The NHL is back at the Olympics for the first time since 2014 and the United States men's team is a strong contender for its first gold medal since the "Miracle on Ice."
As part of a joint agreement between the NHL, NHL Players Association, the International Ice Hockey Federation and the International Olympic Committee announced last February, the league's biggest stars will take part in the 2026 Milan Cortina Games over the next two weeks.
Since the "Miracle" gold at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, the U.S. men have reached the gold medal game twice — 2002, 2010 — but lost both times to Canada. Outside of those two silver medals, they have not placed better than four in the tournament. The quarterfinals is where the U.S. has seen their Olympic dreams come to an end in the past two Olympics, both without NHL players.
Now that the Olympic tournament is back to being best-on-best, the American men are looking to build off years of international development and secure gold.
Who is on Team USA?
The U.S. men's Olympic hockey roster was revealed in early January and there were few changes from the team that lost to Canada in last year's 4 Nations Face-Off final. Tage Thompson, Clayton Keller and Seth Jones replace Chris Kreider and Adam Fox on the team in Milan
U.S. general manager Bill Guerin told reports after the roster announcement that chemistry was a big factor in the decision make to run back mostly the same team from the 4 Nations Face-Off. There were criticisms about the absences of Jason Robertson, Cole Caufield and Alex DeBrincat, three of the NHL's top eight goal scorers, but there was also a desire to include certain players with specific skillsets to fill roles to make it less of an All-Star team and more of a complete team.
"I liked the way we played. Everybody was together, everybody played the right way," Guerin said. "The biggest thing for me was the chemistry, and I think the chemistry allowed the guys to play the way that they did."
Team USA roster
Forwards
Matt Boldy, Minnesota Wild
Kyle Connor, Winnipeg Jets
Jack Eichel, Vegas Golden Knights
Jake Guentzel, Tampa Bay Lightning
Jack Hughes, New Jersey Devils
Clayton Keller, Utah Mammoth
Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings
Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs
J.T. Miller, New York Rangers
Brock Nelson, Colorado Avalanche
Tage Thompson, Buffalo Sabres
Brady Tkachuk, Ottawa Senators
Matthew Tkachuk, Florida Panthers
Vincent Trocheck, New York Rangers
Defensemen
Brock Faber, Minnesota Wild
Noah Hanifin, Vegas Golden Knights
Quinn Hughes, Minnesota Wild
Seth Jones, Florida Panthers
Charlie McAvoy, Boston Bruins
Jake Sanderson, Ottawa Senators
Jaccob Slavin, Carolina Hurricanes
Zach Werenski, Columbus Blue Jackets
Goaltenders
Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets
Jake Oettinger, Dallas Stars
Jeremy Swayman, Boston Bruins
Head coach: Mike Sullivan, New York Rangers
Assistant coaches: John Hynes (Minnesota Wild), David Quinn (New York Rangers), John Tortorella
Milan storylines
Best American roster yet? Canada has dominated Olympic men's hockey since the NHL begin sending players in 1998. The U.S. has lost both times they were close to gold, both times to Canada. But there's a belief that this is the best American team that's been put together, and despite falling at last year's 4 Nations Face-Off in overtime, the expectation of gold is not a far-fetched idea.
Strength between the pipes. Goaltending will again be the biggest strength for the U.S. Connor Hellebuyck is a three-time Vezina Trophy winner as the league's best goalie and was the Hart Trophy winner as league MVP last season. He posted a 1.59 goals against average and a .932 save percentage at 4 Nations and could very well end up having to outduel Jordan Binnington in a final. Binnington wasn't a solid as Hellebuyck, but he did enough to help Canada win the tournament.
No injury concerns. Defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who broke his jaw earlier this season, was wearing extra protection for his face after getting an elbow to the face from Sandis Vilmanis of the Florida Panther's last week. There was no further damage, only soreness. There is also no concern about the status of Jack Hughes. The New Jersey Devils forward sat out the team's final three games before the Olympic break with a lower-body injury. He was a full participant in Team USA's first practice on Sunday and said that he feels good.
Beating Canada. Since the NHL started participating at the Olympics 28 years ago, the U.S. and their northern neighbors have met five times. Four of those meetings have ended in defeat for the Americans, including twice in gold medal games. Canada's dominance over the U.S. has also been on display with two wins in two games at the World Cup of Hockey and the win in the 4 Nations Face-off Final. The U.S. will likely see Canada again if their time in Milan is to end with a gold medal.
U.S. men's Olympic schedule
Group A: Canada, Switzerland, Czechia, France
Group B: Finland, Sweden, Slovakia, Italy
Group C: U.S., Germany, Latvia, Denmark
Thurs., Feb. 12: Latvia - 3:10 p.m. ET
Sat., Feb. 14: Denmark - 3:10 p.m. ET
Sun., Feb. 15 : Germany - 3:10 p.m. ET
Tues., Feb. 17: Playoff round - 3:10 p.m. ET
Wed., Feb. 18: Quarterfinal - 3:10 p.m. ET
Fri., Feb. 20: Semifinal - 3:10 p.m. ET
Sat. Feb. 21: Bronze-medal game - 2:10 p.m. ET
Sun., Feb. 22: Gold-medal game - 8:10 a.m. ET