The 2026 Winter Olympics feature three groups in the men's hockey preliminary round. Whether you're a casual or hardcore fan, there are some must-watch games in the round-robin that should interest anyone.
The 2026 Winter Olympics have been one of the most anticipated hockey events in some time.
While the odds suggest a gold-medal showdown between Team Canada and Team USA, there will be plenty of thrilling games in Milan and chances for Sweden, Finland, Czechia, Switzerland and other squads to make it to the final.
There are three different groups to focus on in the men's tournament. Let's break down the favorites in each group and a game or two you should not miss out on if you're a casual fan.
Group A
Teams: Canada, Czechia, France, Switzerland
Predicted Top Team: Canada
Game To Watch: Canada vs. Czechia (Feb. 12, 10:40 a.m. ET)
The Breakdown: The Canadians are the favorite not only to come out of Group A but win it all. But the great part about the game is that the potential for an upset is always there.
The best chance for an upset we'll likely see in Group A is Canada's game against the almost always-plucky Czechia squad.
Team Czechia has a history of stepping up against the Canadians, with the Czechs' 1998 Olympics semifinal win over Canada ranking at the top of the list. That doesn't even include Czechia eliminating Canada in three straight years at the world juniors.
Thus, few should be surprised if Czechia shocks the Canadians in their preliminary round tilt on Thursday. Czechia has a solid team led by Boston Bruins star right winger David Pastrnak and Vegas Golden Knights veteran Tomas Hertl, with Anaheim Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal playing in net.
Playing as underdogs is probably exactly how the Czech team wants it. So the showdown between Czechia and Canada is going to be appointment viewing.
That said, keep an eye out for Switzerland as well. With Roman Josi, Kevin Fiala, Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, J.J. Moser and more, they have enough talent to cause some upsets. They earned silver in back-to-back years at the World Championship. They play Canada on Feb. 13 at 3:10 p.m. ET and Czechia on Feb. 15 at 6:10 a.m. ET.
Group B
Teams: Finland, Italy, Slovakia, Sweden
Predicted Top Team: Sweden
Game To Watch: Finland vs. Sweden (Feb. 13, 6:10 a.m. ET)
The Breakdown: With due respect to the Slovakian and host Italian teams, this group is almost certainly going to come down to a battle of the two Scandinavian teams.
The Swedish squad has more pure elite-level talent on paper than the Finnish group, but the Finns are the defending gold medallists after their victory in Beijing, and they always play better than the sum of their parts, even if their squad is already pretty strong.
The Swedes have Toronto Maple Leafs star right winger William Nylander, Los Angeles Kings star right winger Adrian Kempe and Minnesota Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson. The Finns have a trio of Dallas Stars – center Roope Hintz, defenseman Miro Heiskanen and right winger Mikko Rantanen – and Nashville Predators goalie Juuse Saros.
That means it should be a toss-up between Sweden and Finland to win Group B. And of course, there's the added spectre of bad luck tilting the side of the Swedes or Finns, as they're playing on Friday the 13th.
The Sweden-Finland game will mean waking up before dawn for people in North America – and if you're on the West Coast, you'll be either staying up through the night on Thursday, or you'll be waking up at 3:10 a.m. PT on Friday. Not to worry, though – these two teams will give you the entertainment boost you're looking for.
Group C
Teams: Denmark, Germany, Latvia, United States
Predicted Top Team: United States
Game To Watch: Germany vs. United States (Feb. 15, 3:10 p.m. ET)
The Breakdown: Team USA has the benefit of playing in a relatively weaker group. There is no close rivalry here the way there is with the Swedish and Finnish teams, but that doesn't mean there won't be good reasons to tune in to Group C games.
The best showdown in this group is probably the U.S. against Germany, which have some elite players leading the way.
We speak first and foremost of Edmonton Oilers superstar center Leon Draisaitl, who will bring a dynamic presence to Germany. Ottawa Senators star center Tim Stutzle, Detroit Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider and Utah Mammoth right winger JJ Peterka are pretty strong NHLers as well, and Seattle Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer has improved this season.
If the Germans get timely performances from those NHLers, the United States will have a tougher time than the matchup on paper would suggest. And who knows – perhaps the Latvians or Danes pull off a big upset. But make no mistake – the U.S. deserves to be the co-favorites to win gold this year, and every other Group C team will be hard-pressed to match the Americans' skill and depth.
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