Last week, multiple teams announced their bids for the 2026 Hockey Olympics, including Canada and the United States, which are among the favorites. The NHL sent players to the Olympics for the first time since 2014, and the League’s representatives were all Canadians and Americans.

Team Canada

It is immediately worth mentioning the features of team building in North America. Hockey players are selected to the team not only by the coach but also by the general manager. Canada has Doug Armstrong, the longtime GM of several NHL clubs, and the Maple team is coached by John Cooper, who worked successfully with Tampa Bay.

Who was included?

Moving on to the squad, perhaps the biggest problem for the Canadians is the goalkeeper line. Unlike 2014, there are no elite goaltenders in the Roberto Luongo or Carey Price class; Not to mention names like Martin Brodeur. The goalkeeper trio consists of Logan Thompson, Jordan Binnington and Darcy Camper and it’s hard to say who will be the starter right now. They will likely rely on Binnington, the number one seed in the Four Nations tournament.

In defense, shooting guards Cale Makar, Josh Morrissey and Shea Theodore, as well as defensive guards Davon Toews and Colton Pareiko, also stand out. Interestingly, there was also room for senior Drew Doughty, one of only two players with experience playing in the 2014 Olympic Games, along with Sidney Crosby.

Canada’s real strength, of course, is in attack. There’s Crosby, Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Mitch Marner and Brad Marchand. The Canadians are so confident in their attack that they even took McClean Celebrini to the Olympics. The 19-year-old San Jose forward is only in his second season in the League, but he is already competing with MacKinnon and McDavid for the title of top scorer of the regular season.

Who was not taken?

It has been discussed since the beginning of the season who will be in the cast: Celebrini or Connor Bedard? However, Chicago’s young leader was injured, so the Hawks forward was waived. Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer had a small chance. The first pick of the 2025 Draft is looking to have a great season, but they didn’t decide to take such a young player. It was thought that Master Doughty would add more value.

Center Mark Scheifele (Winnipeg is out for the season) and goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood are left out of the lineup. This was surprising, because the goaltender of the best team in the NHL (Colorado) leads the team in average goals conceded and is tops in percentage of shots saved. They ignored Florida forward Sam Bennett, the defending champions’ leader and reigning playoff MVP. However, general managers sometimes often explain that they need functionality, not a specific player.

If there are already enough hockey players with similar characteristics to Bennett, then they will choose someone else. For example, faceoff and short-handed game specialist Bo Horvat was added to the roster. There are strong players like Mark Stone or Brandon Hegel. Canada has such a wide selection that you can meet any combination. But the expectations are appropriate; Maple Houses are claiming a gold medal.

Team USA

Who was included?

If Canada has questions about goaltenders and defense, the Americans have no problems here. There is an excellent selection in goal with Connor Hellebuyck and Jake Oettinger, as well as Jeremy Swayman on the technical side at third. Hellebuyck was relied upon in the Four Nations and will likely be the starting goalkeeper for the Olympics even though Winnipeg had a disappointing regular season.

In defense, there are balanced defenders such as Werenski, Jones, Hanifin, Faber and offensive players such as Hughes, Makevoy and Slavin. It looks like America’s goaltending and defense could be a problem for Canada’s incredible offense. The USA does not have such an option in the attack, but its leaders do. These are Auston Matthews, Dylan Larkin, Jake Eichel, the Tkachak brothers and Clayton Keller. There are players for attack, for effective movement against the opponents’ top line, and for the minority. The American team would be a bad opponent for any opponent.

Who was not taken?

Many people were surprised by Jason Robertson’s absence. The Dallas forward has scored 25 goals this season and is among the leaders in goals and points on the power play. But general manager Bill Guerin decided there were enough players to exercise the majority, even without Robertson. Forwards Cole Caufield (20 goals), Alex Debrincat (21 goals) and defender Adam Fox were excluded from the Olympics. Personally, I would like to see Patrick Kane in the Olympics. One of the best forwards of his generation remains a key player in Detroit and could go for a third Olympics, but it’s hard for the 37-year-old Patrick to realistically expect a challenge in such a competition.

In the second part of the material we will evaluate the situation in the best teams in Europe.