In roughly 24 hours, the Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament at the 2028 Winter Olympics will begin, and for the first time since 2014, NHL players are taking part. Participating nations have been practicing in earnest since arriving late last week, and after months of worry regarding the status of the hockey arena in Milan, the games are about to be begin.
There has been months, if not years of anticipation surrounding this tournament since it was announced NHL players were heading back to the Olympics, and the wait is almost over with the first puck drop scheduled for Wednesday morning between Slovakia and Finland.
Pens Points…
Four Penguins players are in Milan preparing for the men’s ice hockey tournament at the Winter Olympics with play beginning for all four later this week. Sidney Crosby will captain Canada, Erik Karlsson and Rickard Rakell will suit up for Sweden, and Arturs Silovs will backstop the Latvian side. [Pensburgh]
With four players in Milan, the Penguins will be well represented and give Penguins fans something to keep an eye on outside of cheering for their host nations. Crosby is the name who most will pay attention to for obvious reasons but Sweden and Latvia are attractions themselves. [The Hockey Writers]
Once the NHL resumes following the Olympic break must of the focus will be on the trade deadline which will be less than two weeks away. Right now, the Penguins are in position to buy as a playoff contender, but Kyle Dubas will be specific in what he’s looking for in any additions. [Pensburgh]
When he signed with the Penguins as a free agent over the summer, no one knew who Parker Wotherspoon was or what type of game he played. Now well into his first season with the team, Wotherspoon is well known among the Penguins faithful for his consistent play on the blue line. [Trib Live]
After his break out NHL debut against the Buffalo Sabres, Avery Hayes returned to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for the Olympic break and continued right where he left off, scoring a hat trick, including the overtime winner, on Saturday against the Hershey Bears. [WBS Penguins]
One of the first players to embrace Sidney Crosby after he scored the Golden Goal to defeat the United States at the 2010 Olympics was defenseman Scott Niedermayer. Sixteen years on from that historic moment, Niedermayer still remembers the moment with great clarity from his view on the ice. [Penguins]
NHL News and Notes…
Group A at the Olympics is headlined by Canada who enter group play as clear favorites to come out on top, but opponents Czechia and Switzerland will be looking to play spoiler while France is hoping to make the most of its first Olympics appearance in over two decades. [NHL]
France may only have qualified for Milan because Russia and Belarus have been banned from participating, but the 2030 host nation is not apologizing. They will be lead by captain Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, who has announced that he will retire from hockey following The Games. [NHL]