As the Toronto Maple Leafs captain takes the reins for Team USA in Milan, Auston Matthews looks to lead his country to gold while navigating the early challenges of Olympic ice.
It comes as no surprise that Auston Matthews has been named captain of Team USA for the men's hockey tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics. USA Hockey confirmed the news on Sunday that the Toronto Maple Leafs star will resume his role as captain for the best-on-best tournament. Matthews previously served as captain for the NHL's 4 Nations Face-Off last year, where his team finished as the runner-up to Team Canada. Just as he was last year, Matthews was named one of the USA's first six players many months in advance of the event.
NHL players began touching down in Italy on Saturday. During Team USA's first practice on Sunday, Toronto's captain centered a line with Tampa Bay Lightning winger Jake Guentzel and Minnesota Wild winger Matt Boldy.
Matthews was also seen wearing a neck guard, a piece of equipment he has not typically sported as a Leaf. The IIHF ammended their rules that requires everyone to wear a neck guard during competition so Matthews was likely just getting used to the new fit at practice.
After practice, he spoke to reporters, including TSN's Mark Masters, about the opportunity to finally compete in the Olympics. He was also asked about the quality of the ice, which has been a major topic of conversation.
"I'm sure there's been a lot of teams practicing today. So, you know, it chewed out pretty good," Matthews said. "But the ice felt pretty good. It's never going to be perfect circumstances. The ice isn't great in Toronto, either. So, you kind of just live with it, and I'm sure it will just continue to get better and better over the tournament". While Matthews has mentioned the ice quality at Scotiabank Arena before, it was notable that he used it as a point of comparison in Milan.
Meanwhile, Swedish Maple Leafs William Nylander and Oliver Ekman-Larsson also took the ice for their country's first session. Although the skate was optional, Nylander did take the opportunity to participate.
Sweden's first game of the tournament takes place at 3:10 p.m. ET against the host nation, Italy, on Wednesday. Matthews and Team USA will take on Latvia on Thursday at 3:10 p.m. ET, while Canada's first game will also be Thursday at 10:40 a.m. ET against Czechia.
