Vejmelka Dreamed of Olympic Moment

Growing up, Utah Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka dreamed of making his country’s Olympic team and competing at the Winter Olympics. Years later, Vejmelka is one step closer to turning a dream to a reality as he is a member of Czechia’s team participating in Milano Cortina 2026.

“As a kid growing up, when we played street hockey and those kind of games, you always dreamed about it,” Vejmelka reflected. “You always simulated those kind of final games, gold medal games. It’s definitely a dream come true and I’m super pumped and I couldn’t be more excited.”

All 12 teams participating in the men’s ice hockey tournament at the Olympic Winter Games have the same goal of bringing home gold. Czechia’s team is similar to their 2024 IIHF Men’s World Championship roster that won gold on home ice in Prague. Vejmelka and his teammates will use that experience in their pursuit of the ultimate prize.

“This is the biggest tournament in the world,” Vejmelka said of the Winter Olympics. “It’s best of the best and it couldn’t be much better. It’s going to be a tough tournament, really tough. But hopefully we can have good chemistry on the team and it’s going to be kind of a similar team to what we had two years ago in Prague (at the 2024 Men’s World Championship). We actually know how to play to win a gold medal and that’s what we need to do even better.”

To bring home gold, he’ll have to beat out several of his Mammoth teammates who are all vying for the same hardware. Despite playing on different teams, Vejmelka is looking forward to the experience of playing in the tournament against his NHL teammates.

“It’s another big part of it,” Vejmelka smiled. “We are great teammates, great friends as well. They’re great humans. It’s even more exciting to share the ice with them, obviously as an opponent. But I think it pushes us even (more). It’s always challenging to play each other so I’m excited.”