‘Tried to maintain hope’: NHL stars poised for Olympic return in 2026 after long wait

The NHL first skipped the 2018 Games in South Korea for financial reasons following a run of five straight tournaments between 1998 and 2014. The league was then forced to pull the plug on its 2022 participation in China because of COVID-19 concerns.

An athlete’s time is finite. Despite still being an awe-inspiring force two decades into what is surely a Hall of Fame career, Crosby wasn’t sure if his opportunity to compete on the sporting world’s biggest stage had already come and gone.

“It’s just one of those things you can’t really control,” the Pittsburgh Penguins captain and centre said at the recent NHL/NHLPA pre-season player media tour in Las Vegas. “But I like to think I’m an optimistic person … I tried to maintain hope that it would work out. It’s one of those things, how are you going to control that?

“You really can’t.”

Crosby, a three-time Stanley Cup champion, and the rest of the NHL’s biggest stars stayed patient.

Now they’re poised to head back under the brightest lights this winter when the league makes its Games’ return — thanks to agreements between the NHL, NHL Players’ Association, International Olympic Committee and International Ice Hockey Federation — at February’s 2026 Milan-Cortina showcase in Italy, ending a 12-year absence.

“Very excited,” Toronto Maple Leafs forward and Swedish maestro William Nylander said. “That’s something that as a kid you’ve always dreamt of.”

The hockey world was reintroduced to best-on-best men’s hockey — or as close as possible with Russia banned from international competition because of its continued war in Ukraine — during last season’s NHL-run 4 Nations Face-Off.

Canada picked up a dramatic OT victory when Connor McDavid fired home from the slot in the final against the United States in an event that also included Sweden and Finland.

That appetizer was tantalizing. The main course is just over four months away.

“The skill level is going to be amplified,” Colorado Avalanche and Canadian defenceman Cale Makar said. “This is the fastest hockey anybody’s ever played.”

The 12-team Olympic field will be rounded out by Czechia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Germany, Latvia, Denmark, France and hosts Italy, with six players from each country having already been named to preliminary rosters.

Vegas Golden Knights centre Jack Eichel — like McDavid, Makar, Nylander, Canada’s Nathan MacKinnon, Auston Matthews of the U.S. and a host of others among a generation of elite talent yet to taste the Games — said that while hockey is the No. 1 focus, the entire spectacle will be memorable.

“It’s something that we’ve wanted for a while,” said the American forward. “Just to be at the Olympics, I think that’s such a cool thing to be a part of. I know it’s something I’ve dreamt of … like, what an honour, what an incredible experience. I couldn’t be more excited that we’re getting the opportunity.”

Florida Panthers and Canadian winger Sam Reinhart said despite that overwhelming anticipation, getting off to a good start to the NHL schedule is the focus for now.

“That’s only going to help you,” he said. “And trust that when that moment comes, that you’re going to be at your best, and you’re going to put in the work, and that you’re going to have that juice.”

Makar said that while the Games might feel close to those on the outside, the event is still many tough nights of battling in the NHL away for both himself and his contemporaries.

“Everybody keeps talking about how close it is,” he said. “If you’re an Olympic athlete, you’ve been training for four years, so it seems really close now. But I think for us, since we have this other job that we have to do and focus on first … it still feels like it’s a long ways off.”

Boston Bruins defenceman Charlie McAvoy of the U.S. was preparing to head to Beijing for the 2022 Games when the plug was pulled. The elation on his end is hard to contain.

“It’s going to happen … you know you’re going to the tournament,” he said. “In so many ways, I’ve already begun the process of just being overjoyed and excited for it. What a dream come true.”

Crosby has lived that moment twice before. Now another sits right around the corner.

“(I was) hoping that it would work itself out,” Crosby said. “And it definitely has.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 30, 2025.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

‘Tried to maintain hope’: NHL stars poised for Olympic return in 2026 after long wait

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