The 2026 Olympic men's hockey tournament officially begins on Wednesday, Feb. 11, with the preliminary rounds, and it's shaping up to be an intense run of games between 12 teams. What makes the 2026 Olympics stand of is that it brings the return of NHL players,

Follow Team USA's men's hockey team at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics with updated schedule, scores and standings from the men's hockey tournament.

Ice hockey will run the entire length of the Olympics, and feature some of the world's best players.

The 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics ice hockey events will take place at the Milano Rho and Milano Santagiulia ice hockey arenas, kicking off with preliminary round matches on Thursday, Feb. 5, running through to the men's gold medal match on Sunday, Feb. 22. A full schedule of the ice hockey events can be found down below.

NHL players are back in the 2026 Winter Olympics, and here's what to expect from the ice hockey competition and other top events.

The Italians have 25 first-time Olympians and four NHL draft picks, including Clara, defenseman Thomas Larkin (Columbus Blue Jackets, fifth round, 2009), forward Matthew Bradley (Canadiens, fifth round, 2015) and forward Cristiano DiGiacinto (Tampa Bay Lightning, sixth round, 2014).

The pursuit of a gold medal that has eluded the U.S. men's hockey team since the “Miracle on Ice” in 1980 appears to be on sound footing. The return of the NHL players after their absence from the last two Winter Games ought to provide a significant boost,

With the 2026 Winter Olympics just around the corner, now is the perfect time to look back on the Olympic moments that have made history over the years—but few hold a candle to the 1980 “Miracle on Ice,