Charlie McAvoy, one of the NHL’s most charitable players, learned the value of hard work from his father Charles McAvoy Sr., who runs a four-generation plumbing business.
It’s win or go home time in the Olympic men’s hockey tournament.
The U.S. men’s hockey team will play its first elimination game of the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics Wednesday when it takes on Sweden in the quarterfinals.
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Team USA earned a quarterfinal berth by finishing atop Group C with a 3-0 record in the preliminary round. The U.S. defeated Denmark, Germany and Latvia by a combined score of 16-5, with 11 different players lighting the lamp.
Captain Auston Matthews and alternate captain Matthew Tkachuk are tied for the team lead in points (five), while Connor Hellebuyck has posted a .962 save percentage over two starts.
The No. 2-seeded Americans now meet No. 7 Sweden, which took down No. 10 Latvia 5-1 in a playoff qualifier Tuesday to reach the quarterfinals. The Swedes went 2-1 in the preliminary round, beating Italy and Slovakia but losing 4-1 to Finland.
Sweden is one of just three teams with a roster made up of only NHL players, along with the U.S. and Canada (Finland has just one non-NHL player on its roster). Lucas Raymond, Rasmus Dahlin, Adrian Kempe, Mika Zibanejad, William Nylander and Erik Karlsson are among the Swedes’ leaders in points at these Games. Jacob Markstrom and Filip Gustavsson have each logged two starts in net, with Markstrom getting the nod against Latvia.
Sweden defeated the U.S. 2-1 in last year’s NHL 4 Nations Face-Off, although, the Americans had already clinched a spot in tournament’s final.
There will be much more on the line this time around, as the Americans and Swedes look to move one step closer to an Olympic gold medal. Here’s how to watch the quarterfinal matchup:
USA-Sweden will be played on Wednesday, Feb. 18.
The quarterfinal starts at 3:10 p.m. ET/2:10 p.m. CT/12:30 p.m. PT.
NBC will air USA-Sweden.
The game can also be streamed on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.
Watch: USA vs. Sweden Men’s Hockey Quarterfinal
The other quarterfinal matchups include No. 1 Canada vs. No. 8 Czechia, No. 3 Slovakia vs. No. 6 Germany, and No. 4 Finland vs. No. 5 Switzerland.
Teams will be reseeded for the semifinals.