For the first time since Sochi 2014, NHL professionals will return to the Olympic Games, marking the first true “best on best” tournament in over a decade (and for only the sixth time ever), with the world’s top players across twelve national teams converging on Milan, Italy.

Group A will feature the last best-on-best Olympic champions Canada, looking to pick back up after 2014 against Czechia, Switzerland and France, the latter taking the final tournament spot after the IOC upheld the IIHF’s ban on Russia, ensuring that the 2022 Silver medalists could not compete. Canada, the only team in the group with a full NHL roster, should be considered the heavy favourites, but the 2024 World Champion Czechs are always a threat, and will be the likeliest to take points from Canada. The Swiss, featuring a roster of mixed NHL and Swiss League stars, will look for upsets, while France will try to avoid simply being throttled across their three games.

Group B will feature the defending Olympic champions Finland against their perennial rivals Sweden, Slovakia and hosts Italy, with the battle for the top of the group coming down to the Leijonat and Tre Kronor. These two, who last met for Gold at the last Italian Olympics in 2006, feature full NHL rosters but one (Finland’s Mikko Lehtonen), so ensuring regulation wins against Slovakia and Italy will be critical for points collection. Slovakia will look to build on their 2022 Olympic Bronze with a roster highlighted by NHL stars and play spoiler, while the host Italians, with just one NHL-affiliated player on their roster, will try to put up a decent fight and give their hometown fans something, anything, to cheer about.

Group C will feature the heavyweight United States against Germany, Denmark and Latvia, all of whom are looking gain valuable points from Team USA. The Americans, who are the only team in the group to field a full NHL roster, are looking to build from their success at the 2025 World Championships and win their first Olympic title since 1980’s “Miracle On Ice” squad. Germany is the likeliest to push back against Team USA, being led by one of the top players in the world, Leon Draisaitl, while Denmark will too look to capitalize on their 2025 Worlds success, with Latvia likely to bottom out the group, featuring only five NHLers, down an additional two due to injury.

From the perspective of the IHLC, a few interesting facts related to this year’s Olympics:
– the United States enters the Olympics as incumbent IHLC champions for the first time ever, and will hold the IHLC during the Games for the first time since 1980’s “Miracle on Ice”
– Finland in 2022 became the first team since the Soviet Union in 1984 to “run the table” and go undefeated en route to Gold while holding the IHLC; this has not happened consecutively since Canada did it four straight times at the first four Olympics (1920-32)
– Team USA will open the tournament against Latvia on 12 February, who they are 1-0 all-time against for the IHLC, and last played in 2005
– Finland is looking to become back-to-back Olympic champions for the first time since Canada in 2010 and 2014, the latter being the last Olympics held with NHL professionals;
– Sweden will look to repeat its luck on Italian ice following their Gold medal in Turin in 2006; the only previous Olympics in Italy were won by the USSR in Cortina d’Ampezzo in 1956
– this will mark the first men’s IHLC games to be held in Milan since March 1952, and the first tournament in Milan since the 1934 World Championships, which saw Canada win its seventh consecutive title
– as noted when the rosters were released, of the returning rosters from the 2014 Games, the last with NHL pros, there are twenty players returning
– as noted when the rosters were released, there are 57 returning players from Beijing 2022, with the majority being from Denmark (thirteen players) and Latvia (twelve)

The betting favourites to win Olympic Gold are understandably Canada and the United States, but top European nations like Sweden, Finland or Czechia should not be at all underestimated, as this has led to their Olympic success in previous tournaments. Whatever happens, the return of the best players in the world to the Olympics in a dozen years will lead to what will surely be an amazing tournament!

Photo Credit: Finland Today – IIHF – HHOF – IOC