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 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.
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.
Team Sweden
Avalanche winger Gabriel Landeskog was one of the first six players chosen to represent Team Sweden. Last weekend, he was named the country's captain for the Olympics.
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.
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:
- fifth team vs 12th
- sixth vs 11th
- seventh vs 10th
- eighth vs ninth
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:
- first seed vs eight/nine winner
- second vs seven/10 winner
- third vs six/11 winner
- four vs five/12 winner
The semifinal games will be held on Friday, February 20. The highest seed will play the lowest remaining, and the two middle seeds will play each other. The winners of the semifinals will play for gold, and the losers will play for bronze. Both medal games will be held on Sunday, February 22.
This section will be updated as the games are played.
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A feature on the I-25 noise wall that you can only notice when it snows
Is the mountain design on the I-25 south wall intentional? It comes out a bit, so when snow falls, it tends to pile up and look like a snowcap.
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