The Capitals’ trio of Olympians is still in Italy, and all three of them still harbor medal hopes on this Thursday, the day before the semi-finals in men’s hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games. But back home here in Arlington, the Washington teammates of Olympians Martin Fehervary, Logan Thompson and Tom Wilson are back on the ice for full team practices. An optional Tuesday afternoon skate took place earlier in the week and was reasonably well-attended; it’s been followed by Wednesday and Thursday morning sessions on the ice.
Aside from the aforementioned trio of Capitals, the rest of the team took the ice each of the last two days, including forward Connor McMichael, who did so while sporting a light blue non-contact sweater on Wednesday before swapping that sweater for a full contact model on Thursday. McMichael had not been seen on the ice since the third period of Washington’s Jan. 29 game in Detroit, a game he departed early with an upper body injury.
Given the six-day runway remaining between now and the Caps’ first game after the break – Feb. 25 against the Philadelphia Flyers at Capital One Arena – McMichael is likely to be ready to roll when play resumes next week.
As the Caps left the ice after Wednesday morning’s session and entered the locker room, their attentions turned to the Canada-Czechia quarterfinal game, which was airing live on the television in the room. That game and two of the other quarterfinal contests required overtime in a wonderful Wednesday that was easily the best day of the men’s ice hockey thus far at the 2026 Olympics.
“Pretty good day in the hockey world [Wednesday],” opened Caps coach Spencer Carbery at his first media availability in two weeks following Thursday morning’s practice session. “When we came off the ice [Wednesday], everyone kind of sprinted to the lounge and the game was already underway. I watched a little bit of it here and then watched the rest of the US-Sweden game at home.
“But what an entertaining day for the sport of hockey. Wow.”
Friday is a full day off for the Caps, who will be able to watch Friday’s semifinal games between Canada and Finland on Friday morning and Team USA and Slovakia on Friday afternoon.
“I’m much more on the side of ‘It will eventually – long-term – benefit the League.’ Imagine the amount of not just the eyeballs that turn the TV on and watch the Olympics and then watch hockey and go, ‘Wow, that is impressive, what I just watched.’
“I was talking on the [Sports] Junkies [radio show] this morning, and they were like, ‘That’s the first time I’ve ever watched two games back-to-back.”
So much for the “junkies” part of the moniker.
“You’re bringing casual hockey fans or non-hockey fans flipping through and watching the Olympics all over the world,” says Carbery. “And watching a product like that is going to benefit the NHL long-term, I think.”
While the Caps enjoyed having some time away from the game and with their families the last couple of weeks, most found time to watch at least some of the Olympics and some of their teammates’ Olympic exploits from across the Atlantic.
Some of the hockey games began rather early in the morning in Eastern Time, but that’s not a worry for players with kids. They’re up early organically.
“I’ve got young kids,” says Caps center Dylan Strome. “But unless Canada was playing, I wouldn’t watch the early games. But [Wednesday] morning, I woke up and while my kids were eating breakfast, I had on Germany and Slovakia because it’s nice when you wake up and hockey is on.”
Strome is rare in that he is an actual junky for all the Olympic sports, curling, skiing, luge, you name it.
“Yeah, of course, all of it, everything,” he says. “I love it.”
Until Wednesday’s absolute buffet of high stakes, high drama hockey, however, most of the men’s Olympic hockey games had not been particularly competitive. Many games were mismatches and were essentially settled before the middle of the second period.
“I agree with you,” says Strome. “It’s tough. You finally get a best-on-best tournament – obviously without Russia – but the fact of the matter is there are probably six countries that compete in tightly contested games. And every sport is like that. Every sport is going to have some powerhouses and some other teams that are getting better. I don’t think too many people would have predicted that Slovakia would have finished third out of 12 [teams].
“You can see it at World Junior [Tournament]. Each year, teams are getting stronger and stronger. Where 10 years ago Canada would blow teams out by 10, 11, 12 goals. And now the games and now the games are tighter. It’s just a credit to more people playing hockey and other countries playing a certain way that they feel is going to work, and you’re watching it right now, [he gestures to the TV screen].
“It’s 2-1 [in favor of Czechia]. Obviously, Czechia is a good hockey country, but obviously their roster doesn’t stack up to Canada’s. But teams play a certain style of hockey, and in one game, a lot can happen.”
And a lot will happen this weekend when the medals are decided. Friday’s semifinal matches will be followed by Saturday afternoon’s bronze medal game and Sunday morning’s gold medal contest.
A day or so later, Fehervary, Thompson and Wilson will be back in the States, back in Arlington, and back on the ice with the remainder of their teammates. And they’ll all have some stories to spin.
“They’ll be playing in the bronze medal game no matter what, which is great,” says Carbery. “I’m so happy for those guys. I can’t wait to pick their brain and ask them questions about their experience, the emotions of trailing in a game where it’s a one-and-done scenario and for them to come out on the right side of both of those games.”
