And so, the long-anticipated return of National Hockey League players to Olympic competition became a reality on a wonderful, sunny afternoon in Milan.
Men’s ice hockey at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics kicked off Wednesday with a pair of games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.
So, what did we learn on Day 1 of the competition and what does it mean moving forward?
Glad you asked.
SLOVAKIA MAKES A STATEMENT
It sure didn’t take long for hockey fans around the world to be reminded that you should never take anything for granted when the game’s best players gather.
Behind stellar netminding from Samuel Hlavaj of the American Hockey League’s Iowa Wild, and the offensive prowess of the reigning Olympic MVP Juraj Slafkovsky of the Montreal Canadiens, an unheralded Slovak team defeated a Finnish squad loaded with NHL talent, 4-1 in the tournament’s opening game.
With a raucous crowd behind the young Slovak squad, Slafkovksy opened tournament scoring and finished his day with a pair of goals and an assist. The squad withstood a barrage of shots from the Finns before pulling away in the third period with three unanswered goals. Dalibor Dvorsky scored the go-ahead goal while becoming the second-youngest player (20 years, 241 days) representing an NHL team at the Olympics to score a game-winner.
“It shows when you do the system what you set up before the game and you do it 100% and everybody buys in you can beat anybody at this tournament,” said Slovak captain Tomas Tatar, who currently plays in Switzerland and has 927 NHL regular-season games played under his belt.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
Each of the 12 teams in the tournament advances beyond the three-game group play that starts the tournament. But it was an unexpected outcome for a Finnish team that finished third in the 4 Nations Face-Off in North America last winter.
“Got to learn from this one,” Finnish assistant captain Sebastian Aho said. “We’ve got to be better when we have the puck on our stick to score goals. Maybe we could do a better job around the goalie and stuff like that. We’re trying to learn from all this and hopefully we can score a little bit more goals out of those chances that we got this game moving further in the tournament. We try to win every hockey game here, obviously we want to have a better result next game.”
The loss sets up an interesting second game for the Finns against 1-0 Sweden on Friday.
SWEDES SURVIVE A SCARE
Speaking of the Swedes, the talented squad had all they could handle for the first two periods or so from the host Italians before finally pulling away late for a 5-2 victory. Italy took an early 1-0 lead to the delight of the partisan home crowd and trailed just 3-2 heading into the third period. But Sweden out-shot Italy 60-22 and in the end, players seemed satisfied with how things unfolded overall as they prepare for what promises to be an edgy match against Finland.
“I think we did the right things. Obviously, the start is hard, they come out they play as hard as they can,” said Adrian Kempe, who had one assist in the game. “They’ve got the fans on their back all those kinds of things and they get one bounce and then all of a sudden you’re riding on that wave for a while, so the start maybe not what we wanted but I think we did a good job from there.
“Overall, maybe not the result we felt like we could have gotten, but ended scoring five which we’ll take. First game there are some nerves out there. You don’t want to go out there and make mistakes, you’re playing a little bit on the edge, all that kind of stuff. Overall, after 60 minutes I think we did a pretty good job of managing the game.”
Rasmus Dahlin, also of the Buffalo Sabres, led the Tre Kronor with a three-point night and tied the record for most assists by a Swedish player in an Olympic game involving NHL players.
Another positive sign was the play of Victor Hedman, who returned from injury just before the Olympic break, and admitted it’s taking some time for him to feel right again.
“It’s the best I’ve felt in the past four games. The first three were tough getting a rhythm. So today there was more of a rhythm. Felt better and better as the game went on,” the Tampa Bay Lightning captain said.
He, too, seemed not too concerned with the closeness of the score.
“These tournaments, that’s what’s so fun because they’re very unpredictable so we stuck with it we just got to move forward and play against a Finn team that’s going to be out for revenge after losing the first one,” said Hedman.
CATCHING UP WITH CANADA AND THE U.S.
Both Canada and the United States returned to the practice rink Wednesday in advance of their tournament-opening games Thursday. The Canadians, led by captain Sidney Crosby, took the metro to watch Canadian speedskaters on Tuesday night and saw their countrymen in the mixed short track relay team win a silver medal. The teamwork needed to make good on literally years of preparation wasn’t lost on Canadian forward Brad Marchand.
“To see the intensity between the laps, how fast the athletes are going, one little mistake, how it can derail a competition not only for yourself, but for other players as well. It was awesome to be there and to root on Canada, the first Olympic event that everyone’s seen live,” Marchand said after Canada’s practice on Wednesday.
“But on the flip side, you feel bad for the amount of work that every athlete puts in, and sometime there’s things that are out of your control. You could tell the ice was a little bit chippy yesterday, and somebody could slide out and take you out and your Olympic dreams are done. You just see the highs and lows in one race,” Marchand added. “We were kind of examining all of it like that and it was a big part of the conversation because of the amount of effort that goes into getting you to this point, and the things that are out of your control that help you win or lose. That’s what it’s all about.”
The U.S., meanwhile, got some encouragement from multi-platform star Snoop Dogg who is a special correspondent for host broadcaster NBC during the Olympics.
“Like, probably one of the few people I've met that's kind of larger than life,” said Dylan Larkin. “You know, you look at him and he doesn't even look real. So, it was an awesome experience. Got to talk to him and then there's cameras around and you can just turn it on and be in entertainer mode right away. It's just pretty impressive.”
It wasn’t so much strategy that Snoop Dogg was imparting, but enthusiasm.
“He was Coach Snoop, so he was giving us some pump-up speeches,” Larkin explained. “But he seems to be everywhere and it's cool that he's here and getting to meet him was just another thing I'll probably remember forever. Just encouraging us and he talked about playing against Canada. So, you know, it's pretty cool that he acknowledged that rivalry.”
GM TALK
Both Canada and U.S. general managers, Doug Armstrong and Bill Guerin, also met with reporters on Wednesday.
Of course, their work is pretty much done at this stage of the proceedings having made the often-difficult decisions that went into forming their respective 25-man rosters.
Armstrong, for instance, was asked about adding rugged Washington Capitals winger Tom Wilson and where he fits in the lineup.
“I didn't get a lot into line combinations with Jon [Cooper, Canada’s head coach]. I think what happens is that you name the players and then the coach will call each player. They don't pick their line mates, but you talk to them. You find out who's comfortable doing what. As I said, I don't want to say 100%, but I'd be shocked if the lines that you see in game one aren't going to stay together for the tournament,” Armstrong said.
“I think that Tom brings a brand that I think can be very effective in international hockey. North-south, plays in straight lines, gets in on the forecheck, turn pucks over. I think that there will be a number of centremen that would enjoy playing with Tom,” Armstrong added.
As for Guerin, he was a three-time Olympian with the U.S. as well as a two-time Stanley Cup winner as a player. He knows that whatever happens now, as the U.S. looks to bring home the first gold medal in men’s hockey since the 1980 Miracle On Ice, is pretty much out of his hands.
“That's the only thing that stinks about being in management, especially when you played, you really can't do much,” Guerin said. “People ask if I stress out during games. I'm like, 'Well, what am I going to do?' It can get stressful, but the best job in the world is being out there. I might have the second-best job. But that's the best,” he said pointing to the rink.
(Feature photo courtesy of Getty Images)