The last time we saw NHL players on Team Canada in the Olympics was in 2014.

Pharell Williams’ song “Happy” was the biggest hit. True Detective debuted. One of the great TV villains of all time, King Joffrey, was killed in Game of Thrones. Sidney Crosby was the only 100-point scorer in the NHL and Drew Doughty not only won his second Stanley Cup with LA, but he also led Canada in goals and points en route to their gold medal win at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Doughty had four goals and six points in six games. Fellow defender Shea Weber had 3-3-6 as Canada won gold in Sochi on the back of stellar play from their blueline, in both ends of the ice. Canada didn’t give up much. They allowed only three goals the entire tournament. Six forwards scored goals in the tournament. Jeff Carter had a hat trick in their 6-0 win over Austria. Jamie Benn had two goals including the only goal in their 1-0 semi-final victory over the United States. Chris Kunitz, Jonathan Toews, Ryan Getzlaf, Patrick Sharp and Crosby had one goal each. Crosby, Toews and Kunitz scored in their final game of the tournament, a 3-0 victory over Sweden to claim Gold.

Canada won with stifling defensive play, which was fitting, considering the NHL wasn’t overly offensive in 2014. Doughty, Weber, Alex Pietrangelo, Jay Bouwmeester, Duncan Keith and Marc-Edouard Vlasic were stellar on the blueline. Dan Hamhuis was the seventh D-man and dressed in five of the six games, but he didn’t play as much as those six. Nathan MacKinnon was a rookie the last time NHLers played in the Olympics, but 12 years later, Canada is expected to play a more up-tempo style than what we saw in 2014. I’m not critiquing how they won in 2014, it worked deliciously well, but the strength of the 2026 teams is their forwards. Canada will still be sound defensively, but I expect their forwards to score more than 10 goals this tournament.

Doughty and Crosby are the only holdovers from 2014. Doughty was the only Canadian named to the tournament All-Star team in 2014, but this year Canada’s forward group possesses much more offensive flair.

Connor McDavid, MacKinnon, Macklin Celebrini rank first, second and fourth in NHL scoring. Add in 20+ goal scorers in Crosby, Sam Reinhart, Brad Marchand, Brandon Hagel, Seth Jarvis, Bo Horvat, Tom Wilson and Mark Stone, and goal scoring shouldn’t be a concern. The 14 forwards have combined for 454 goals and 845 assists. Compare that to Team USA’s (287 goals and 668 points), and there is no debate that Canada has the most offensive skill in the tournament.

They will attack. Czechia will want to play a tight-checking, low-event game, but realistically today’s rules make it difficult for teams to shutdown offense. You can have a great defensive structure, but how can you slow down Canada’s speed? Czechia will try to keep them to the outside and not penetrate the middle, but the best way to stifle Canada’s offense will be to put them on the defensive and play in their own zone. I don’t think Czechia has the offensive threats, after their first line, to maintain possession in the offensive zone for extended time.

Czechia will need their goalie, most likely Karel Vejmelka, to stand on his head and steal them the game. That’s what makes these games so intriguing — they are one-offs. There are no series to play. If the tournament final was a best of seven, I’d bet massively on Canada, but for one game, one day, upsets are much more possible. We’ve seen it before, and Canada will want a good start.

The entire roster, save for two players, have been waiting for this moment their entire life. This generation of players grew up watching NHLers play in the Olympics. Crosby was 10 years old when he watched NHLers compete at the 1998 Olympics. McDavid was 13 when he watched Crosby and Doughty win on home soil. He’s been dreaming about this moment ever since. When asked about finally being in the Olympics, McDavid responded, “Surreal, surreal. It’s been a long time coming.” Each of his teammates have a similar story, although Macklin Celebrini was only seven when Canada won in 2014, so he might not remember those games, but he’s watched highlights and is well aware of the moment.

The wait has been long for players, but equally long for fans. A year ago, some people weren’t sure about the 4Nations tournament, because it was only four teams, but those doubts were quickly erased, and most hockey fans loved the tournament. There are no doubts about the Olympics. Fans can’t wait. Players can’t wait. It should electric, and I’m expecting Canada to come out flying as the roster is filled with Olympic rookies who have waited for this moment for many years.

— Canada’s first unit PP in practice was McDavid, MacKinnon, Crosby, Reinhart and Makar. Not bad. Crosby, Reinhart and McDavid each have 10 PP goals this season, while MacKinnon has eight.

— They practiced with three penalty killing forward units. They were Hagel/Horvat, Marner/Stone and Marchand/Suzuki.

— The 2010 Canadian team set the Olympic record (involving NHL players) for most goals in a tournament when they scored 35 in seven games. They won in 2010 with offense and won with defense in 2014. Jarome Iginla owns the Canadian record for most goals in a tournament with five in 2010. Pavel Bure owns the Olympic record with nine goals in 1998 (with NHL players).

— This will be the fourth meeting between Canada and Czechia involving NHL players.

1999: Czechia won 2-1 in the semi-final.
2002: They tied 3-3 in preliminary round.
2006: Canada won 3-2 in the preliminary round.

— Slovakia defeating Finland 4-1 in the opening game of the tournament is a good reminder that anything can happen in a one-game setting. Canada can’t, and I don’t think they will, take Czechia lightly. Slovakia won with a great performance from Juraj Slafkovsky scoring 2-1-3, but maybe even a better one from Iowa Wild goalie, Samuel Hlavaj, who was outstanding in goal for Slovakia. What a great start to the tournament and watching that game reminds me why the 2028 World Cup should have at least eight teams.

— “It’s going to be the hardest game of our career, I would say, for everybody … Maybe we catch them sleeping a little bit with the time zones,” Radko Gudas on facing Canada in their opening game.

— This isn’t related to the Olympics, but what an amazing move by Ben Berard.

— Trivia time: Can you name (without looking it up) the two men who led the 2014 Olympic tournament in goals? They each had five. *Answer below

Celebrini – McDavid – Wilson
Hagel – MacKinnon – Reinhart
Marner – Crosby – Stone
Marchand – Horvat – Suzuki

Toews – Makar
Morrissey – Parayko
Harley – Doughty

Binnington

This is the expected lineup, but we won’t know until warmup who will dress as the 13th forward and seventh defenseman. Two of Seth Jarvis, Sam Bennett, Shea Theodore and Travis Sanheim will dress. MacKinnon and Bo Horvat swapped wingers in practice yesterday as Brad Marchand and Nick Suzuki had skated with MacKinnon earlier in the week. I wouldn’t put much stock in the lines. They’ve yet to play a game and if 4 Nations is any indication, Jon Cooper will experiment with different line combinations throughout the tournament. I like the fact he is going with Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby and MacKinnon down the middle. The Oilers should follow suit when they return and have McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins as their three centres, but I digress.

With 14 quality forwards and eight defensemen, I’d expect Cooper to give them all an opportunity and we will see different lineup every game.

Necas – Hertl – Pastrnak
Palat – Kampf – Kase
Cervenka – Sedlak – Tomasek
Stransky – Faksa – Kubalik

Simek – Hronek
Kempny – Gudas
Rutta – Spacek

Vejmelka

Czechia’s top line is very dangerous, but their offensive punch drops off considerably after that. Canada’s depth is considerably better, and David Pastrnak is the only skater I think would be a lock to crack Canada’s starting lineup. Goaltending is the one area I’d give Czechia the advantage. Karel Vejmelka has been much better than Jordan Binnington this season, but Vejmelka is going to face significantly more high-skilled shooters than Binnington will, and Vejmelka will be challenged more often.

GAME DAY PREDICTION: Canada’s depth overwhelms Czechia and they win 5-2.

OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: MacKinnon and McDavid connect on a PP goal.

NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Tom Wilson scores in his first Olympic game and first game representing Canada. (He did play for Team Ontario at U17, but that was provincial, not national).

*Trivia answer. Phil Kessel (USA) and Michael Grabner (AUT) each had five goals at the 2014 games. I never would have guessed Grabner. Never.**