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Group play at the 2026 Winter Olympics men’s hockey tournament in Milano Cortina opens on Wednesday. There are two Group B games on tap for the day. Finland takes on Slovakia at 10:30 a.m. EST (Peacock, USA) while Sweden opposes host nation Italy at 3:00 p.m. EST (Peacock, USA). Between the two games, the Finland-Slovakia match is the only one with any feasible upset potential.
However, there’s more intrigue surrounding the Sweden vs. Italy game. William Nylander (groin) did not practice on Tuesday. His availability for the opener is unclear. Tre Kronor head coach Sam Hallam labeled the absence a “maintenance day” . Meanwhile, veteran Nashville Predators star Filip Forsberg took Nylander’s spot in practice drills.
Below is a reminder of the 12 participating national teams across the three preliminary round groups.
Group A: Canada, Czechia Switzerland, France
Group B: Finland, Sweden, Slovakia, Italy
Group C: USA, Germany, Latvia, Denmark
Olympics: Rule differences from NHL
The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has various rule differences from the National Hockey League (NHL). These differences sometimes cause confusion for NHL fans who are not used to international play. Usually, the first notable difference is how much more strictly physical play is policed by the on-ice officials. Hits deemed clean by NHL standards more frequently result in penalties during international games. Additionally, any full-blown fights result in automatic game misconducts.
Coincidental minors do not result in 4-on-4 play unlike the NHL. Teams stay at full strength. Faceoff rules are also different. If there’s a faceoff violation, the linesman does not eject the center from the draw. He issues a warning instead. If there’s a second violation on the same draw, there is an automatic delay of game minor.
For a more detailed discussion of IIHF rule differences, click here.
