First Shift 🏒
The Stars will be well-represented at the 2026 Winter Olympics after several rosters were named this week.
Thomas Harley will represent Team Canada, Jake Oettinger will be on Team USA, and Team Finland will feature Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell, Roope Hintz and Rantanen. All of those are great stories for great individuals, and they will hopefully become lifetime memories for each one.
And while the tournament isn’t for another month, the buzz over the roster release has kick-started the international excitement.
“It’s getting closer,” said Heiskanen. “It’s exciting times. We have a really good team and hopefully we can go all the way and win it all.”
Oettinger said this is just one step in the process, but it is a step.
“It’s not going to feel real until you’re on the plane with all of the guys getting over there. But it’s something I have wanted to do all of my life and to get that call is one of the best things that has ever happened to me,” Oettinger said.
All six of the players participated in the 4-Nations Faceoff last season with games in Montréal and Boston. Harley and Canada won, while Team USA took second place. Oettinger played one game and stopped 21 shots in a 2-1 loss to Sweden.
Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who has been the No. 1 for Tean USA, has been battling injuries this season, so the door seems to be open for a discussion on whether Oettinger could get some big games.
“I want to get my game to as best I can, and then I’m hoping I get a start over there and play really well and go from there,” Oettinger said. “I feel I have built a resume that I can play well over there, so I’m hoping to get in one game, and then it’s up to me to play well.”
The Finns have been together for years, and getting four from one team is unique. Rantanen was playing with Colorado during the 4-Nations last season, so it will be interesting to see how his chemistry is now that the Stars have built a deeper relationship.
“When you see somebody every day and chat about everything, I think that helps you a lot,” Hintz said. “You see everything they do.”
The NHL opted out of the 2018 and 2022 Olympics, so this will be the first time for the current Stars players to participate. While each has worn the sweater of his country before, this is different.
“Since I was a young kid, I was always watching Olympics,” Heiskanen said. “It’s the biggest stage you can play in international game.”
While Oettinger added: “It’s as big as it gets. Stanley Cup No. 1 and Olympic gold No. 2.”
It will definitely become a bigger topic of conversation as the games get closer, but it also could be a big factor in how the NHL’s regular season goes.
“We’re mindful of it, for sure,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “It is exciting, looking at the rosters. Great players, great teams, it should be exciting.”
But he also said the focus right now is ending a four-game winless streak (0-2-2).
“We haven’t liked some of the ways we have defended, so that’s going to be an emphasis for us,” Gulutzan said of a Sunday matinee against Montréal. “We played them before and we executed at a high level. If you look at the last four games, we have generated a lot of chances, but we didn’t execute plays.”
