For the first time in over a decade, NHL Players returned to Olympic action. A few sportscasters agreed that Team Canada’s pursuit of the silver medal demonstrated a faster and more skillful style of play. This prompted broadcasters, reporters, and millions of viewers across North America to look at Olympic Hockey through a different lens.
James Duthie is a panel host from TSN.
“From the very first shift of Canada’s first game with Czechia, I knew I was watching a brand of hockey we had never seen before. Our set was just 15 rows up from the ice and the sheer speed of the Canadian team and the subtle little skill moves at that speed–touch passes, stick-handling, saucer passes … it just looked like a different game.”
Duthie said, for him, one moment captured the significance of NHL players returning to the world stage.
“I could point to almost every shift when McDavid, Celebrini, and MacKinnon were out together … you watched them and said, ‘How have we denied this for so long?’”
Duthie recalled a moment he experienced on the ground in Milan, showing the Czech team video replays of their game against Canada, where they had six men on the ice when they scored the then go-ahead goal. Duthie mentioned this because “that’s the kind of thing that only happens when you are there.”
Steve Simmons has been writing for the Toronto Sun and Postmedia for 38 years.
“The quality of hockey and the speed of the games was truly unprecedented. To go to overtime in the semifinals and gold medal game tells you all you need to know about the competitive quality of the event.”
Simmons said it was the first Winter Olympics he missed since 1984. He talked about how players loved being back, since it was a first– time experience for most players.
“It truly is a life-changing experience to have professional players play for their country,” he said.
Dan Gladman worked as a producer for the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympic Games.
“You have to devote your life to it for three weeks. This means clearing out your life around you, explaining to people close to you that you won’t be around.”
Gladman added, “I had to adjust my body clock as I was a producer on the Pacific Prime show from midnight, to 3 a.m., and then the early morning show from 3 a.m. until 6 a.m.”
Team Canada finished the tournament with a silver medal, beating 10 other countries for the second place prize. Approximately 35 million people across the United States and Canada tuned in for the final game, with approximately 8.7 million Canadians tuned in, which made it the most watched moment of the Canadian team’s 2026 Olympic run, even at time slots that weren’t a normal occurrence.