The 2026 Men’s Olympic Hockey tournament wrapped up Sunday with a Four Nations Face-Off rematch between Canada and the United States. Jack Hughes scored in overtime to give the Americans a 2–1 win and the gold medal.
Here’s a brief recap of the four Montreal Canadiens representatives at the tournament:
- Nick Suzuki returns home with a silver medal around his neck. In six games, he scored two goals, posted plus-2 rating and took 13 shots on goal, while averaging 13:23 ice time. While Suzuki scored a clutch goal in the quarterfinals to force overtime, he struggled at the faceoff circle. In the three elimination games, he won 35.7 percent (10-for-28) of draws.
- Juraj Slafkovsky finished the competition with four goals and eight points in six games. He was Slovakia’s most used forward, averaging 19:50 ice time. Slafkovsky left a strong impression on the hockey world, finishing fourth in tournament scoring and earning a spot on the All‑Star team.
- Oliver Kapanen won a bronze medal with Finland. The forward dressed for two games as the 13th forward but stayed on the bench both nights. He jumped on the ice for the first time during Saturday’s bronze medal game, replacing Mikko Rantanen.
- Alexandre Texier was scoreless in France’s four games. He took eight shots on goal, minus-10 rating, while leading his country’s forwards with 20:24 average ice time. Texier practised in Brossard on Saturday.
Habs Notes
With the remaining three players from Italy, and the NHL schedule resuming, practices at the CN Sports Complex should ramp up. So far, the activities have focused more on getting the players physically ready than on team concepts.
On Friday, Alex Newhook joined his teammates in a regular jersey for the first time since going down with an ankle injury in November. The tough roster decisions Martin St. Louis keeps saying they’ll handle when the time comes are now almost here.
The Canadiens kick off the final stretch of 25 games by hosting the New York Islanders on Thursday and the Washington Capitals on Saturday.
On Sunday, the team held a skills competition at the Bell Centre. Here are the winners of the individual events.
- Lane Hutson won the fastest skating event with a time of 13.624 seconds.
- Jake Evans won the accuracy shooting event by nailing the four targets in 7.757 seconds.
- Arber Xhekaj won the hardest shot competition. Xhekaj originally won with a shot hitting 102.4 miles per hour (mph), but then decided to take a third shot and nailed a 107.3 mph slap shot.
Rocket Notes
The Laval Rocket had a busy weekend with three road games on consecutive days. On Friday, the Rocket needed overtime to defeat the Rochester Americans (Buffalo Sabres) 3-2. The following night, the game went to a shootout, and Laval pulled out a 2–1 win over the Utica Comets (New Jersey Devils). Indiscipline cost the Rocket on Sunday, allowing the Comets to score three power play goals in a 3-1 loss. It was Laval’s first regulation loss in 11 games.
Pascal Vincent’s squad begins the week on top of the North Division, and prepare for a visit from the Toronto Marlies (Maple Leafs) on Wednesday, before returning to Rochester to face the Americans again on Friday, and a trip the following night to face the Syracuse Crunch (Tampa Bay Lightning).
Here are notes from this weekend’s action.
- Jacob Fowler did not play this weekend due to illness. He dressed as the backup on Friday, then sat out the next two games after the team recalled Hunter Jones from the Trois‑Rivières Lions.
- Kaapo Kahkonen started all three weekend games. An uncommon situation occurred on Friday when Kaapo Kahkonen picked up an assist on Marc Del Gaizo’s overtime winner against Rochester, giving the goaltender points in back‑to‑back games. The streak snapped on Sunday.
- Jared Davidson sat out Sunday. His production has significantly dipped compared to the start of the season that earned him a first NHL recall. Davidson has four points in last 14 games.
- Adam Engstrom exited Sunday’s contest early due to an undisclosed injury. Vincent trusted him with key responsibilities on the first defensive pairing, top power play unit, and on the penalty kill. Engstrom is also contributing offensively with 13 points in last 13 games.
