Olympics causing NHL jerseys to steal fashion spotlight in Milan

MILAN -- Milan is famous for fashion. At the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, the trendiest items are hockey jerseys, especially NHL players’ jerseys.

NHL players are participating in the Olympics for the first time in 12 years, and to see the impact, just walk around. The jerseys are all over the city -- in the arena, on the streets, at the tourist attractions -- worn by people from all over the world eager to see so many of the world’s best players in one place.

A woman stepped onto the Metro on Sunday, cramming into a car full of fans on their way to Santagiulia Arena for the Canada-France preliminary round game. She wore a Jack Hughes No. 86 New Jersey Devils jersey and a Nico Hischier autographed Devils hat.

“You from New Jersey?” I asked.

“Italy,” she said.

Her name was Elena Merlin, and she lived an hour from Milan. She used to be a figure skater, so she spent a lot of time on the ice. One day, she saw clips of an NHL game.

“I got interested, and from then, it spiraled,” she said. “I just watch every game possible. During the night, I’m going to try to stay awake and just watch it.”

There is nothing like seeing NHL players live.

Merlin has been to three NHL Global Series events -- two in Stockholm, one in Prague. Now she gets to see NHL players in the Olympics.

She rode the Metro with two friends. One had a black leather Nathan MacKinnon Team Canada jacket, the other a Seattle Kraken hat.

“Insane,” Merlin said. “Honestly, insane. We got lucky and got good tickets, like, behind the benches sometimes. Seeing them up close, how fast they skate, how hard they go against the boards, just …”

Her voice trailed off.

“I don’t know,” she said. “A dream.”

I’ve encountered countless fans like Merlin in Milan.

On Wednesday, I was walking near the Duomo, the huge iconic cathedral in the heart of the city, when I saw three guys in NHL jerseys. One wore a San Jose Sharks jersey. Another wore a Colorado Avalanche specialty jersey honoring their roots as the Quebec Nordiques. Another wore a Minnesota Wild third jersey.

“Where you guys from?” I asked.

“Germany,” they said.

Of course, they loved German stars like Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl and Ottawa Senators center Tim Stutzle. But they told me it was a dream for them to see the best players from Canada and the United States too.

On Sunday, I went back to the Duomo. The piazza was packed with people on a warm, sunny day. The bright colors of hockey jerseys popped everywhere I looked. There were many national team jerseys, and there were many NHL jerseys too. Detroit Red Wings. New York Rangers. Toronto Maple Leafs.

It was the same as I walked Via Dante to Castello Sforzesco, a medieval fortification that is now a tourist attraction.

Chris and Michele Granger from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, represented the two-time Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. They had gone to the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic in Miami on Jan. 2. Now they were at the Olympics, where Florida has 10 players, more than any other NHL team.

Kata Menyhart had an American flag draped around her shoulders with the image of Jack Hughes. Surely, she was from New Jersey.

Nope.

“Hungary,” she said.

She was rooting for Team USA because of her love for Hughes.

The Moimaux family sat outdoors at a café. Three members wore Montreal Canadiens jerseys; one wore an Edmonton Oilers jersey. They are originally from France. But they’d lived in Montreal for 10 years, and they now live in Switzerland. The Canada-France matchup presented a dilemma, but they were going to win either way.

I walked through the castle and Parco Sempione until I reached Arco della Pace, a city gate and triumphal arch. The Olympic flame burns beneath it.

A group of fans headed to the Team USA-Team Germany game wore German jerseys. There was No. 29 for Draisaitl and No. 18 for Stützle.

“Do you know where to get a beer?” one guy asked.

I didn’t. But I figured he would find out on his own, and I had to get to back to Santagiulia Arena.

When the Canada-France game began, hockey jerseys filled the stands -- national team jerseys, of course, but also NHL jerseys from across the League. Canadiens. Nordiques. Oilers. Rangers. Anaheim Ducks. Boston Bruins. Dallas Stars. Pittsburgh Penguins. Tampa Bay Lightning.

Who will be best dressed? Whoever is wearing the jersey of a player who wins the most prized accessory: the gold medal.