The waiting is over.
The Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 have officially arrived, and for the first time in 12 years, NHL players will be in attendance.
Four members of the Nashville Predators are set to compete in the Olympic Winter Games over the next two weeks, and another will be representing his country off the ice.
Preds Captain Roman Josi will skate for his native Switzerland for the second time at the Olympics, while forward Filip Forsberg of Sweden, plus forward Erik Haula and goaltender Juuse Saros of Finland, will make their first appearances at the Games. Predators Head Athletic Trainer Kevin Morley will also be in Milan to serve as a trainer for Team USA.
The game of hockey is arguably never better on the international best-on-best stage, and the Preds are certainly looking forward to what’s ahead.
“It's something I’ve been dreaming about as long as we've been watching it since I was a little kid,” Forsberg said last month after being named to Sweden’s roster. “The last two opportunities have been taken away from us for different reasons, and I’m really excited that hockey is back and I get to be a part of it.”
“What a relief it was,” Haula said of receiving the news on Christmas morning he had made the Finnish team. "And it obviously got me a little emotional as well.”
Those emotions will be running high as the top players in the world compete for a Gold medal, and while the rest of the Preds will be on a well-deserved hiatus, a select few are ecstatic for the chance to etch their names into hockey history.
The tournament begins on Feb. 11 when Saros and Haula take on Slovakia, followed by Forsberg and the Swedes facing the host, Team Italy. Of note, Sweden and Finland will face one another on Feb. 13 in perhaps the most highly anticipated game of the preliminary round.
The United States will face Latvia, Denmark and Germany in the preliminary round, while Team Canada will skate against Czechia, Switzerland and France.
Twelve teams will compete for gold, and each country will play three preliminary games in their respective groups before all 12 then move on to a single-elimination playoff. The bronze medal game is set for Feb. 21, while the gold medal game comes Feb. 22 at 7 a.m. CT.
The NBC family of networks and their Peacock streaming service will carry the games, and the NHL app has each game listed under the schedule tab.
Stay tuned to NashvillePredators.com throughout the Olympics for updates on the Preds players in Milan.
As for the rest of those on the Nashville roster, the team will receive 11 days off before reporting back to Tennessee on Feb. 17 ahead of the first scheduled practice on Feb. 18. The NHL schedule resumes for the Predators when they host Chicago on Feb. 26 before traveling to Dallas to close out the month. The Preds will then play 15 games across 31 days in March as the playoff race continues.
