2026 Olympic Men's Hockey Upcoming Schedule

Last update: Feb 18, 2026 2:00pm EST

It’s the question every hockey fan is Googling ahead of Milano Cortina 2026: Can Canada play USA in the Olympic men’s hockey final?

The short answer is yes — absolutely.

Unlike some tournaments that lock teams into opposite sides of a fixed bracket, the Olympic men’s hockey format uses a reseeding system in the knockout round. That means the semifinal matchups are not predetermined by a static bracket. Instead, after the quarterfinals, the four remaining teams are reseeded based on their original tournament ranking (1D–12D), and the highest remaining seed plays the lowest remaining seed.

So if Canada and the United States both win their quarterfinal games, they will be the highest seeds remaining. This means Canada and USA cannot meet in the semis and can only meet in the Gold Medal (or theoretically the Bronze medal game).

Knockout rounds timing table

All start times below are official published session starts.

The quarterfinal and qualification playoff pairings (with winners-to-be-determined) and the local start times in this table are directly stated by the IIHF tournament directorate and schedule. The Eastern-Time equivalents align with the NHL’s published “all times ET” schedule grid.

Men's Olympic Hockey Tournament Format

The men’s ice hockey tournament at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games is a 12-team event built around a short, high-leverage group stage (three games per team) that seeds a single-elimination playoff where no team is eliminated after the preliminary round. The competition format, points system, tie-breakers, overtime rules, and the exact bracket mechanics (including reseeding in the semifinals) are governed by IIHF tournament regulations.

As of Feb. 16, the preliminary round has produced a complete seeding table and locked in the playoff slate: Canada, USA, Slovakia, and Finland earned byes directly to the quarterfinals, while the other eight teams enter the qualification playoff round on Feb. 17. The IIHF has also published the specific qualification and quarterfinal pairings and start times (with “winner-of” placeholders where appropriate).

For readers tracking the knockout rounds, the key calendar is straightforward: qualification playoffs (Feb. 17) → quarterfinals (Feb. 18) → semifinals (Feb. 20) → bronze (Feb. 21) → gold (Feb. 22). Quarterfinals are split across both hockey venues, while semifinals and medal games are scheduled at the main arena. Start times are published in local Milan time and can be translated into Eastern Time (America/Toronto) by subtracting six hours in February.

Source note: This report begins with Hockey Canada materials and then attempts to use Olympics.com and TSN as requested; at time of compilation, Olympics.com schedule/venue pages returned repeated server errors, and TSN pages were inaccessible to automated retrieval. Final authoritative schedule, rules, and bracket details are therefore anchored primarily in IIHF publications and official Games documentation, with Hockey Canada and the NHL schedule page used as corroborators for timings and Canadian viewing options.

Tournament Snapshot

The field is 12 national teams, distributed into three groups of four, playing an in-group round robin (18 preliminary games total). The IIHF specifies the qualification route: a set of teams entered via IIHF world ranking/seed allocation, Italy entered as host, and the remaining places were filled through Olympic qualification tournaments (with group assignments published in the IIHF competition materials).

The venues are both in the Milan cluster (even though the overall Games are co-hosted with Cortina d’Ampezzo). The “ice hockey 1” main venue is the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. The secondary “ice hockey 2” venue is the Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena, which sits inside the Milano Ice Park complex in Rho.

Time-zone guidance: Milan is on Central European Time in February, while Toronto is on Eastern Standard Time. For these knockout rounds, converting “local Milan time” to “America/Toronto” is a consistent minus six hours.

Finally, the tournament’s political/eligibility context matters for “who’s missing”: the IIHF Council maintained that it was not safe to reintegrate the national teams of Russia and Belarus into IIHF championships for the 2025–26 season (a decision that shaped the international hockey calendar underlying Olympic participation).

Group Stage Matchups

Group Composition

The IIHF-published competition grouping is:

• Group A: Canada, Switzerland, Czechia, France
• Group B: Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, Italy
• Group C: United States, Germany, Denmark, Latvia

Mechanically, “who plays whom” in the group stage is simple: each team plays every other team in its group once (three games), which yields six games per group.

The actual group-stage pairing list

Group A Results

• Canada (5) vs Czechia (0) - F
• Switzerland (4) vs France (0) - F
• Canada (5) vs Switzerland (1) - F
• Czechia (6) vs France (3) - F
• Switzerland (4) vs Czechia (3) - F/OT
• Canada (10) vs France (2) - F

Group B Results

• Slovakia (4) vs Finland (1) - F
• Sweden (5) vs Italy (2) - F
• Finland (4) vs Sweden (1) - F
• Slovakia (3) vs Italy (2) - F
• Sweden (5) vs Slovakia (3) - F
• Finland (11) vs Italy (0) - F

Group C Results

• United States (5) vs Latvia (1) - F
• Germany (3) vs Denmark (1) - F
• Latvia (4) vs Germany (3) - F
• United States (6) vs Denmark (3) - F
• Denmark (4) vs Latvia (2) - F
• United States (5) vs Germany (1) - F

What the Standings mean for Seeding

The group stage’s real purpose is not elimination, but seeding leverage. The official group standings show:

• Group A finished with Canada first on 9 points; Switzerland and Czechia followed; France finished fourth.
• Group C finished with the United States first on 9 points; Germany, Denmark, and Latvia followed.
• Group B is the format’s most instructive stress test: Slovakia, Finland, and Sweden all finished with six points, and the order among them was determined by the IIHF tie-breaking formula (multi-team ties are resolved using a head-to-head “sub-group,” including head-to-head points and head-to-head goal differential before considering broader criteria).

This matters because the playoff byes are not simply “the three group winners”; the fourth direct quarterfinal spot goes to the best remaining team once all 12 teams are ranked 1D–12D under the IIHF’s combined criteria.

Playoff Format and Rules

How teams advance and how the bracket is built

• After the preliminary round, all teams are assigned a combined ranking (1D–12D) using, in order: higher group placement → more points → better goal difference → more goals scored → better pre-tournament world ranking.
• Seeds 1D–4D receive a bye directly to the quarterfinals. Seeds 5D–12D play qualification playoff games in fixed seed pairings: 5D–12D, 6D–11D, 7D–10D, 8D–9D.
• Quarterfinal pairings are fixed by seed logic: 1D vs winner(8D/9D), 2D vs winner(7D/10D), 3D vs winner(6D/11D), 4D vs winner(5D/12D).
• The semifinal round is reseeded: the highest remaining seed plays the lowest remaining seed (early semifinal), while the two middle seeds play in the other semifinal.

That reseeding clause is the single biggest reason it’s hard to “draw a clean bracket” in advance: quarterfinal winners do not flow into a fixed semifinal slot; they flow into a reseeding calculation.

Points, tie-breakers, and overtime procedures

• Three-point system: 3 points for a regulation win; games tied at regulation award 1 point each, with an extra point for the overtime/shootout winner; regulation losses are 0 points.
• Tie-breakers (group standings):
  • Two-team ties: head-to-head result decides placement.
  • Three-or-more-team ties: a head-to-head sub-group is created, sorted by head-to-head points, then head-to-head goal differential, then head-to-head goals scored, continuing to additional steps if needed, and finally falling back on seeding if all else fails.
• Overtime and shootouts:
  • Preliminary games: 5-minute sudden-death overtime played 3-on-3; if still tied, a shootout follows.
  • Playoff games (qualification, quarterfinal, semifinal, bronze): 10-minute 3-on-3 sudden-death overtime; if still tied, a shootout follows.
  • Gold medal game: 20-minute sudden-death overtime periods continue until a winner is scored (no shootout), with intermissions and ice resurfacings described in the tournament operations section.
  • Shootout procedure: five shooters per team, then sudden-death one-for-one shootout rounds if still tied, with rules on eligible players and order mechanics.

Practical takeaway: a single late goal can swing both a game result and a tiebreaking mini-table, particularly in multi-team ties where only head-to-head games among the tied teams are used in early tie-breaking steps.

Knockout Round Schedule and Bracket

Confirmed seeds and “who plays whom” in the playoff stage

The IIHF published the finalized preliminary-round ranking, which locks in both the qualification playoff slate and the quarterfinal “winner-of” pairings. The confirmed ranking is:

1. Canada
2. USA
3. Slovakia
4. Finland
5. Switzerland
6. Germany
7. Sweden
8. Czechia
9. Denmark
10. Latvia
11. France
12. Italy

From those seeds, the IIHF confirmed the qualification playoff schedule (Feb. 17) and the quarterfinal schedule (Feb. 18) as follows:

• Qualification playoffs (Feb. 17): Germany vs France; Switzerland vs Italy; Czechia vs Denmark; Sweden vs Latvia.
• Quarterfinals (Feb. 18): Slovakia vs winner(Germany/France); Canada vs winner(Czechia/Denmark); USA vs winner(Sweden/Latvia); Finland vs winner(Switzerland/Italy).

Semifinals and medal games are scheduled with teams marked “TBD” until quarterfinal results are complete. The IIHF schedule list provides official start times for each of those rounds.

Olympic Men's Hockey FAQ

Can Canada and USA play in the gold medal game?

Yes. They can only meet in the Gold medal game or the Bronze medal game.

How do teams qualify for the men’s Olympic hockey tournament?

The IIHF tournament info specifies three channels: (1) teams entered via their position in the relevant IIHF men’s world ranking / seeding allocation, (2) the host nation, and (3) teams that won Olympic qualification tournaments. The IIHF also publishes the qualification tournament hosts and participants.

How are ties broken in the group standings?

Two-team ties are decided by head-to-head result. For three-or-more-team ties, the IIHF applies a head-to-head sub-group and resolves ties stepwise (head-to-head points → head-to-head goal differential → head-to-head goals scored → subsequent comparison steps → seeding).

Why does “goal differential” sometimes look confusing in a three-way tie?

Because the IIHF’s first multi-team tie steps consider only the games among the tied teams (a sub-group), not the entire group schedule. That means goals scored against a fourth-place team can be irrelevant to the first tie-break steps.

How do semifinals get matched up if there’s no fixed bracket?

After the quarterfinals, the IIHF reseeds the four remaining teams: highest seed plays lowest seed in one semifinal; the middle two seeds play in the other semifinal.

What are overtime and shootout rules in knockout games?

In qualification playoffs, quarterfinals, semifinals, and the bronze medal game: a 10-minute 3-on-3 sudden-death overtime is played; if still tied, a shootout follows. In the gold medal game, overtime continues in 20-minute sudden-death periods (no shootout).

Where can Canadians watch, and what are the likely broadcast windows?

The NHL’s published schedule grid lists Canadian streaming availability on CBC Gem for the knockout rounds and also notes additional Canadian broadcasters for select games (for example, French-language ICI Télé and a Sportsnet listing for at least one qualifier in the NHL schedule table). For rights context, a CBC/Radio-Canada statement indicates the public broadcaster group holds Olympic broadcast rights for the 2026–2032 period.