MILAN – The days have been a whirlwind, from arrival to a first practice, photo shoots, pin exchanges, an interview with Sesame Street’s Elmo, round-robin games, attending other events, soaking up every experience.
Now comes the pressure part of participating in the 2026 Winter Olympics. The USA men’s hockey team heads into its first elimination game on Feb. 18 both buoyed and weighted by expectations to come home with a gold medal. The Americans emerged from the preliminary round 3-0, and after earning a two-day break between games, are eager to prove what they can do when results mean stay or go.
‘It’s nerve wracking, it is,’ Dylan Larkin said. ‘I think that’s what brings out the best in guys. I’m excited for it. Every play, every puck is going to matter.’
When Larkin was speaking after the USA’s practice on Feb. 17 at the Milan Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena’s practice rink, the USA was waiting to find out who it will play: the winner of the evening’s game against Sweden and Latvia.
But as good teams tend to do, the focus was on how the USA needs to play. USA personnel has spoken of being an ‘unfinished product’ and that doesn’t change regardless of the opponent.
‘I don’t know that we ever arrive,’ coach Mike Sullivan said. ‘I think that’s the greatest thing about our sport. We’re always striving to become a better version of ourselves every day. I don’t think you ever arrive. And that’s part of it. We’re going to try to evolve every day that we’re together.’
The USA beat Latvia, Denmark and Germany in the preliminary round to earn a bye into the quarterfinals. They had a day off Feb. 16, much needed after playing three times in four days, all at 9:10 p.m. local start times.
‘I think I finally got used to it by that third game,’ Zach Werenski said. ‘I started to feel a lot better with the timing. It’s a long day playing at 9 p.m., I’m just not used to it. I was pretty tired at night time, slept good. I feel a lot better today and I’m excited for tomorrow.’
USA has as deep a team as there is at the tournament, with arguably the best depth of any team in goal. Connor Hellebuyck has played two games, Jeremy Swayman the other and Jake Oettinger is on standby. Hellebuyck is the projected starter; asked a question focused on Hellebuyck’s up-and-down play this season, Sullivan smiled and replied, ‘I don’t worry about any of our goalies.’
Nor, for that matter, the skaters. USA’s plus-11 goal differential in round-robin play was second only to Canada’s plus-17. Of the 17 skaters who appeared in all three preliminary games, everyone has at least a point. Auston Matthews and Matthew Tkachuk lead the team with five points and Matthews, the captain, with three goals.
‘I think everybody’s starting to peak at the right time, which is good,’ Tkachuk said.
The USA looks back on its game with Germany as a jumping off point for the quarterfinals.
‘I feel like our last game was probably our best game for 60 minutes,’ Werenski said. ‘For us it’s just hard working, shift after shift. We have four lines that can go, we have seven D out there that can go as well. Just rolling them over, getting to our game, playing with our identity. Not straying away from it, just continuing to do that for 60 minutes.’