149 NHL players arrive at Olympics today, and have no time for rest

MILAN — NHL players are scheduled to land in Milan early in the morning Saturday and start practicing within hours.

It’s the logistical aspect of getting around 150 players from the U.S. to the 2026 Winter Games, where for the next two weeks they’ll try to reach the gold medal game Feb. 22. The players and other NHL personnel are traveling on chartered planes.

While NHL owners may grumble about the possibility of injuries, it’s a win for the sport to have the game’s best players back at the Olympics for the first time since 2014. (The 2018 Olympics in South Korea were a no-go for insurance and travel reasons, and the NHL pulled out of the 2022 Olympics in Beijing because of the pandemic.)

Here’s what to know.

When and where does Olympic men’s hockey get underway

The first practices run all day Sunday, with Latvia holding the first slot at 10 a.m. in Milan (4 a.m. ET). The U.S. has a slot from 6-7:30 p.m., and Canada from 7:45 to 9:15 p.m. There are practices through Feb. 10. They’re vital to getting everybody on the same page as quickly as possible, and to turbo-charge team bonding. As far as arenas, Santa Giulia Arena is the primary one, while Rho Ice Hockey Arena is a temporary venue.

When do the games begin

Games begin Feb. 11, with the marquee team in action that day being Sweden against Italy. In preliminaries, the U.S. plays Latvia Feb. 12, Denmark Feb. 14, and Germany Feb. 15.

How many teams are there

The participating national teams are Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.S. Host Italy is the only team without an NHL player on its roster. The teams are divided into fields of four. Group A has Canada, Czechia, France and Switzerland. Group B is Finland, Italy, Slovakia and Sweden. Group C has Denmark, Germany, Latvia and the U.S.

All 12 teams play three preliminary games in their respective groups, then move on to a single-elimination playoff that will conclude with the gold medal game Feb. 22.

Who is there from the NHL

All 32 NHL teams have a player going, but some teams have quite a few more than others. Take the Florida Panthers (10, representing five teams) and the Vegas Golden Knights (Nine, representing seven countries).The Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche, Minnesota Wild and Tampa Bay Lightning each have eight players going.

Here’s the full list.

Anaheim Ducks

Lukas Dostal (CZE)Mikael Granlund (FIN)Radko Gudas (CZE)Jackson LaCombe (USA)

Boston Bruins

Henri Jokiharju (FIN)Joonas Korpisalo (FIN)Elias Lindholm (SWE)Hampus Lindholm (SWE)Charlie McAvoy (USA)David Pastrnak (CZE)Jeremy Swayman (USA)Pavel Zacha (CZE)

Buffalo Sabres

Rasmus Dahlin (SWE)Tage Thompson (USA)

Calgary Flames

Martin Pospisil (SVK)

Carolina Hurricanes

Sebastian Aho (FIN)Frederik Andersen (DEN)Nikolaj Ehlers (DEN)Seth Jarvis (CAN)Jaccob Slavin (USA)

Chicago Blackhawks

Teuvo Teravainen (FIN)

Colorado Avalanche

Joel Kiviranta (FIN)Gabriel Landeskog (SWE)Artturi Lehkonen (FIN)Nathan MacKinnon (CAN)Cale Makar (CAN)Martin Necas (CZE)Brock Nelson (USA)Devon Toews (CAN)

Columbus Blue Jackets

Elvis Merzlikins (LAT)Zach Werenski (USA)

Dallas Stars

Radek Faksa (CZE)Thomas Harley (CAN)Miro Heiskanen (FIN)Roope Hintz (FIN)Esa Lindell (FIN)Jake Oettinger (USA)Mikko Rantanen (FIN)

Detroit Red Wings

Dylan Larkin (USA)Lucas Raymond (SWE)Moritz Seider (GER)

Edmonton Oilers

Leon Draisaitl (GER)Connor McDavid (CAN)Josh Samanski (GER)

Florida Panthers

Uvis Balinskis (LAT)Sam Bennett (CAN)Gustav Forsling (SWE)Anton Lundell (FIN)Eetu Luostarinen (FIN)Niko Mikkola (FIN)Brad Marchand (CAN)Sam Reinhart (CAN)Matthew Tkachuk (USA)Sandis Vilmanis (LAT)

Los Angeles Kings

Joel Armia (FIN)Drew Doughty (CAN)Kevin Fiala (SUI)Adrian Kempe (SWE)Darcy Kuemper (CAN)

Minnesota Wild

Matt Boldy (USA)Joel Eriksson Ek (SWE)Brock Faber (USA)Filip Gustavsson (SWE)Quinn Hughes (USA)Marcus Johansson (SWE)Nico Sturm (GER)Jesper Wallstedt (SWE)

Montreal Canadiens

Oliver Kapanen (FIN)Juraj Slafkovsky (SVK)Nick Suzuki (CAN)Alexandre Texier (FRA)

Nashville Predators

Filip Forsberg(SWE)Erik Haula (FIN)Roman Josi (SUI)Juuse Saros (FIN)

New Jersey Devils

Jesper Bratt (SWE)Nico Hischier (SUI)Jack Hughes (USA)Jacob Markstrom (SWE)Timo Meier(SUI)Simon Nemec (SVK)Jonas Siegenthaler (SUI)

New York Islanders

Bo Horvat (CAN)Ondrej Palat (CZE)

New York Rangers

J.T. Miller (USA)Vincent Trocheck (USA)Mika Zibanejad (SWE)

Ottawa Senators

Lars Eller (DEN)Nikolas Matinpalo (FIN)Jake Sanderson (USA)Mads Søgaard (DEN)Tim Stutzle (GER)Brady Tkachuk (USA)

Philadelphia Flyers

Rasmus Ristolainen (FIN)Travis Sanheim (CAN)Dan Vladar (CZE)

Pittsburgh Penguins

Sidney Crosby (CAN)Erik Karlsson (SWE)Rickard Rakell (SWE)Arturs Silovs (LAT)

San Jose Sharks

Macklin Celebrini (CAN)Philipp Kurashev (SUI)Pavol Regenda (SVK)Alexander Wennberg (SWE)

Seattle Kraken

Oscar Fisker Molgaard (DEN)Philipp Grubauer (GER)Kaapo Kakko (FIN)Eeli Tolvanen (FIN)

St. Louis Blues

Jordan Binnington (CAN)Philip Broberg (SWE)Dalibor Dvorsky (SVK)Colton Parayko (CAN)Pius Suter (SUI)

Tampa Bay Lightning

Oliver Bjorkstrand (DEN)Erik Cernak (SVK)Zemgus Girgensons (LAT)Jake Guentzel (USA)Brandon Hagel (CAN)Victor Hedman (SWE)Pontus Holmberg (SWE)J.J. Moser (SUI)

Toronto Maple Leafs

Oliver Ekman-Larsson (SWE)William Nylander (SWE)Auston Matthews (USA)

Utah Mammoth

Clayton Keller (USA)Olli Maatta (FIN)JJ Peterka (GER)Karel Vejmelka (CZE)

Vancouver Canucks

Teddy Blueger (LAT)Filip Hronek (CZE)David Kampf (CZE)Kevin Lankinen (FIN)Elias Pettersson (SWE)

Vegas Golden Knights

Rasmus Andersson (SWE)Jack Eichel (USA)Noah Hanifin (USA)Tomas Hertl (CZE)Mitch Marner (CAN)Jonas Rondbjerg (DEN)Akira Schmid (SUI)Mark Stone (CAN)Shea Theodore (CAN)