Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026: Group C preview

MILAN -- The Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 men’s hockey tournament begins Wednesday when the 12 nations compete in three groups.

Group A consists of Canada, Czechia, France and Switzerland. Finland, Italy, Sweden and Slovakia will play in Group B. Group C features Denmark, Germany, Latvia and the United States.

The games will be televised on NBC’s family of networks in the U.S. and on CBC in Canada.

Each team will play the other teams in its group in round-robin play. The three teams that finish first, along with the highest-placed second-place team, advance to the quarterfinals.

Each of the other eight teams will be seeded by order of finish in pool play and play each other to determine the other four quarterfinalists.

The qualification playoffs are Feb. 17, followed by the quarterfinals the next day. The semifinals are Feb. 20, and the bronze medal game is Feb. 21. The gold medal game is Feb. 22, the last day of Olympic competition.

Here's a look at each Group C team, in predicted order of finish:

UNITED STATES

Coach: Mike Sullivan

Most recent medal: Silver, 2010

Gold medals: 1960, 1980

Schedule: Feb. 12, Latvia (3:10 p.m. ET); Feb. 14, Denmark (3:10 p.m. ET); Feb. 15, Germany (3:10 p.m. ET)

Outlook: The Americans are trying to win an Olympic gold medal in men’s hockey for the first time since 1980, when they upset the Soviet Union in the “Miracle on Ice” and defeated Finland to clinch the gold at Lake Placid. They’re also trying to win a best-on-best tournament for the first time since the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. The U.S. won Olympic silver in Salt Lake City in 2002 and Vancouver in 2010, and the U.S. went to the championship game of the 4 Nations Face-Off last season. Each time -- the last two times in overtime -- it lost to Canada. That’s why, in TV ads ahead of Milan, Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel said the Americans are hoping for “Canadian tears.” General manager Bill Guerin and his staff liked the chemistry the U.S. had at 4 Nations and kept most of the roster intact. Of the 25 players on the Olympic roster, 21 played at 4 Nations, and that doesn’t include Minnesota Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes, who missed the tournament because of injury. The U.S. is one of three teams comprised entirely of NHL players, along with Canada and Sweden. Three of the top four American goal-scorers in the NHL this season are not on this roster: Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield (32 goals), Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson (32) and Detroit Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat (30). Still, there is a lot of firepower, and this team has defense and grit. Although none of the goalies has been at his best lately, goaltending should be a strength. Expectations could not be higher. It’s gold or bust. “Really believe in our team, really believe in the build, the makeup,” Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk said. “I think experiencing what we did in 4 Nations, it just created that much more fire to win gold.”

GERMANY

Coach: Harold Kreis

Most recent medal: Silver, 2018

Gold medals: None

Schedule: Feb. 12, Denmark (3:10 p.m. ET); Feb. 14, Latvia (6:10 a.m. ET); Feb. 15, United States (12:10 p.m. ET)

Outlook: Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl carried the flag for Germany at the opening ceremony Friday. Draisaitl is one of the best players in the world, fifth in the NHL with 80 points (29 goals, 51 assists) in 55 games this season. He’s the best NHL player in German history with 1,036 points (428 goals, 608 assists) in 845 games. That’s more than double the next closest player, forward Marco Sturm, who had 487 points (242 goals, 245 assists) in 938 NHL games from 1997-2012 and is now coach of the Boston Bruins. Germany has six other NHL players on its roster -- forwards Tim Stutzle (Senators), JJ Peterka (Utah Mammoth), Josh Samanski (Oilers) and Nico Sturm (Wild). Moritz Seider (Red Wings) -- whom Marco Sturm has called “our Leon Draisaitl, just on ‘D’” -- anchors the defense. Philipp Grubauer (Seattle Kraken) is in goal. The Germans won silver in PyeongChang in 2018, when NHL players didn’t participate. That was their first Olympic medal in men’s hockey since bronze in Innsbruck in 1976. Three players on this roster were on that team, including forward Dominik Kahun, who played 186 NHL games from 2018-21. Peterka, Seider and Nico Sturm helped Germany win silver at the 2023 IIHF World Championship, its first medal in that tournament since silver in 1953. “I do think there are high expectations, because there’s been a lot of talk that this is the best German team that we’ve ever sent to a tournament,” Nico Sturm said. “But obviously, all the other teams are also sending their best, and so I think that maybe people that don’t know hockey as well don’t sometimes grasp the impact having NHL players at the Games has.”

DENMARK

Coach: Mikael Gath

Most recent medal: None

Gold medals: None

Schedule: Feb. 12, Germany (3:10 p.m. ET); Feb. 14, United States (3:10 p.m. ET); Feb. 15, Latvia (6:10 a.m. ET)

Outlook: Denmark has 6,110 players and 29 indoor rinks, according to the International Ice Hockey Federation. The country has had only 19 players appear in the NHL. Six are on this roster, forwards Oliver Bjorkstrand (Tampa Bay Lightning), Nikolaj Ehlers (Carolina Hurricanes), Lars Eller (Senators), Oscar Fisker Molgaard (Kraken), and goalies Frederik Andersen (Hurricanes) and Mads Sogaard (Senators). Jonas Rondbjerg (Golden Knights) would have made seven, but the forward was ruled out Sunday because of injury. Ehlers is Denmark’s all-time NHL leader with 563 points (239 goals, 324 assists) in 731 games. After forward Frans Nielsen, who had had 473 points (167 goals, 306 assists) in 925 games from 2006-21, Eller is next with 433 points (190 goals, 243 assists) in 1,159 games. Bjorkstrand ranks fourth with 411 points (182 goals, 229 assists) in 679 games. Andersen and Sogaard are the only Danish goalies who have played in the NHL. Andersen has 315 wins in 539 games; Sogaard has 12 in 31. This is the Danes’ second appearance in an Olympic men’s hockey tournament; their first was Beijing in 2022, when NHL players did not participate. In the preliminary round, Denmark defeated the Czech Republic 2-1 and Switzerland 5-3, but lost 2-0 to Russia. It defeated Latvia 3-2 in the qualification round before losing 3-1 to Russia in the quarterfinals. Fourteen players from Beijing are back, giving Denmark more players with Olympic experience than any other in this tournament. That includes defenseman Jesper Jensen Aabo, a flag-bearer in the opening ceremony. “We have Latvia, we have Germany (in our group),” Andersen said. “I think we have a chance against them. Obviously, the U.S. is a big hockey nation, so it will be a little tougher against them. … We’re a proud nation. We’re a small country. A lot of great players went before us to get Denmark to where it is now.”

LATVIA

Coach: Harijs Vitolins

Most recent medal: None

Gold medals: None

Schedule: Feb. 12, United States (3:10 p.m. ET); Feb. 14, Germany (6:10 a.m. ET); Feb. 15, Denmark (6:10 a.m.)

Outlook: Latvia has 7,864 players and 22 indoor rinks, according to the IIHF. The country has had only 30 players appear in the NHL. Six on are this roster -- forwards Zemgus Girgensons (Lightning), Teddy Blueger (Vancouver Canucks) and Sandis Vilmanis (Florida Panthers); defenseman. Uvis Balinskis (Panthers); and goalies Elvis Merzlikins (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Arturs Silovs (Pittsburgh Penguins). Girgensons ranks third among Latvians in NHL history with 208 points (98 goals, 110 assists) in 818 games. Blueger is fourth with 160 points (54 goals, 106 assists) in 428 games. Merzlikins ranks second in wins among Latvian goalies in NHL history with 105; Arturs Irbe had 218 from 1991-2004. Don’t overlook Latvia, though; in Sochi in 2014, the previous Olympics with NHL players, the Latvians lost all three of their preliminary round games. Then they defeated Switzerland 3-1 in the qualification round and gave Canada a scare in the quarterfinals. Kristers Gudlevskis made 55 saves in a 2-1 loss. It was a 1-1 game from late in the first period until late in the third, when Canada defenseman Shea Weber broke through on the power play. The goalie would go on to play three games for the Lightning, one that season, one in 2015-16 and one in 2016-17. Latvia won bronze at the 2023 IIHF World Championship, its first medal in that tournament, and has 13 players with Olympic experience. That includes forward Kaspars Daugavins, who played 91 NHL games from 2009-13 and was a flag-bearer in the opening ceremony. “When you wear that jersey, it’s something special, especially for our amazing fans,” Merzlikins said. “It’s a privilege, especially with the guys who you grew up with. There are many guys who I started with when I was 15, and now we are all grown. We went through a lot, a long road together.”