For the first time since 2014, NHL players will be participating in the Winter Olympics. The last time members of hockey’s top league entered the tournament, the gold medal was claimed by Canada as the nation won every game, backed by the steady presence of Carey Price to allow just three goals in the tournament. This time around, Canada is once again a favourite, but without such stellar goaltending to rely on other teams could take that crown and claim to be the new leader in best-on-best international hockey.
Preliminary round
The first phase of the tournament involves three groups of four teams playing an in-group round robin of three games to decide positioning for the playoff portion.
February 11, 2026
10:40 AM EST: Slovakia vs. Finland
3:10 PM EST: Sweden vs. Italy
February 12, 2026
6:10 AM EST: Switzerland vs. France
10:40 AM EST: Czechia vs. Canada
3:10 PM EST: Latvia vs. United States
3:10 PM EST: Germany vs. Denmark
February 13, 2026
6:10 AM EST: Finland vs. Sweden
6:10 AM EST: Italy vs. Slovakia
10:40 AM EST: France vs. Czechia
3:10 PM EST: Canada vs. Switzerland
February 14, 2026
6:10 AM EST: Sweden vs. Slovakia
6:10 AM EST: Germany vs. Latvia
10:40 AM EST: Finland vs. Italy
3:10 PM EST: United States vs. Denmark
February 15, 2026
6:10 AM EST: Switzerland vs. Czechia
10:40 AM EST: Canada vs. France
1:10 PM EST: Denmark vs. Latvia
3:10 PM EST: United States vs. Germany
Grid schedule (EST)
| Feb 11 | Feb 12 | Feb 13 | Feb 14 | Feb 15 | Feb 16 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Preliminary Round | |||||
| CAN | — | CZE (10:40) | SUI (15:10) | — | FRA (10:40) | — |
| CZE | — | CAN (10:40) | FRA (10:40) | — | SUI (06:10) | — |
| DEN | — | GER (15:10) | — | USA (15:10) | LAT (13:10) | — |
| FIN | SVK (10:40) | — | SWE (06:10) | ITA (10:40) | — | — |
| FRA | — | SUI (06:10) | CZE (10:40) | — | CAN (10:40) | — |
| GER | — | DEN (15:10) | — | LAT (06:10) | USA (15:10) | — |
| ITA | SWE (15:10) | — | SVK (06:10) | FIN (10:40) | — | — |
| LAT | — | USA (15:10) | — | GER (06:10) | DEN (13:10) | — |
| SUI | — | FRA (06:10) | CAN (15:10) | — | CZE (06:10) | — |
| SVK | FIN (10:40) | — | ITA (06:10) | SWE (06:10) | — | — |
| SWE | ITA (15:10) | — | FIN (06:10) | SVK (06:10) | — | — |
| USA | — | LAT (15:10) | — | DEN (15:10) | GER (15:10) | — |
| Feb 17 | Feb 18 | Feb 19 | Feb 20 | Feb 21 | Feb 22 | |
| Team | Qualification | Quarter-finals | Semifinals | Bronze Medal | Gold Medal | |
| CAN (1) | TBD (10:40) | — | 10:40 | 14:40 | 08:10 | |
| CZE (8) | DEN (10:40) | — | ||||
| DEN (9) | CZE (10:40) | — | ||||
| USA (2) | TBD (15:10) | — | ||||
| SWE (7) | LAT (15:10) | — | ||||
| LAT (10) | SWE (15:10) | — | ||||
| SVK (3) | TBD (06:10) | — | 15:10 | |||
| GER (6) | FRA (06:10) | — | ||||
| FRA (11) | GER (06:10) | — | ||||
| FIN (4) | TBD (12:10) | — | ||||
| SUI (5) | ITA (06:10) | — | ||||
| ITA (12) | SUI (06:10) | — | ||||
Qualification round
The top nation from each group advances to the quarter-final stage along with the fourth-best team overall. The bottom eight teams will pair up for qualification playoffs, with the fifth-place team playing the one that finished 12th, sixth playing 11th, and so on. The winner of each of the four games moves on to the quarters the next day.
February 17, 2026
6:10 AM EST: Q1 — Germany vs. France
6:10 AM EST: Q2 — Switzerland vs. Italy
10:40 AM EST: Q3 — Czechia vs. Denmark
3:10 PM EST: Q4 — Sweden vs. Latvia
Playoff round
The quarter-finals use a bracketed format, so the fourth-place team plays the winner of the qualification game that featured the fifth-place team versus the 12-ranked nation, to the top team from the preliminary round facing the winner of the match featuring the countries ranked eighth and ninth. These are all single-elimination games, with the losers’ tournament coming to an end, and the winners moving on to the semifinals following an off day in the tournament.
Quarter-final winners will be reseeded based on where they finished in the preliminary round for the semifinal matchups. The losers of the semis play for the bronze medal, while the winners battle for gold in one of the marquee events of the final day of competition.
February 18, 2026
6:10 AM EST: Quarter-final 1 — Slovakia vs. Q1 winner
10:40 AM EST: Quarter-final 2 — Canada vs. Q3 winner
12:10 PM EST: Quarter-final 3 — Finland vs. Q2 winner
3:10 PM EST: Quarter-final 4 — United States vs. Q4 winner
February 20, 2026
10:40 AM EST: Semifinal 1
3:10 PM EST: Semifinal 2
February 21, 2026
2:40 PM EST: Bronze Medal Game
February 22, 2026
8:10 AM EST: Gold Medal Game
