The last time NHLers took part in the Winter Olympics was in 2014; from 2000 until then, 14 Canucks have win medals.
It’s been 4,371 days since NHL players took part in the Winter Olympics, though on February 11, the wait will finally be over. Seven current members of the Vancouver Canucks organization — Elias Pettersson (Sweden), Kevin Lankinen (Finland), Teddy Blueger and Anri Ravinskis (Latvia), Filip Hronek and David Kämpf (Czechia), and Lukas Reichel (Germany) — will take part in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, all with the hopes of taking home some hardware for their respective countries. If any of them do so, they’ll join the 14 other players who have won Olympic medals while with the Canucks organization since 2000.
The first medal won by a Canuck in the 2000s was a gold for Canada won by Ed Jovanovski at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. To get to the gold medal game, Canada won one of their three round-robin games before taking down Finland (2–1), Belarus (7–1), and the U.S. (5–2). Throughout six games, Jovanovski tallied three assists.
Five members of the Canucks organization won medals during the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics. This time, it was Sweden that took home gold, with Mattias Öhlund and Daniel and Henrik Sedin winning over fellow Canucks Sami Salo and Jarkko Ruutu by a narrow score of 3–2. Sweden won three of their five round-robin games, but won decisively against Switzerland in the quarter-finals (6–2) and Czechia in the semi-finals (7–3) in order to advance to the gold medal game.
Finland’s trek to the gold medal looked a little different. Salo and Ruutu’s team went undefeated in the preliminary round and defeated the U.S. in the quarter-finals (4–3) and Russia in the semis (4–0). Salo and Daniel Sedin both finished the tournament with a goal and three assists, while Henrik Sedin finished with three goals and an assist. Öhlund nabbed two assists in the gold-medal effort.
2010 was the unforgettable year that the Olympics came to Vancouver, during which Canada won gold in one of the most memorable Canadian hockey moments in history. Canucks goaltender and former captain Roberto Luongo faced Ryan Kesler and Team USA, while Salo and Finland repeated their medalling effort, this time taking home bronze. Luongo went 5–0–0 during Canada’s run and registered a GAA of 1.76 and .927 SV%.
The road to gold saw Luongo and Canada win two of their three preliminary round matchups, starting with an 8–0 win against Norway and later taking a 3–2 shootout win against Switzerland. They lost by a score of 5–3 to the U.S., to wrap up the round-robin. Team USA went undefeated up until the gold medal game, taking down Salo and Finland by a score of 6–1 in the semi-finals. After wins against Germany (8–2) and Russia (7–3), Canada beat the U.S. by a score of 3–2 in overtime.
Feb 28, 2010; Vancouver, BC, CANADA; Canada poses for a team picture with their gold medals after the mens hockey gold medal match against USA in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics at Canada Hockey Place. Canada defeated USA 3-2. Canada won the gold medal and USA won the silver medal. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn ImagesThe 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics was the last time NHLers took part in the tournament, with members of the Canucks tying their medal total registered in 2006. Once again, the five Canucks medalists met in the gold medal game, though this time, the match was between Canada and Sweden. Luongo and Dan Hamhuis won gold by a score of 3–0 against both the Sedins and Alex Edler.
This was yet another dominant Olympics for Canada, who went undefeated throughout all six of their games. In the preliminaries, they beat Norway (3–1), Austria (6–0), and Finland (2–1 OT). Canada also won close games against Latvia (2–1) and the U.S. (1–0) before meeting Sweden. Prior to facing Canada, Sweden’s tournament was also filled with wins, as they took down Czechia (4–2), Switzerland (1–0), Latvia (5–3), Slovenia (5–0), and Finland (2–1) before ultimately losing to Canada.
The seven Canucks Olympians for 2026 will take part in their first matchups on February 11 and 12. On the 11th, Lankinen and Finland will play Slovakia at 7:40 am PT, while Pettersson and Sweden will face Italy at 12:10 pm PT. On the 12th, Hronek and Kämpf will take part in Czechia’s match against Canada at 7:40 am PT, Reichel and Germany will play Denmark at 12:10 pm PT, and Blueger and Ravinskis will join Latvia in playing the U.S. at 12:10 pm PT.
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