Filip Gustavsson, G
Rasmus Andersson, D
Philip Broberg, D
Hampus Lindholm, D
Rasmus Dahin, D
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, D
Gustav Forsling, D
Victor Hedman, D
Erik Karlsson, D
Jesper Bratt, F
Marcus Johansson, F
Joel Eriksson Ek, F
Filip Forsberg, F
Pontus Holmberg, F
Adrian Kempe, F
Gabriel Landeskog, F (Captain)
Elias Lindholm, F
William Nylander, F
Elias Pettersson, F
Rickard Rakell, F
Lucas Raymond, F
Alexander Wennberg, F
Mika Zibanejad, F
Finland Olympic roster
Kevin Lankinen, G
Joonas Korpisalo, G
Juuse Saros, G
Miro Heiskanen, D
Henri Jokiharju, D
Mikko Lehtonen, D
Esa Lindell, D
Olli Määttä, D
Nikolas Matinpalo, D
Niko Mikkola, D
Rasmus Ristolainen, D
Joel Armia, F
Sebastian Aho, F
Mikael Granlund, F (Captain)
Erik Haula, F
Roope Hintz, F
Kaapo Kakko, F
Oliver Kapanen, F
Joel Kiviranta, F
Artturi Lehkonen, F
Anton Lundell, F
Eetu Luostarinen, F
Mikko Rantanen, F
Teuvo Teräväinen, F
Eeli Tolvanen, F
Denmark Olympic roster
Frederik Andersen, G
Frederik Dichow, G
Mads Søgaard, G
Jesper Jensen Aabo, D
Nicholas B Jensen, D
Anders Koch, D
Matias Lassen, D
Markus Lauridsen, D
Oliver Lauridsen, D
Phillip Bruggisser, D
Mikkel Aagaard, F
Mathias Bau, F
Oliver Bjorkstrand, F
Joachim Blichfeld, F
Nikolaj Ehlers, F
Lars Eller, F
Nicklas Jensen, F
Oscar Fisker Mølgaard, F
Nick Olesen, F
Morten Poulsen, F
Jonas Røndbjerg, F
Patrick Russell, F
Frederik Storm, F
Alexander True, F
Christian Wejse, F
Czechia Olympic roster
Lukas Dostal, G
Karel Vejmelka, G
Dan Vladar, G
Filip Hronek, D
Radko Gudas, D
Michal Kempny, D
Tomas Kundratek, D
Jan Rutta, D
Radim Simek, D
David Spacek, D
Jiri Tichacek, D
Roman Cervenka, F (Captain)
Radek Faksa, F
Jakub Flek, F
Tomas Hertl, F
David Kämpf, F
Ondrej Kase, F
Dominik Kubalik, F
Martin Necas, F
Ondrej Palat, F
David Pastrnak, F
Lukas Sedlak, F
Matej Stransky, F
David Tomasek, F
Filip Chlapik, F
Switzerland Olympic roster
Reto Berra, G
Leonardo Genoni, G
Akira Schmid, G
Tim Berni, D
Michael Fora, D
Andrea Glauser, D
Roman Josi, D
Dean Kukan, D
Christian Marti, D
J.J. Moser, D
Jonas Siegenthaler, D
Sven Andrighetto, F
Christoph Bertschy, F
Kevin Fiala, F
Nico Hischier, F
Ken Jäger, F
Simon Knak, F
Philipp Kurashev, F
Denis Malgin, F
Timo Meier, F
Nino Niederreiter, F
Damien Riat, F
Sandro Schmid, F
Pius Suter, F
Calvin Thürkauf, F
France Olympic roster
Julian Junca, G
Antoine Keller, G
Martin Neckar, G
Yohann Auvitu, D
Jules Boscq, D
Enzo Cantagallo, D
Florian Chakiachvili, D
Pierre Crinon, D
Hugo Gallet, D
Enzo Guebey, D
Thomas Thiry, D
Justin Addamo, F
Pierre-Édouard Bellemare, F
Charles Bertrand, F
Louis Boudon, F
Kevin Bozon, F
Stéphane Da Costa, F
Aurélien Dair, F
Floran Douay, F
Dylan Fabre, F
Jordann Perret, F
Anthony Rech, F
Nicolas Ritz, F
Alexandre Texier, F
Sacha Treille, F
Slovakia Olympic roster
Samuel Hlavaj, G
Adam Gajan, G
Stanislav Skorvanek, G
Peter Ceresnak, D
Erik Cernak, D
Martin Fehervary, D
Martin Gernat, D
Michal Ivan, D
Patrik Koch, D
Martin Marincin, D
Simon Nemec, D
Peter Cehlarik, F
Dalibor Dvorsky, F
Lukas Cingel, F
Libor Hudacek, F
Milos Kelemen, F
Adam Liska, F
Oliver Okuliar, F
Martin Pospisil, F
Pavol Regenda, F
Adam Ruzicka, F
Juraj Slafkovsky, F
Matus Sukel, F
Samuel Takac, F
Tomas Tatar, F
Italy Olympic roster
Damian Clara, G
Davide Fadani, G
Gianluca Vallini, G
Dylan Di Perna, D
Gregory Di Tomaso, D
Daniel Glira, D
Thomas Larkin, D
Phil Pietroniro, D
Jason Seed, D
Alex Trivellato, D
Luca Zanatta, D
Matthew Bradley, F
Tommaso De Luca, F
Cristiano DiGiacinto, F
Luca Frigo, F
Mikael Frycklund, F
Dustin Gazley, F
Diego Kostner, F
Daniel Mantenuto, F
Giovanni Morini, F
Alexander Petan, F
Tommy Purdeller, F
Nick Saracino, F
Alessandro Segafredo, F
Marco Zanetti, F
Germany Olympic roster
Maximilian Franzreb, G
Philipp Grubauer, G
Mathias Niederberger, G
Leon Gawanke, D
Korbinian Geibel, D
Lukas Kälble, D
Jonas Muller, D
Moritz Muller, D
Moritz Seider, D
Fabio Wagner, D
Kai Wissman, D
Leon Draisaitl, F
Alexander Ehl, F
Dominik Kahun, F
Marc Michaelis, F
JJ Peterka, F
Lukas Reichel, F
Tobias Rieder, F
Josh Samanski, F
Justin Schütz, F
Wojciech Stachowiak, F
Tim Stützle, F
Nico Sturm, F
Frederik Tiffels, F
Parker Tuomie, F
Latvia Olympic roster
Kristers Gudlevskis, G
Elvis Merzlikins, G
Arturs Silovs, G
Uvis Balinskis, D
Oskars Cibulskis, D
Ralfs Freibergs, D
Janis Jaks, D
Roberts Mamcics, D
Kristaps Rubins, D
Alberts Smits, D
Kristaps Zile, D
Oskars Batna, F
Rudolfs Balcers, F
Teddy Blueger, F
Rihards Bukarts, F
Roberts Bukarts, F
Kaspars Daugavins, F
Martins Dzierkals, F
Haralds Egle, F
Zemgus Girgensons, F
Renars Krastenbergs, F
Dans Locmelis, F
Anri Ravinskis, F
Eduards Tralmaks, F
Sandis Vilmanis, F
Recap of the 2022 Olympics
The 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing featured a tournament without NHL players. Despite this, the competition delivered historic moments:
- Finland won its first-ever Olympic gold medal. Defeating the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) in the final.
- Slovakia made history by claiming their first Olympic hockey medal. Defeating Sweden 4-0 in the bronze medal game.
- Canada and the USA were eliminated in the quarterfinals. It marked a disappointing finish for the North American powerhouses.
