Dreams came true on Thursday for NHLers at the Olympics.

However, those dreams were realized on varying levels.

For the first time in 12 years, NHL players were back at the Olympics. While many of them were making their debuts, some were returning players.

One of those returning players included Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

The former Vancouver Canucks defenceman played for Team Sweden at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. Back then, the 22-year-old defenceman registered three assists in six games as Sweden finished as runner-up to Canada in the gold-medal game.

His return to the Olympics in Milan went a little differently.

Ekman-Larsson didn’t see a single second of ice time for Sweden in their 5-2 win over Italy on Wednesday.

Instead, he stayed stapled to the bench, acting as a cheerleader for his team in a game they won, but that was much closer than most expected.

Sweden and Italy were tied until the latter stages of the second period, when William Nylander gave them the lead. They then held just a one-goal advantage until two late goals secured the victory.

None of that was thanks to the contributions of Ekman-Larsson.

Now 34-years-old, Ekman-Larsson worked his way onto Team Sweden after reinvigorating his NHL career. Since being bought out by the Canucks back in the summer of 2023, Ekman-Larsson has won a Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers, and he’s been a mainstay in the top four on defence for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Entering the Olympics, he was tied for third in NHL points among Swedish defencemen, trailing only Erik Karlsson and Rasmus Dahlin.

Heck, if he was still on the Canucks, he’d be tied for the team-lead in points.

But on Wednesday, clearly, that didn’t matter.

He wasn’t the only player who was stapled to the bench during Sweden’s victory. Perhaps more surprisingly, Filip Forsberg played just one first-period shift for Team Sweden in the win. Both of them were seen on the broadcast sitting side-by-side in the middle of the bench.

Sweden’s men’s ice hockey team plays its next Olympic game on Friday, Feb 13 at 3:10 a.m. PT versus Finland, who lost 4-1 to Slovakia earlier in the day.