NHL
2026 Olympic
Hockey
Saturday night was Connor McDavid's first time on Olympic ice at age 29. Gregory Shamus / Getty Images
MILAN — The world’s No. 1 hockey player led Team Canada out for practice Sunday night.
No one can blame Connor McDavid for being first in line out of the dressing room. No. 97 had waited 11 years into his spectacular NHL career to step onto an Olympic ice surface.
“Surreal, surreal,” McDavid said afterwards. “It’s been a long time. It’s been a long time coming.”
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The NHL season is a grind, full of days that blend into each other, sometimes making players sound like robots. This was not one of those days.
For an entire generation of NHL stars, it was a moment that felt forever fleeting. The ultimate tease, like Charlie Brown and the football. NHLers were supposed to be in China four years ago, but COVID concerns cancelled those plans.
On this day, as the NHL chartered most of its Olympians to Milan and teams stepped into a rink draped in Olympic logos for practice, the dream became real.
Finally.
“Yeah, for sure. I mean, being here, landing today and going through a little experience, getting checked into the village, definitely feels real now,” said Team USA center Jack Eichel, who had been vocal for years about his desire to live out his Olympic dream. “We’re here and obviously we fought hard for this. It means a lot to the players and I think we’re all really excited to be here.”
“It means a lot,” added teammate Auston Matthews, Team USA’s captain. “It’s crazy to think about now we’re here, and you get this opportunity, and it’s just very special. … I think it definitely hits you once you touch down and get to the Olympic village and get settled in, just how special and cool it is to be here representing your country and experiencing what the Olympics is all about.”
The players made the Olympics a top item in collective bargaining with the owners. It was a must. They weren’t going to back down on it. Some of those owners still aren’t thrilled their players are here, but they weren’t going to deny them any longer.
“It was a little dicey in ’22 to even go, so I think that was for the best, obviously,’’ said Team Canada superstar Nathan Mackinnon. “In ’18, I can’t remember why we didn’t go, but we didn’t. It was a long time coming. My rookie season (2013-14) we went, and obviously I wasn’t going to make the team. It was kind of a tease in ’22 and a lot of us are in our primes right now, so it’s a good time to go.”
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McDavid, Eichel, MacKinnon, Matthews — the cream of a generation that got robbed of Olympic opportunities.
Sunday was a day to turn the page.
“Eichs, Matthews, Matt Tkachuk and all those guys are 28, 29 now, so they (should be) starting their third Olympics by this point,” said Team USA forward Jack Hughes. “So I’m sure super excited to be a part of this and finally be here.”
The hard part, too, is that not everyone got to be here. Even though NHL players are back in the Olympics, some very good players didn’t get the call. All of which isn’t lost on all these first-time NHL Olympians now here in Milan.
“It’s very true. And you never know what people think about you,” said Team USA goalie Connor Hellebuyck. “So you never know when your opportunity or your window closes. I’m very grateful to be here today. I’m going to soak it in and enjoy every single moment and give it my best.”
That’s last year’s Hart and Vezina Trophy winner, sounding like he wasn’t sure this day would ever come.
Dylan Larkin took a moment to absorb it in practice.
“I was skating around and looked over at Zach Werenski and seeing the Olympic rings on our helmets, it’s just incredible,” said the Team USA forward. “It’s pretty cool. You dream about it. I know a lot of players, the big dogs in the league, were vocal about coming here. And we’re here. That speaks a lot to the players stepping forward and wanting to have a say in it.”
Swiss center Nico Hischier’s eyes lit up when asked to describe what it felt like to skate on the Olympic ice sheet Sunday.
“Special. I mean, for myself, it’s my first Olympics,” said Hischier. “You grow up watching these big events, Summer and Winter Olympics, it’s only every four years. It’s very cool to be experiencing this now. It took a little while, but the players are all very happy to be part of it.”
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Sweden’s Mika Zibanejad hasn’t had a lot to rejoice with his New York Rangers this year. Stepping into the ice here Sunday made all that go away.
“Great, honestly. I don’t have anything negative to say. I’ve been just so stoked to be able to be part of Olympics,” he said. “I think it’s bigger than maybe some hockey people think, and you may not realize how big it is when you start thinking about the athletes around that are working 4-8 years to get here and to get the chance to even crack the qualification to Olympics.
“And for us to be able to be here, obviously a different situation for us now because it’s been so long since the NHL players have been around, but amazing. I feel like a kid living my dream. It’s going to be awesome.”
I feel like a kid living my dream.
And it’s not just the players. Jon Cooper’s face spoke volumes Sunday.
“Humbling,” said Team Canada’s head coach, who is in his first Olympics. “You walk into that Olympic Village for the first time and you’re surrounded by the world’s greatest athletes and to see them in a meal room or in the lounge or whatever and you’re like, oh my God, that’s whoever. I don’t know, like I said, it’s humbling to be there. It’s eye-opening. I’ve watched the Olympics my entire life. Now to actually be here and see it and see the passion … I don’t know, it’s super cool.”
And the thing is, it’s not just surreal for the first-timers. Even two-time Olympic hockey champions get goosebumps. It’s been 12 years for No. 87 between Olympics.
“I think there’s some days that it feels like 12 years and other days where it feels like yesterday,” Team Canada captain Sidney Crosby said after practice Sunday, smiling ear to ear. “It’s so great, though.There’s been a lot of anticipation ever since we found we were going back to the Olympics. And then the naming of the team, just a lot of anticipation. It’s just great to be with the guys and get out there and get to work and see the speed and try to get better here and become a team.”
His advice to to all the first-time Olympians on the team?
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“I think you got to be open-minded and go with the flow,” said the man who scored the Golden Goal in 2010. “There’s always different things, whether it’s your routine or different things that come up, you just have to embrace the whole experience. It’s a special one. Not only representing hockey but the — just the entire Team Canada and celebrate sports. There’s expectations and there’s pressure that comes with it, but it’s about our group trying to be the best team we can. It’s on all of us to help each other and that’s what we’ll try to do.”
It’s really happening. What has the potential to be the greatest hockey tournament in the history of the game, based on the collection of talent assembled here in Milan, is finally here.
Let’s take a moment to recognize how amazing that truly is.
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Pierre LeBrun has been a senior NHL columnist for The Athletic since 2017. He has been an NHL Insider for TSN since 2011 following six years as a panelist on Hockey Night In Canada. He also appears regularly on RDS in Montreal. Pierre previously covered the NHL for ESPN.com and The Canadian Press. Follow Pierre on Twitter @PierreVLeBrun
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