Finland are the reigning men’s Olympic champions, but with NHL participation in Milan, there will be plenty of competition for gold in 2026.
photo: © International Ice Hockey Federation / Matt Zambonin
NHLers are back – who might return from 2014?
The countdown is on! The 25th Olympic Winter Games are now exactly one year away. Some 12 men’s teams and 10 women’s teams will arrive in Milano to compete for the gold medals, and only two teams will be successful. Let’s have a look at what we know and what we can look forward to in the next 365 days.
First, a little context. Italy is hosting the Winter Olympics for the third time. The first time, in Cortina d’Ampezzo in 1956, saw the Soviet Union, United States, and Canada take the medals, in that order.
The second time, in Turin in 2006, there was double the drama as the women also competed for medals. On the men’s side, Nicklas Lidstrom’s third-period goal gave Sweden a 3-2 victory over Finland for gold. On the women’s side, Canada – powered by tournament scoring leader Hayley Wickenheiser (17 points) – beat Sweden 4-1 to win gold. That latter matchup was the result of the greatest upset in Olympic women’s hockey to date. The Swedes eliminated the U.S. with a 3-2 shootout win in the semi-finals en route to their historic silver medal.
Italy has also hosted the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship twice, in 1934 and 1994. In the former, the Canadian men won gold and Italy finished ninth out of 12 nations. In 1994 it was Canada again winning, with the hosts finishing a very respectable sixth.
Milano won the bidding rights to host in 2026 by beating a Swedish bid from Stockholm-Are. The final vote was 47-34. The hockey games will be played at two venues, notably the sparkling new PalaItalia, which will seat 16,000 for hockey and will be a legacy project, its use continuing long after the 2026 Games are over. The second venue is the Fiera Milano.
As in 2006, Italy will participate in both men’s and women’s hockey, which marked the last time the Italian men played and the only time the Italian women have played.
On the men’s side, the Finns are the reigning champions, but they will have a tough time defending their title. NHL players will be participating for the first time since 2014, and Canada won gold three of the last four times the NHL was involved (2002, 2010, 2014). The NHL has also committed to the 2030 Olympics in France, which is great news for fans and players alike.
The Canadians are the reigning Olympic women’s champions, and 2026 has the potential to deliver the best tournament of all time. The PWHL will break for the Games to allow all of its top players to participate. Canada has won five of the last six Olympics (2002-2022, excluding 2018, when the U.S. triumphed).
The countdown is on! The 25th Olympic Winter Games are now exactly one year away. Some 12 men’s teams and 10 women’s teams will arrive in Milano to compete for the gold medals, and only two teams will be successful. Let’s have a look at what we know and what we can look forward to in the next 365 days.
First, a little context. Italy is hosting the Winter Olympics for the third time. The first time, in Cortina d’Ampezzo in 1956, saw the Soviet Union, United States, and Canada take the medals, in that order.
The second time, in Turin in 2006, there was double the drama as the women also competed for medals. On the men’s side, Nicklas Lidstrom’s third-period goal gave Sweden a 3-2 victory over Finland for gold. On the women’s side, Canada – powered by tournament scoring leader Hayley Wickenheiser (17 points) – beat Sweden 4-1 to win gold. That latter matchup was the result of the greatest upset in Olympic women’s hockey to date. The Swedes eliminated the U.S. with a 3-2 shootout win in the semi-finals en route to their historic silver medal.
Italy has also hosted the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship twice, in 1934 and 1994. In the former, the Canadian men won gold and Italy finished ninth out of 12 nations. In 1994 it was Canada again winning, with the hosts finishing a very respectable sixth.
Milano won the bidding rights to host in 2026 by beating a Swedish bid from Stockholm-Are. The final vote was 47-34. The hockey games will be played at two venues, notably the sparkling new PalaItalia, which will seat 16,000 for hockey and will be a legacy project, its use continuing long after the 2026 Games are over. The second venue is the Fiera Milano.
As in 2006, Italy will participate in both men’s and women’s hockey, which marked the last time the Italian men played and the only time the Italian women have played.
On the men’s side, the Finns are the reigning champions, but they will have a tough time defending their title. NHL players will be participating for the first time since 2014, and Canada won gold three of the last four times the NHL was involved (2002, 2010, 2014). The NHL has also committed to the 2030 Olympics in France, which is great news for fans and players alike.
The Canadians are the reigning Olympic women’s champions, and 2026 has the potential to deliver the best tournament of all time. The PWHL will break for the Games to allow all of its top players to participate. Canada has won five of the last six Olympics (2002-2022, excluding 2018, when the U.S. triumphed).
Canada's women's team celebrating gold medal during 2024 Women's World Championship in Utica, USA.
photo: © International Ice Hockey Federation / Andre Ringuette
On the men’s side, the rosters will be night and day compared to 2014. For starters, four teams that played in Sochi in 2014 won’t even be in Milano: Austria, Norway, Russia, and Slovenia. And only three 2014 Olympic goalies who could theoretically return for 2026 are still active: Sweden’s Jhonas Enroth, Switzerland’s Reto Berra, and American Jonathan Quick.
As far as skaters who might return to the Olympics after 12 years, the options are few and far between. On Canada, for instance, only eight players are still active: Drew Doughty, Alex Pietrangelo, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Matt Duchene, John Tavares, Jamie Benn, Corey Perry, and Sidney Crosby.
For the Czechs, only three players remain active: Radko Gudas, Roman Cervenka, and Ondrej Palat. Finland has nine active players from 2014. That includes three NHLers: Olli Maata, Aleksander Barkov, and Mikael Granlund. The other six veterans are competing in European leagues: Juuso Hietanen, Sami Vatanen, Jori Lehtera, Antti Pihlstrom, Juhamatti Aaltonen, and Leo Komarov.
Still-active Latvian players from the 2014 Olympics include Ralfs Freibergs, Arturs Kulda, Zemgus Girgensons, Miks Indrasis, and Ronalds Kenins. Freibergs, Indrasis, and Kenins were all part of the team’s historic bronze medal at the 2023 Worlds.
Slovakia, meanwhile, has seven players still active: Tomas Starosta, Martin Marincin, Richard Panik, Tomas Marcinko, Tomas Zaborsky, Tomas Tatar, and Tomas Jurco. However, only Marinin, Panik, and Tatar have played recently for Slovakia.
Sweden, the silver medallists in 2014, have seven potential returnees: Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Erik Karlsson, Marcus Kruger, Jakob Silfverberg, Gustav Nyquist, Marcus Johansson, and Gabriel Landeskog. However, Landeskog, the longtime captain of the Colorado Avalanche, hasn’t played in two and a half years because of a serious knee injury.
The Swiss aren’t as affected by NHL participation so much because they have only a handful of players in North America. All the same, a total of eight players could at least in theory return for Milano among those who played 12 years ago: Yannick Weber, Raphael Diaz, Roman Josi, Andres Ambuhl, Luca Cunti, Nino Niederreiter, Simon Moser, and Damien Brunner. Of course, Josi and Niederreiter stand out from that cohort, and you can never discount the ageless Ambuhl, who would be 42 by that point.
The Americans can put together a much stronger team than they had the last time NHL players were involved. In 2014, they finished fourth after being shut out 5-0 by Finland in the bronze medal game. Possible returnees from that game include Cam Fowler, John Carlson, Ryan Suter, Ryan McDonagh, James van Riemsdyk, Max Pacioretty, and Patrick Kane. However, these are all long shots.
The women have had best-on-best every year at the Olympics, so it’s easier to gauge their rosters from recent Women’s World Championships. They have their final round of qualifying tournaments at the end of the week, after which we’ll know the makeup of the two groups of five teams.
As far as skaters who might return to the Olympics after 12 years, the options are few and far between. On Canada, for instance, only eight players are still active: Drew Doughty, Alex Pietrangelo, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Matt Duchene, John Tavares, Jamie Benn, Corey Perry, and Sidney Crosby.
For the Czechs, only three players remain active: Radko Gudas, Roman Cervenka, and Ondrej Palat. Finland has nine active players from 2014. That includes three NHLers: Olli Maata, Aleksander Barkov, and Mikael Granlund. The other six veterans are competing in European leagues: Juuso Hietanen, Sami Vatanen, Jori Lehtera, Antti Pihlstrom, Juhamatti Aaltonen, and Leo Komarov.
Still-active Latvian players from the 2014 Olympics include Ralfs Freibergs, Arturs Kulda, Zemgus Girgensons, Miks Indrasis, and Ronalds Kenins. Freibergs, Indrasis, and Kenins were all part of the team’s historic bronze medal at the 2023 Worlds.
Slovakia, meanwhile, has seven players still active: Tomas Starosta, Martin Marincin, Richard Panik, Tomas Marcinko, Tomas Zaborsky, Tomas Tatar, and Tomas Jurco. However, only Marinin, Panik, and Tatar have played recently for Slovakia.
Sweden, the silver medallists in 2014, have seven potential returnees: Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Erik Karlsson, Marcus Kruger, Jakob Silfverberg, Gustav Nyquist, Marcus Johansson, and Gabriel Landeskog. However, Landeskog, the longtime captain of the Colorado Avalanche, hasn’t played in two and a half years because of a serious knee injury.
The Swiss aren’t as affected by NHL participation so much because they have only a handful of players in North America. All the same, a total of eight players could at least in theory return for Milano among those who played 12 years ago: Yannick Weber, Raphael Diaz, Roman Josi, Andres Ambuhl, Luca Cunti, Nino Niederreiter, Simon Moser, and Damien Brunner. Of course, Josi and Niederreiter stand out from that cohort, and you can never discount the ageless Ambuhl, who would be 42 by that point.
The Americans can put together a much stronger team than they had the last time NHL players were involved. In 2014, they finished fourth after being shut out 5-0 by Finland in the bronze medal game. Possible returnees from that game include Cam Fowler, John Carlson, Ryan Suter, Ryan McDonagh, James van Riemsdyk, Max Pacioretty, and Patrick Kane. However, these are all long shots.
The women have had best-on-best every year at the Olympics, so it’s easier to gauge their rosters from recent Women’s World Championships. They have their final round of qualifying tournaments at the end of the week, after which we’ll know the makeup of the two groups of five teams.