Seven Florida Panthers are still chasing Olympic glory as the semifinals loom on Friday.
The hockey tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics has reached the medal round.
Even with eight of the 12 participating teams eliminated, there are still a plethora of Florida Panthers players who are in contention to come home with a medal.
On Wednesday, the final eight teams still alive in the Olympic hockey tournament locked horns for the right to enter the medal round.
Once the dust settled after an incredibly entertaining day of hockey, the final four teams still standing were Slovakia, Canada, Finland and the United States.
That means out of the 10 Panthers players who were selected to compete at the Winer Olympics, seven of them remain alive among the four semifinalists.
The first semifinal slated for Sunday will feature the top-seeded Canadian squad facing against Finland while the second matchup will see the U.S. battle Slovakia.
That game between Canada and Finland will feature as many as six Panthers players.
For the Canadians, that includes Sam Reinhart, Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett, and for Finland it’s Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen and Niko Mikkola.
Bennett was a healthy scratch for Canada in their quarterfinal victory over Czechia, while Marchand, who had been battling an injury weeks before the Olympics began, missed two of the three preliminary round games before returning Wednesday and playing a team-low 7:13.
Puck drop for the first semifinal is set for 10:40 a.m. ET on Friday.
The second Final Four matchup is set for Friday at 3:10 p.m. and will see Matthew Tkachuk and Team USA lock horns with Slovakia.
The Slovaks have been the pleasant surprise of the tournament, first winning a tightly contested Group B, then earning the only non-overtime win of the quarterfinals, smoking Germany 6-2.
We’ll see how they match up with a tough American squad that earned a gritty OT win over Sweden on Wednesday.
One cool thing from a Panthers perspective is that no matter what happens from here on out, there will be several players returning to South Florida next week with Olympic medals in their grasp.
I’m sure they’ll look great next to the Stanley Cup rings.
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Photo caption: [US, Mexico & Canada customers only] Feb 18, 2026; Milan, Italy; Matthew Tkachuk of United States celebrates as he exits the arena after the match against Sweden in a men's ice hockey quarterfinal during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. (Mike Segar/Reuters via Imagn Images)