MILAN – The U.S. Men’s hockey team arrived in Milan, Italy, on Monday ahead of the quarterfinal round of the 2026 Winter Olympics tournament, and will face Sweden on Wednesday. The Americans, seeded second, received their official Ralph Lauren kits prior to the games, according to team officials.
Wednesday’s quarterfinal schedule features four games, with Canada facing Czechia in the opening match at 10:40 a.m. ET. Canada, the top seed, finished the preliminary round with a plus-17 goal differential. Captain Sidney Crosby stated the team understands the stakes and the need to continue improving. “We understand the circumstances, and what we need to do, and obviously what got us to this point, as far as our identity and things like that,” Crosby said. “We’ve got to retain getting better. Stakes are a little higher now.”
Czechia advanced to the quarterfinals after a qualification game against Denmark. Forward David Pastrnak expressed a desire for his team to be more assertive against Canada. “Maybe let’s set the respect aside a little bit and try to take their game to them,” Pastrnak said. “Offensively, their power is incredible. Just have to be a little stronger on pucks, play more in the O-zone and be more confident. We have nothing to lose. So we’re going to go out there and leave it all out there. As a team we haven’t played our best yet, so hopefully we will save it for tomorrow.”
The afternoon session begins with Finland versus Switzerland at 12:10 p.m. ET. Finland rebounded from an opening loss to Slovakia with dominant performances against Sweden, and Italy. Switzerland secured its quarterfinal berth by defeating France and Czechia, and then Italy in qualification play.
Following Finland and Switzerland, the U.S. Will take on Sweden at 3:10 p.m. ET. The Americans boast the tournament’s best overall depth, and are expected to have a goaltending advantage. Sweden struggled in the preliminary round, with slow starts and indifferent performances, including a loss to Italy and a lackluster showing against Finland. Even in their qualification game against Latvia, they were outplayed in the second period. Swedish coach Sam Hallam acknowledged the challenge. “We’ve taken a step,” Hallam said. “I think this game gives us even some more learning about each other and some more chemistry. Maybe tomorrow is the first time we go in a bit as an underdog in a game. Our goal when we come into this Olympics is to go all the way, and we were prepared to play some really good teams on the way, so it’s engaging to play the U.S. In the quarterfinals.”
The final quarterfinal matchup pits Slovakia against Germany at 6:10 a.m. ET. Germany showed improvement in their qualification game against France. Moritz Seider highlighted the team’s solid effort. “Solid, solid effort over 60 minutes,” Seider said. “I thought we played really well. Another great start. Honestly, it kind of becomes a strength of ours along the tournament. If you look over 60 minutes, yeah, there were some dips, but I think very, very solid effort and a really good result. I think sometimes we got to be a little faster and we did that in the third. We moved the puck up a little bit more, weren’t afraid of running the puck and getting it back on the forecheck. Those are little things we got to continue.” Slovakia, led by Juraj Slafkovsky, will present a challenge, but Germany has Leon Draisaitl and Tim Stützle in their lineup. Seider added, “Couldn’t ask for a better opponent. I think we’re both expecting a great game and hopefully we can provide that. It’s right there for the taking for both teams. One team will end up short and hopefully it’s not us.”
The 2026 Winter Olympics began on February 6 and will conclude on February 22, with the bronze medal game scheduled for February 21 and the gold medal game on February 22 at Verona Olympic Arena.
