DENVER, Colo. (KOAA) — Eight Colorado Avalanche players will represent their countries at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan Cortina!
Players
Team USA
Center Brock Nelson is the lone Avs representative for Team USA.
Nelson is looking to continue his family legacy for Team USA. His grandfather, Bill Christian, and great uncle, Roger Christian, were forwards on the 1960 squad that beat the Soviet Union and Canada.
His uncle, Dave Christian, led the 1980 team in assists on the way to their iconic semifinal victory over the Soviet Union and gold medal win over Finland in Lake Placid.
Team USA played it's first game Thursday against Latvia.
Nelson scored two goals as the Americans won the game 5-1.
Team USA will be the two seed in the quarterfinals after beating Germany on Sunday 5-1.
Team USA will face Sweden in the quarterfinals.
The game was competitive, and Team USA beat Sweden in overtime 2-1.
Team USA will now face Slovakia in the semifinals.
Team USA defeated Slovakia 6-2.
Many fans in Old Colorado City celebrated Team USA's victory.
Team USA took how the gold after defeating Canada 2-1 in overtime.
Team USA returned home on Monday.
Team Canada
In June, each country named six players to their Olympic rosters.
Making Team Canada that month from the Avs were center Nathan MacKinnon and defenseman Cale Makar.
Makar will also serve as an alternative captain for Team Canada during the Olympics.
Defenseman Devon Toews was named to Team Canada when the final rosters were announced last month.
MacKinnon scored a goal and Makar added an assist in Team Canada's 5-0 win in the preliminary round Thursday against Czechia.
Toews and Makar both scored in Canada's 10-2 win against France.
MacKinnon scored a goal and Toews added an assist in Team Canada's 4-3 overtime win against Czechia in the quarterfinals.
MacKinnon scored the game-winning goal in Canada's 3-2 comeback win against Finland in the semifinals. Makar also added a goal and an assist.
Team Czechia
In his first full season with the Avs, winger Martin Necas was selected to represent Team Czechia. Necas was also one of the six players who was selected in June.
Necas scored a goal and added an assist in Czechia's 3-2 win against Denmark in the qualifier round.
Team Sweden
Avalanche winger Gabriel Landeskog was one of the first six players chosen to represent Team Sweden. Before the games began, he was named the country's captain for the Olympics.
Landeskog scored a power play goal in Sweden's 5-2 victory against Italy during the preliminary round.
Team Finland
Avs wingers Artturi Lehkonen and Joel Kiviranta were both selected to represent Team Finland. It's the first time since 2006 that the Avs will have two players representing Team Finland.
Artturi Lehkonen scored the game-winning goal in Finland's 3-2 overtime victory against Switerzland in the quarterfinals.
Lehkonen added an assist in Finland's 6-1 win to claim the bronze medal.
Rink Size Concerns
The size of the Olympic rink was roughly three feet shorter than the size of an NHL rink, which raised safety concerns from some players and league officials. You can hear from Makar and Necas about the rink size below:
Schedules
The preliminary round will start on Wednesday, February 11. There are three hockey groups during the preliminary round, which are listed below:
Group A:
- Canada
- Czechia
- Switzerland
- France
Group B:
- Finland
- Sweden
- Slovakia
- Italy
Group C:
- USA
- Germany
- Latvia
- Denmark
You can view the schedule for the countries Avs players will be representing below:
Each team will play each country in their group once. The winner of each group and the team with the best record that didn't win their group will have a bye during the qualifier round, which will be held on Tuesday, February 17.
In the qualifier round, the fifth through 12th-ranked teams will play each other. The format is below:
- (5) Switzerland vs (12) Italy
- (6) Germany vs (11) France
- (7) Sweden vs (10) Latvia
- (8) Czechia vs (9) Denmark
The tie-breaks for teams with the same record are as follows:
- higher position in the group
- higher number of points (three points for win, one point if game is tied after regulation, additional point for team winning in five-minute overtime, zero points for regulation loss)
- better goal difference
- higher number of goals scored for
- better 2020 IIHF World Ranking (teams ranked in order: Canada, Finland, Sweden, Czechia, USA, Germany, Switzerland, Slovakia, Latvia, Denmark, France, Italy)
The quarterfinals will be held on Wednesday, February 18. The format of those games is below:
- (1) Canada vs (8) Czechia
- (2) USA vs (7) Sweden
- (3) Slovakia vs (6) Germany
- (4) Finland vs (5) Switzerland
The semifinal games, Canada versus Finland and Team USA against Slovakia, will be held on Friday, February 20. The winners of the semifinals will play for gold, and the losers will play for bronze.
The bronze medal game between Finland and Slovakia will be played on Saturday, February 21.
The gold medal game between Team USA and Canada will be held on Sunday, February 22.
___
Celtic Legacy band seeks answers after being removed from the Colorado Renaissance Festival's lineup
After 38 years of performing at the Colorado Renaissance Festival, Celtic Legacy was not asked back for this summer's event, leaving the band and its fans searching for answers.
____
Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.