{"id":467237,"date":"2026-02-11T03:58:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T03:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/467237\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T03:58:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T03:58:10","slug":"canucks-pettersson-and-lankinen-lead-off-2026-mens-olympic-hockey-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/467237\/","title":{"rendered":"Canucks\u2019 Pettersson and Lankinen lead off 2026 Men\u2019s Olympic Hockey Tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"

Olympic Hockey Preview: Canucks\u2019 Pettersson and Lankinen lead off 2026 Men\u2019s Olympic Hockey Tournament<\/p>\n

Well, Vancouver Canucks<\/a> fans, we\u2019ve finally made it: NHL players are officially back in the Olympics.<\/p>\n

And even more exciting for Vancouver fans, they get to watch a pair of Canucks on opening day. Let\u2019s not wait any longer.<\/p>\n

Slovakia vs. Finland<\/p>\n

Coverage for Team Slovakia vs. Team Finland kicks off on February 11 at 7:40 AM PST \/ 4:40 PM local from Milano Santagiulia IHO. Viewers can watch on CBC, Bell Media (TSN) and Rogers Media (Sportsnet).<\/p>\n

Here are the projected lines for tomorrow\u2019s games, provided by Daily Faceoff.<\/a>\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

Juuse Saros starts for the Finns. He earned the start at the 4 Nations Faceoff one year ago, but wound up splitting the net with the Canucks\u2019 Kevin Lankinen.<\/p>\n

The Slovaks have yet to announce a starter. Expect one of Adam Gajan (21-year-old Chicago Blackhawks prospect) or Samuel Hlavaj (24-year-old goaltender for the Iowa Wild)<\/p>\n

Simon Nemec:\u00a0It\u2019s been a good season for Simon Nemec, but there could be more to prove for the 21-year-old defenceman. Drafted second overall in 2022, Nemec hasn\u2019t been able to develop into a top-pairing defenceman while playing behind the likes of Dougie Hamilton and Luke Hughes. However, he will now be expected to be the top defenceman, playing important ice time for his country. He\u2019ll be one to watch to see if he can handle that elevated role on the world\u2019s biggest stage.<\/p>\n

Mikael Granlund: Playing on a line with Mikko Rantanen, Granlund is really going to have to excel offensively if he\u2019s going to stand out. However, Granlund was arguably the Finns\u2019 best player at last year\u2019s 4 Nations Face-off, finishing the tournament with three goals and four points, including the overtime winner against the Swedes in Game 2 of the Round Robin. We\u2019ll see if he can continue that dominance, now playing in a clear offensive role, with two former Dallas Stars teammates in Rantanen and Roope Hintz.<\/p>\n

Sweden vs. Italy<\/p>\n

Coverage for Team Sweden vs. Team Italy kicks off on February 11 at 12:10 PM PST \/ 9:10 PM local from Milano Santagiulia IHO. Viewers can watch on CBC, Bell Media (TSN) and Rogers Media (Sportsnet).<\/p>\n

Here are the projected lines for tomorrow\u2019s games, provided by Daily Faceoff.<\/a>\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

William Nylander (groin) is considered a game-time decision for this contest.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

At the time of this writing, neither team has confirmed a starting goaltender. Daily Faceoff projects Filip Gustavsson (Minnesota Wild starting goaltender) and Damian Clara (21-year-old Anaheim Ducks prospect).<\/p>\n

Elias Pettersson: Now, Elias Pettersson<\/a> wouldn\u2019t be the one to watch in many markets. But in Vancouver? He absolutely is. After a disappointing 4 Nations, Pettersson has something to prove at this tournament. Starting as the team\u2019s number one centre heading into the last tournament with Sweden, he was quickly dropped to the bottom six and finished the final game playing sub-10 minutes. Those struggles have followed him into this season, so we\u2019ll see if Pettersson can pick apart a weaker opponent and spark a resurgence.<\/p>\n

Damian Clara: Although we aren\u2019t sure whether he will get the start tomorrow, Damian Clara is someone to watch closely on an Italian team that isn\u2019t rich with talent, because he is the only Italian-born player on the team that was ever drafted to the NHL \u2013 in the second round, 60th overall, to boot. He\u2019s just a young kid, but as the clear best player on the team, and going up against one of the tournament favourites, he should be a busy guy in front of his country.<\/p>\n

Sponsored by bet365<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Olympic Hockey Preview: Canucks\u2019 Pettersson and Lankinen lead off 2026 Men\u2019s Olympic Hockey Tournament Well, Vancouver Canucks fans,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":467238,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-467237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}