The Winter Olympics are underway as the world’s best athletes traveled to Italy to participate in Milano Cortina 2026! For the first time in 12 years, NHL players will represent their home countries at this pinnacle event.
It’s a best-on-best tournament over the next three weeks and there’s plenty of exciting games ahead. Below is everything you need to know about the Olympic Winter Games!
History of Ice Hockey at the Olympic Winter Games
Men’s Ice hockey has been a part of the Olympic Games since 1920 when the sport made its debut at the Summer Games in Antwerp. However, it was moved over to the Winter Olympics for the 1924 Games in Chamonix (per Olympics.com). Women’s ice hockey was added for the 1998 Olympic Winter Games.
How the Men’s Tournament Works
There are 12 different countries participating in the men’s ice hockey Olympic tournament: Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.
There are three groups and there are four teams in each group. Here’s how the countries are split up:
Group A: Czechia, Canada, France, Switzerland
Group B: Finland, Italy, Slovakia, Sweden
Group C: Denmark, Germany, Latvia, United States
Each team can have up to 25 players on their roster including 22 skaters and three goaltenders. Game rosters can have 20 skaters and two goaltenders.
All 12 teams participating in the men’s ice hockey tournament will play three preliminary round games. Following, the tournament will switch to a single-elimination playoff format that starts with qualification playoff games and ends with the medal round games.
The preliminary round starts on Feb. 11 and ends on Feb. 15. The playoff rounds start on Feb. 17 with four Men’s Qualification Play-off games (all times mountain): 4:10 a.m., 8:40 a.m., 10:10 a.m. and 1:10 p.m. The four quarterfinal games will take place during the same time slots on Feb. 18.
The semifinals will take place on Feb. 20 at 8:40 a.m. MT and 1:10 p.m. MT. The men’s Bronze Medal game will take place on Feb. 21 at 12:40 p.m. MT while the Gold Medal Game is on Feb. 22 at 6:10 a.m. MT.
A full list of rules is available here!
Mammoth Players at the Winter Olympics
The Utah Mammoth have four representatives at the Winter Olympics: Captain Clayton Keller (USA), forward JJ Peterka (Germany), defenseman Olli Määttä (Finland), and goaltender Karel Vejmelka (Czechia).
Keller, Peterka, and Vejmelka will make their Olympic debuts while Määttä is participating in his second Winter Olympics (2014, Sochi). Below is each Mammoth player’s schedule for the preliminary round.
Czechia’s Schedule:
Feb. 12: Czechia vs Canada, 8:40 a.m. MT
Feb. 13: France vs Czechia, 8:40 a.m. MT
Feb. 15: Switzerland vs Czechia, 4:10 a.m. MT
Finland’s Schedule:
Feb. 11: Slovakia vs Finland, 8:40 a.m. MT
Feb. 13: Finland vs Sweden, 4:10 a.m. MT
Feb. 14: Finland vs Italy, 8:40 a.m. MT
Germany’s Schedule:
Feb. 12: Germany vs Denmark, 1:10 p.m. MT
Feb. 14: Germany vs Latvia – 4:10 a.m. MT
Feb. 15: United States vs Germany, 1:10 p.m. MT
USA’s Schedule:
Feb. 12: Latvia vs United States, 1:10 p.m. MT
Feb. 14: United States vs Denmark, 1:10 p.m. MT
Feb. 15: United States vs Germany, 1:10 p.m. MT
NBC has the rights to the Olympic Winter Games, and their platforms will cover each game. Following Milano Cortina 2026, check back to UtahMammoth.com to read how Utah’s players did at the Winter Olympics!
