Rivalry renewed in Italy, NHL heads for Olympics

The National Hockey League (NHL) took a break in the 2025-2026 season this past Thursday to send NHL players to the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy. As the months have passed leading up to the break in the NHL schedule, many fans of the league are wondering how this will affect their team coming out of the break, but what is the NHL actually focused on as countless players head to Italy? I’m here to tell you what the NHL wants from this experience and why it’s a good thing for everyone.

Returning to the Olympics started as an idea that Commissioner Gary Bettman helped to put into effect after last year’s success of the 4 Nations Face-Off, when Team Canada earned an overtime victory over the United States in the championship game. One of the best tournaments that the NHL has ever put on, 4 Nations gave Bettman the idea to push for NHL players to return to the international stage on a higher level. After the end of 2024-2025 season, Bettman, along with representatives from the NHL, NHL the Players Association (NHLPA) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) met in Zurich, Switzerland on July 2, 2025 and agreed on a deal that allowed players to return to the Olympics for the first time in 12 years. 

This move not only excited fans around the states, but it also began to promote hockey at the international level in a serious way. Personally, the 4 Nations tournament in February 2025 was the best hockey tournament I had seen in a long time. Not only did a United States-Canada matchup bring two countries where hockey is at its highest level together, but the championship game was also for the pride of the sport. Was the United States going to repeat the 1980 “Miracle On Ice” story, or would Canada retain their title as hockey kings? It set the tone for the rest of the NHL season, ending in a second consecutive Canadian versus American Stanley Cup matchup, which fueled even more international attention to the NHL.

Enter the 2026 Olympic Winter Games that will take place in the next two weeks. The NHL, a battle in the East with multiple teams scrambling to regain playoff position and the West, where no one is truly out of it, will send players to play at the biggest stage of their careers in the brightest of lights. Is there a risk of injury? Yes, but that would be the same with an all-star weekend and that’s a risk at all times. What the NHL continues to be focused on is its international draw to the game of hockey. The point being: the NHL will continue to grow with international games, like the ones in November of this season between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators in Sweden International tournaments, like 4 Nations, and sending players to the Olympics, which continues to be a possibility moving forward.

If you still aren’t convinced, I’ll leave you with the reminder that the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada ended with a Sidney Crosby overtime winner in the gold-medal game against the United States. Yes, Crosby, the hero for my Penguins, scored what was tabbed as the “Golden Goal” for Canada, forever cementing the rivalry between Canada and the United States. The goal last season in 4 Nations by Canada’s Connor McDavid sharpened the blade of that rivalry and revenge is in the eyes of the Americans. Behind the Tkachuk brothers, Jack Eichel, and Dylan Larkin, the Americans are hungry for gold. Convinced yet? Once you watch a game where the Tkachuk brothers drop the gloves, McDavid scores through five defenders and Connor Hellebuyck and Logan Thompson duel in net, there is no going back and you’re sucked into the world of the NHL. Guess what: that was the plan all along.