Practice Report: Swayman Joins Bruins for Skate

BOSTON –– Jeremy Swayman slid over to center ice as his Boston Bruins teammates tapped their sticks.​

The goaltender returned to Warrior Ice Arena for practice on Wednesday after earning a gold medal with Team USA on Sunday at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 with a 2-1 overtime win against Canada.

“It’s incredible. It’s starting to sink in now. The reaction we’ve gotten from the people in the U.S., the second we landed down. Just the outreach of family – a childhood dream come true,” Swayman said. “And the group that we did it with, especially. The way we did it. It’s an unbelievable feeling.”

Swayman won gold alongside B’s teammate Charlie McAvoy, who logged 22:45 of ice time in the gold-medal matchup while on the first pair. The two Bruins celebrated on the ice together soon after Jack Hughes’ game-winning goal.

“It was a full embrace, man. That man is the most deserving on that team. The adversity that he’s been through, and just refused to get knocked down. Was a leader for us, and obviously his play spoke for [itself]. It was tears coming down because I’m just so proud of him and his accomplishments and the way that he handled himself and got that win. He was a huge factor for us in the championship game,” Swayman said of McAvoy.

“I get to see it firsthand, more than most of those guys on that team. What he does every day for this team, for his family, for this community. I couldn’t be more excited to share this medal with him forever.”

Head coach Marco Sturm said Swayman and McAvoy got back to Boston around 3 or 4 a.m. on Wednesday morning. Sturm expects both to be at practice on Thursday, and he will “go from there” in terms of lineup decisions for their game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at TD Garden.

The Bruins are gearing up for a busy March, during which they have 16 games – including four back-to-backs.

​“We had some months this season where we had a lot of games,” Sturm said. “I think the challenging part will be the next few weeks, just because of the Olympians – we have to try to manage that, their workload a little bit. But other than that, we’ve done it all year long.”  ​

Swayman – who has a 2.92 goals against average and a .903 save percentage through 38 games this season with the B’s – was excited to get back on the ice. Joonas Korpisalo and Michael DiPietro were also out there for Wednesday’s skate.

​“Obviously, we’ve got a job to do these next six weeks, so being back in the building was something I was looking forward to,” Swayman said. “I want to be ready right now. That’s why I wanted to come here today. I couldn’t wait another day to get back on the ice with these guys. Can’t wait to get started and push for playoffs.”

Swayman will look to take the lessons learned at the Olympics into the final stretch of the regular season in Boston. The 27-year-old made 18 saves in his debut start with Team USA during the tournament, and is ready to return as the Bruins’ No. 1 guy.

“Whenever my name is called, I’ll be ready to go,” Swayman said. “I was with the best players in the world every single day… The experience that I took from that was staying as focused as you possibly can, being a professional in everything you do, and performing on the ice on the biggest stage.”