The hockey tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan concludes this weekend. On Saturday at 2:40 p.m. EST, Rasmus Ristolainen and Team Finland take on Slovakia for the bronze medal. On Sunday at 8:10 a.m. EST, Travis Sanheim and Team Canada oppose Team USA for the gold medal game.
Back in North America, the Flyers -- like all NHL teams -- have weekend practices scheduled. Nevertheless, their eyes will be glued to the television when it is game time in Milan. Rest assured, there will be chirping and rooting among the NHL players. Canada beat Team USA in the gold medal matches at the 2002 (Salt Lake City) and 2010 (Vancouver tournaments).
Within the Flyers' locker room, there are seven American players: defensemen Nick Seeler and Cam York and forwards Bobby Brink, Noah Cates, Christian Dvorak, Garnet Hathaway and Trevor Zegras. Five of the seven have themselves represented Team USA in past major international tournaments, although not at the Olympics.
This contingent hopes the third time's the charm for Team USA in gold medal games against Canada. Note: Flyers captain Sean Couturier is a dual citizen of the USA and Canada but was raised in Canada and represented Team Canada internationally.
Meanwhile, a host of Flyers Alumni who participated in past Olympics carry special memories -- and a handful of medals -- from their own Olympic experiences. Here's a look at five top Olympic medal round moments involving Flyers players.
Petr Svoboda (Czech Republic, 1998): Svoboda grew up under communist rule in Czechoslovakia. He defected to Canada and joined the National Hockey League after the Montreal Canadiens drafted him in the first round (fifth overall) of the 1984 Draft.Fourteen years later, a now 32-year-old Svoboda was able to represent his now-democratic homeland in the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan. He capped it off by delivering arguably the biggest moment in Czech hockey history. The gold medal game was between the Czech Republic and Russia. At the 8:08 mark of the third period, the Czechs broke a scoreless tie and went on to win, 1-0, behind Dominik Hasek. The lone goal scorer was none other than Flyers defenseman Petr Svoboda, who's last name literally translates to "freedom".
Peter Forsberg (Sweden, 2006): The gold medal game at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy, pitted traditional arch-rivals Sweden and Finland against one another for the gold medal. Flyers goaltender Antero Niittymaki, who played an excellent tournament overall, started in net for Finland. Meanwhile, right up to the Olympics, there was doubt whether Flyers superstar Forsberg would be able to play. Dating back to Thanksgiving weekend, he'd been battling recurring groin pulls (which turned out to be related to the congenital foot issues that ultimately curtailed his career). The Hall of Fame center was still at far less than 100 percent, but he gutted it out and played for Tre Kronor in Turin. The ultimate reward: the prolific playmaking center assisted on the go-ahead goal for Sweden in the opening seconds of the gold medal game third period. Fittingly, the point-getters were the three most dominant Swedish players of their generation: Niclas Lidstrom scored the goal, with Mats Sundin and Forsberg drawing the assists.
Antero Niittymaki (Finland, 2006): The Finns ultimately settled for silver in Turin. Nevertheless, there was no denying Niitymaki's brilliance in the tournament. He won MVP honors by posting a 1.34 goals against average, .951 save percentage and three shutouts. "Niitty" was also named to both the media-voted and IIHF Directorate chosen All-Star teams. Niittymaki's NHL career would later be affected -- and ultimately ended -- by recurring hip issues that required hip replacement surgery by age 30. The 2006 Olympics will always stand as the most notable achievement of his career.
John LeClair (USA, 2002): The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame and Flyers Hall of Fame left winger led all players at the Salt Lake City games with six goals. Overall, LeClair posted seven points in six games, tying the legendary Joe Sakic for third in scoring during the tournament. He earned media all-star honors. Although LeClair and Team USA would ultimately lose to Canada in the gold medal game, the tourney washed away some of the bitter taste of Team USA's very disappointing performance at the 1998 Olympics. The 2002 tourney on American home ice was the third greatest accomplishment of LeClair's career. The first was playing a pivotal role in the Montreal Canadiens' 1993 win in the Stanley Cup Final against the LA Kings. The second -- the top international hockey experience of his career -- came in winning the 1996 World Cup of Hockey championship over Canada.
Chris Pronger (Canada, 2010): The Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman won a gold medal for Team Canada at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. On an individual basis, Pronger most notably collected a pair of assists in Canada's 3-2 semifinal win over Slovakia. Later that same year, the veteran superstar Flyers defenseman was a key force in helping lead Philadelphia to the Eastern Conference championship.
Other notable Flyers moments at the Olympics:
Mike Richards (Canada, 2010): The Flyers captain was a key penalty killer and checker for the gold medalist Canadians during the 2010 tournament. He also assisted on a Jonathan Toews goal that opened the scoring in the goal medal game against Team USA. Richards came up clutch in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the Flyers later that year. He subsequently was part of two Stanley Cup championships with the Los Angeles Kings.
Janne Niinimaa (Finland, 1998): Before his 23rd birthday, Niinimaa racked up an impressive list of early career accomplishments including a bronze medal at the 1998 Olympics. Previously, at age 20, he beat out NHL competition to earn a roster spot and start for Finland in their gold-medal winning 1995 IIHF World Championship campaign. Before joining the Flyers as a rookie in 1996-97, he played at the World Cup of Hockey. Niinimaa won the Eastern Conference championship with the Flyers that season and earned an All-Rookie Team selection. Later, he played in an NHL All-Star Game (2000-01) and was named to the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame (2015).
Rod Brind'Amour (Canada, 1998): The 1998 Olympics were a painful memory for Team Canada and its Flyers contingent of Brind'Amour, Eric Lindros and Eric Desjardins. They entered the tourney as gold medal favorites and left without a medal. However, Brind'Amour scored a goal for Canada in its bronze medal game against Finland, tying the game at 1-1 in the latter stages of the first period. Finland prevailed 3-2 on a third period power play goal by Ville Peltonen. Two years earlier, at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, the same three Flyers players were part of Team Canada. They later won a 1997 Eastern Conference championship with the Flyers.
Travis Sanheim (Canada, 2026): The 2026 gold medal meeting between Team Canada and Team USA would not be possible had Canada not stormed back to erase a two-goal deficit and pull out a 3-2 win over Finland in the semifinal game. Sanheim assisted on the tying goal in the third period on a D-to-D pass that defense Shea Theodore fired into the net. As with the 4 Nations Tournament in 2025, Sanheim was a scratch in the opening game, but has dressed in each subsequent game and accounted well for himself. The semifinal win over Finland on Friday came at the expense of Flyers teammate Rasmus Ristolainen, who was on the ice for Nathan MacKinnon's power play goal in the final minute of the third period.
