MILAN — Connor Hellebuyck’s stock soared despite spending all of Saturday night on the sidelines. Kyle Connor’s plummeted to the point where he may be skating himself out of the lineup.
And former Winnipeg Jets winger Nikolaj Ehlers was simply happy to see some old friends — sort of— while living out a lifelong dream by leading Denmark into battle at the Winter Olympics.
“I just wish Bucky was playing,” a smiling Ehlers told the Free Press following his country’s 6-3 loss to the United States.
MARTON MONUS / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Brady Tkachuk of United States, centre, celebrates as teammate Jack Hughes scores their sixth goal past Frederik Dichow of Denmark during a preliminary round match of men’s hockey between the United States and Denmark at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy on Saturday.
“It’s always fun to play against former teammates and current teammates. There’s no friends out there but you obviously want them to do well at these kind of tournaments. Not against your team, obviously. But it’s always good to see them.”
This game was far closer than the final score suggests, and that was largely because Jeremy Swayman got the start in the U.S. net and endured a night he’ll want to forget.
While it’s hard to pin the first goal on him — accidentally kicked in by a teammate just 1:40 into the game — Swayman wore the goat horns on the other two. One came from around centre ice, a harmless dump-in he somehow never saw. The other was an unscreened slap shot from just inside the blue line that he flat-out whiffed on.
“I truly lost it,” Swayman explained.
“And definitely one I want back, but at the same time, especially at this level, you’ve got to stay even keeled. It’s one shot at a time and no matter how they go in, you’ve got to step up and stop the next one. So just really proud of this group for supporting me and getting the job done tonight.”
JULIEN DE ROSA / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Players scuffle during a preliminary round match of men’s hockey between the United States and Denmark at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy on Saturday.
Indeed, his U.S. teammates came to the rescue, generating plenty of offence against an overmatched Danish side with only a handful of NHLers. Matt Boldy, Brady Tkachuk, Jack Eichel, Noah Hanifin, Jake Guentzel and Jack Hughes scored as the Americans improved to 2-0.
Denmark fell to 0-2 after opening the tournament with a tough 3-1 loss to Germany.
“Obviously it wasn’t meant to be tonight but I’m extremely proud of the way that we worked our asses off out there and fought for each other and gave ourselves a chance against a top team,” said Ehlers, who registered an assist for a second straight game.
“We knew they were going to have the puck the most. We wanted to try and keep them on the outside and hope that our goalie played a great game. And he did. But against a team like the U.S, you can’t make the small mistakes. At least not too many of them. They got some easy goals tonight off faceoffs and that part, that’s the stuff we need to clean up.”
Ehlers was a major reason Denmark even qualified for the Olympics, doing so while still a member of the Jets before departing for the Carolina Hurricanes in free agency last summer.
PETR DAVID JOSEK / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
United States’ JT Miller, right, challenges Denmark’s Oliver Lauridsen during a preliminary round match of men’s ice hockey between United States and Denmark at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Saturday.
“Obviously the two losses here are not what we were looking for. We would have been OK with the one tonight, but the one against Germany, we’re going for a win, of course,” said Ehlers.
“But overall this experience has been incredible. It’s something that I’ve waited for for quite a while. To finally be here and represent Denmark is pretty special.”
Denmark will close out group play on Sunday against Latvia (1-1).
“At the end of the day we do have a chance to get a good result. We know Latvia is a tough team to play against, so we need to bring our A game,” said Ehlers.
Based on his rough outing, it’s fair to say Swayman’s Olympics are likely over barring something completely unexpected.
PETR DAVID JOSEK / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
United States’ Brady Tkachuk celebrates after scoring his side’s second goal during a preliminary round match of men’s hockey between United States and Denmark at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy on Saturday.
Hellebuyck will almost certainly get the start Sunday as the United States closes out round-robin play against Germany (1-1) in a battle for first place and a bye straight to the quarterfinals. The Jets workhorse — who stopped 17 of 18 shots in Thursday’s 5-1 win over Latvia — figures to be leaned on for the remainder of the tournament.
The same can’t necessarily be said for Connor, who has been mostly invisible through two Olympic appearances and has yet to register a shot on goal. He played 16 shifts for 11:20 on Thursday, then just 14 shifts for 9:50 on Saturday — third-fewest among all forwards.
Might recent hockey history repeat itself? Connor was a healthy scratch last February by head coach Mike Sullivan in the 4 Nations Face-Off final against Canada. It’s not unreasonable to wonder if he could once again find himself watching from the press box as the stakes rise.
Clayton Keller has been patiently waiting as a healthy scratch, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see Sullivan swap him in for Connor, who also happens to be his roommate in the athletes’ village.
Sunday marks a pivotal day for men’s hockey, as round-robin play concludes and the 12 teams are seeded — first by record, then by goal differential.
HASSAN AMMAR / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Denmark’s Nick Olesen, 95, feft, celebrates after scoring his side’s opening goal during a preliminary round game of men’s ice hockey between the United States and Denmark at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Saturday.
The top four teams — the three group winners and the best second-place finisher — earn byes straight to Wednesday’s quarterfinals. The remaining eight must survive a qualification game Tuesday (5 vs. 12, 6 vs. 11, 7 vs. 10, 8 vs. 9).
Canada (2-0) has already wrapped up its group, as has Slovakia (2-1). At this point, only the undefeated Americans could stand in the way of Canada earning the No. 1 seed, which would mean the weakest possible quarterfinal opponent once the remaining eight teams are re-seeded.
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Canada owns a plus-nine goal differential through two games and faces France (0-2) in what should be a lopsided affair. Still, it would be in Canada’s best interest to pour it on, especially with the United States sitting at plus-seven and capable of running up the score against Germany.
“They’re a good team. So are we. We’re excited to compete against them,” said Sullivan.
“We know that they have some game breakers on that side. We have a lot of respect for how good they are, and it will be a competitive game. That is what we will expect.
PETR DAVID JOSEK / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
United States’ Brady Tkachuk, right, challenges Denmark’s Lars Eller during a preliminary round match of men’s hockey between United States and Denmark at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy on Saturday.
Finishing first overall matters because powerful Sweden (2-1) is likely to face whoever ends up with the No. 2 seed. Sweden finished third in its group after losing a three-way tiebreaker with Slovakia (2-1) and Finland (2-1) — a matchup no contender is eager to draw this early.
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Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.
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