The Florida Panthers will have a significant presence at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina, with 10 players and five staff or coaches participating. The Olympic men’s hockey tournament begins this week, featuring 12 nations competing for gold.
Teams are divided into three groups for the preliminary round. Group A includes Canada, Czechia, France, and Switzerland. Group B features Finland, Sweden, Slovakia, and Germany. Group C consists of Denmark, Germany, Latvia, and the United States. Each team will play three games in their group before moving to a single-elimination playoff format.
Panthers representatives are spread across several teams. For Finland, Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen, Niko Mikkola, and coach Tuomo Ruutu will participate. Gustav Forsling and coach Myles Fee represent Sweden. Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett join Brad Marchand on Team Canada. Matthew Tkachuk is on Team USA alongside staff members Bill Zito and Teddy Richards. Uvis Balinskis and Sandis Vilmanis play for Latvia; Jamie Kompon serves as a coach for Germany.
Games begin Wednesday with Slovakia facing Finland at 10:40 a.m. ET (USA networks), followed by Sweden vs Italy at 3:10 p.m. ET (USA networks). Thursday’s schedule includes Switzerland vs France early morning and Czechia vs Canada at 10:40 a.m., where Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett will compete for Canada.
All matches will be available on Peacock in the United States.
The tournament progresses through qualification playoffs on February 17th before quarterfinals start February 18th. Semifinals take place February 20th; the bronze medal game is scheduled for February 21st while the gold medal match concludes the event on February 22nd.
The participation of multiple Panthers players highlights the team’s international reach during this Olympic cycle.
