NBC Sports’ Nick Zaccardi breaks down Team USA hockey star Charlie McAvoy’s outlook at the Milan Cortina Olympics.
It’s been a long time since NHL players competed at the Olympics. But that drought is about to officially come to end.
The men’s hockey competition at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games begins this week, as NHL stars step onto the Olympic stage for the first time since 2014.
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The long-awaited return of the world’s best hockey players to the Games comes a year after the NHL conducted the 4 Nations Face-Off, a midseason tournament between the United States, Canada, Finland and Sweden. The thrilling event marked the first best-on-best hockey tournament since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, and it ended with an overtime win by Canada against the U.S. in the final.
Many of the players who competed in the 4 Nations Face-Off have hit pause on their current NHL seasons to pursue an Olympic gold medal. The Canadians have won gold in three of the five Olympics to feature NHL players, including the last two in 2010 and 2014.
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But who will capture the Olympic title this time around? From the start date to the schedule and more, here’s how to watch the Olympic men’s hockey tournament:
The men’s hockey tournament begins with a double-header on Wednesday, Feb. 11.
The competition features 12 teams split into three groups:
Group A
Group B
Group C
The tournament begins with a round robin where each team plays a total of three games. The top teams in each group after the round robin, along with the best second-place team, advance to the quarterfinals. The other eight teams then compete in the qualification playoffs to determine the remaining four quarterfinal spots.
Games are 60 minutes long and broken into three 20-minute periods. For first two rounds, a game that is tied after regulation heads to a five-minute overtime at 3-on-3. If the game is still tied, it goes to a best-of-five shootout.
In the quarterfinals and semifinals, overtime is expanded to 10 minutes at 3-on-3 before going to a shootout. The medal games will not have shootouts, with 20-minute overtimes at 3-on-3 being played until there’s winner.
All overtime periods are sudden death, with the first score ending the game.
From the opening match to the gold medal game, here’s the full schedule:
Feb. 11
Feb. 12
Feb. 13
Feb. 14
Feb. 15
Feb. 17
Feb. 18
Feb. 20
Feb. 21
Feb. 22
Games will air across Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, USA Network, CNBC and NBC.