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Canada routed the Czech Republic on Thursday in its Olympic opener. The Canadians face Switzerland on Friday. Xavier Laine / Getty Images
The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics.
MILAN — Team Canada opened its quest for a third consecutive best-on-best Olympic men’s hockey gold medal with a dominant 5-0 win Thursday over a tough Czech team at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.
Macklin Celebrini, Mark Stone, Bo Horvat, Nathan MacKinnon and Nick Suzuki scored for Team Canada, which got even-strength goals from a member of all four forward lines and a power-play marker, along with 26 saves from Jordan Binnington for the shutout.
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“We’re here to win a gold medal,” said Connor McDavid, who had three assists, six shots and a tone-setting check that rattled Lukas Sedlak on his first shift. “Today was the start to that path.”
Coach Jon Cooper said before the tournament that he wanted more balance on his lines because he felt one lesson from the 4 Nations Face-Off last year was that the fast and demanding pace meant players could handle fewer minutes. Hence, McDavid, MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby began the Olympics all centering different lines.
For one night, it worked to perfection. After an even first period, Canada locked things down defensively over the final 40 minutes and its pace looked to be more and more difficult for the Czechs to handle as the game wore on.
“Hey, listen, it’s just one game,” Cooper said. “But if this is the way we’ve started and the way today has gone, pretty proud and confident in the way this team’s gonna play.”
Canada defenseman Josh Morrissey, who missed the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game with an illness, was unable to finish the opening game of the Olympics.
It was unclear what exactly happened to Morrissey, but with just over a minute left in the first period, he appeared to inadvertently clip his left leg on the leg of Czech forward Martin Nečas while exiting the Canadian zone. Morrissey returned for the second period but played only one shift before heading back to the Canadian dressing room. He did not return.
With Olympic lineups allowing teams to dress seven defensemen, Morrissey was replaced on Canada’s second pair with Colton Parayko by Shea Theodore, who was rotating in on the third pair with Drew Doughty and Thomas Harley in the first period. Canada has Travis Sanheim on the roster, and he would draw into the lineup if Morrissey is unable to play Friday night against Switzerland.
Cooper said after his team’s first practice on Sunday that one of the reasons why Tom Wilson was playing with McDavid was that everyone needs a good F1, or lead forechecker, on a line.
“And that big boy there is one of the best I’ve seen,” Cooper said of Wilson.
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On his first shift, McDavid might have been telling his coach he doesn’t need any help in that department, and at the same time signaled to his team that after a couple of days of soaking in the Olympic experience, things were now serious.
When Canada got the puck deep, McDavid was shot out of a cannon in pursuit, and poor Sedlak never knew what hit him, absorbing a massive hit from No. 97 that left a hush over the hugely partisan Czech crowd. Later that shift, Sedlak was called for holding McDavid.
“Well, it just shows you, when you put this jersey on, there’s nobody in that room that’s entitled or anything like that,” Cooper said. “This is ‘Game On,’ you do everything possible to win. And if your contribution is hitting, then that’s what guys will do, even if that’s not what they’re used to doing in the NHL.”
Added Wilson, “(Brad Marchand), honestly, when I got back to the bench, said, ‘Great hit Willy.’ I said, ‘That was Davo.’ He said, ‘Oh my goodness, it looked like you.’ That’s what it takes. Everybody’s doing whatever they can, everyone’s taking on any role. When it’s your time to hit a guy, you hit him. When it’s your time to block a shot, you block a shot. It was a fun one, fun to get one under our belt.”
Pretty good start to McDavid’s Olympic career.
“Our team wants to play hard,” McDavid said. “Everybody wants to play hard in this tournament. You want to be a hard forechecking team, and it doesn’t only need to be just Willy or Benny (Sam Bennett).”
Later on, early in the second period, Wilson showed that F1 prowess on the forecheck when he leveled Anaheim Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas with a crushing hit along the end boards. It was one of several big blows by Wilson.
There was much debate in a hockey-mad nation about who should start in goal for Team Canada, and the most popular choice, judging by social media, was certainly not Jordan Binnington.
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However, it should be no surprise that Binnington did indeed get the Olympic opener. There’s a strong belief that once Canada’s management and coaching staff agreed to put the struggling St. Louis Blues goalie on the roster Dec. 31, that came with the baked-in Game 1 assignment. If he’s making the team on his body of work from 4 Nations and not his current form, then the body of work does indeed get him the Game 1 start.
And not only did he win the game, but Binnington also got a shutout, something he did not do at 4 Nations.
“Well, probably 358 days ago,” Cooper said when asked when he decided Binnington would start against the Czechs. “Listen, in the end, you have to perform. This isn’t a loyalty thing … but I have the utmost confidence in that kid. He’s proven it.
“Even when he’s had little stumbles, when pushes come to shove, the kid’s been there for us. It’s not going to guarantee that he’s going to do that continually moving forward, but he’s got a lot of pride, he’s got a lot of talent, and he’s done it on a lot of different stages. So you got to give the kid a shot.”
Keep in mind what Team Canada GM Doug Armstrong — who doubles as Blues GM — told us back on Dec. 31. Binnington was a unanimous choice from the management/coaching group.
“That was the most interesting part. Because my comfort level with him doesn’t waver. Because I get to work with him every day. And any success I’ve had in St. Louis is on his back,’’ Armstrong told The Athletic on Dec. 31. “But what impressed me the most was how little time the rest of the group thought about what Jordan’s numbers were this year. He carried the same respect from everyone in the group, from coaches to management. Which was very impressive.”
Binnington looked in 4 Nations form Thursday against Czechia, tracking the puck well through traffic, looking very much at ease with Czech bodies around his net, and controlling his rebounds.
“We have all the confidence in the world in Jordan,” said Mitch Marner.
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It’s just one game, but the decision to start Binnington can only be seen as a total vindication for the coaching staff. Because it had the potential to blow up in their face.
Does Logan Thompson deserve to start in the Olympics based on his season-long form? Of course. And while he may start Friday night against a tough Swiss team, Binnington showed Thursday in a win over Czechia why Team Canada was unwavering in its confidence in him despite his season-long struggles.
He’s ignoring the noise around the critics chiming in about the state of Canada’s goaltending.
“I’m just in my own process,” Binnington said. “Day-to-day and doing my thing.”
Celebrini scored Canada’s first goal of the tournament when he tipped home a Cale Makar point shot with 5.7 seconds left to play in the first period. More importantly, he did not look like a 19-year-old teenager overwhelmed by the big stage. The physicality, the pace, the lack of space, none of it rattled Celebrini. Far from it. He looked composed and was making poised plays with the puck all over the ice.
“Can’t say enough good things about that kid,” McDavid said.
Added Crosby: “Being his first Olympics and that sort of thing, he looked pretty comfortable out there. It was great to see him get one.”
There was some doubt as to whether the San Jose Sharks Hart Trophy candidate was ready for this stage in his second NHL season. It would be premature to suggest Celebrini erased that doubt after one game, but it would be easy for a player of his age and stature to have some nerves lining up on Canada’s top line with McDavid and Wilson.
If he had any nerves, Celebrini showed no evidence of them.
“Nerves, excitement, all of the above,” Celebrini said. “My heart was racing, I wanted to kind of get out on the ice and start playing. This is kind of what we’ve been waiting for ever since the team was selected, so it was good to get out there and start the process.”
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