Men's Olympic Ice Hockey
2026 Olympic
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The United States men's hockey team is looking for its second straight win to open the Olympics as it faces Denmark in a preliminary game today.
Team USA opened play with a dominant 5-1 victory over Latvia on Thursday, while Denmark fell 3-1 to Germany.
One of the biggest changes since NHLers were last on the Olympic stage 12 years ago is how the games are being called.
Without much fanfare, the NHL and IIHF have spent the last five years or so diligently narrowing the gap between rulebooks.
“The last time the NHL players were at the Olympics, the rulebooks of the IIHF and the National Hockey League were significantly different,’’ Scott Zelkin, head of officiating for the IIHF, said in an interview with The Athletic on Tuesday. “Not only standards, how we penalize different fouls, but also just the pure and simple labeling of penalties and what you can call different fouls.
“In the last handful of years, those two rulebooks have come to the point where they are almost identical,’’ added Zelkin, a former NHL referee from 1997 to 2003. “There are a few nuances that are different, and the fans may see some differences, but in general, the rulebooks now are really, really close. So that’s the first thing that in our mind is helping to standardize the officiating really across the world.’’
It’s an IIHF tournament with an IIHF rulebook, but the overall sense is that a blended officiating standard will be on display at this men’s Olympic tournament.
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As NHL players return to Olympics, blended officiating will be on full display
The 2026 Milan Cortina Games marks the first time NHL players are competing in the Olympics since 2014.
2022 Beijing
2018 Pyeongchang
2014 Sochi
2010 Vancouver
2006 Turin
Russia competed as Olympic Athletes from Russia in 2018 and as Russian Olympic Committee in 2022 due to sanctions related to doping.
Will Team USA keep its momentum going against Denmark? Which country will win the gold medal in men's hockey?
We’d love to hear your thoughts, opinions and predictions for the Milan Cortina Games.
Email us at live@theathletic.com, and we'll take the best submissions and feature them in our coverage here!
There have been 25 editions of men's hockey at the Winter Olympics. Here are the six most successful nations:
Great Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Slovakia have also won medals in men's hockey.
Russia and Czechia's totals include medals won as predecessor nations.
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Today's men's hockey game between USA and Denmark at the 2026 Winter Olympics will air on USA Network and stream on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com for fans in the U.S.
Today's men's hockey game between the USA and Denmark at the 2026 Winter Olympics is scheduled for 9:10 p.m. CET local time in Milan. That's 3:10 p.m. ET and 12:10 p.m. PT in the U.S.
Hello, and welcome to our live coverage of today's USA vs. Denmark game in men's hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The USA cruised in its opener, beating Latvia 5-1 on Thursday. Can the Americans keep that momentum going?
Stay with us as we build up to today's game!
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