Multiple MI Natives Named To U.S. Olympic Hockey Teams

Multiple professional hockey players from Michigan were named to the 2026 U.S. Olympic men's or women's ice hockey teams.

Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin (Waterford Township), Winnipeg Jets' Kyle Connor (Shelby Township) and Connor Hellebuyck (Commerce Township), New Jersey Devils Jack Hughes and Minnesota Wild Quinn Hughes (both of Canton Township) are among five of the 23 players on the rosters.

Two Michigan women picked for the U.S. Women's Ice Hockey Team. They are the Boston Fleet's Megan Keller (Farmington Hills) and the University of Wisconsin's Kirsten Simms (Plymouth).

"We’re excited about our team and congratulate everyone named today," said Bill Guerin, the general manager of the U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team and also the general manager and president of hockey operations for the Minnesota Wild. "It was incredibly difficult for our management group to get to the final roster and that’s a credit to so many in our country, including all those at the grassroots level who help make our sport so strong. There’s nothing like the Olympics and I know our players and staff will represent our country well and work hard to achieve our ultimate goal."

The U.S. men will open Olympic competition on Feb. 12 against Latvia, while the U.S. women will begin Olympic competition on Feb. 5 against Czechia.

With competition sites in the city of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, the winter resort in the Dolomites that is more than 250 miles away by road, this will be the most spread-out Winter Games in history. Athletes also will compete in three other mountain clusters besides Cortina, while the closing ceremony will be in Verona, 100 miles east of Milan.

Although the opening ceremony isn’t until Feb. 6, competition begins on Feb. 4 with curling. Here are other key dates:

• Feb. 7: First gold medal events.
• Feb. 8: Gold medal, women’s Alpine skiing downhill.
• Feb. 13: Gold medal, men’s figure skating.
• Feb. 18: Gold medal, women’s Alpine skiing slalom.
• Feb. 19: Gold medal, women’s figure skating. Gold medal game, women’s ice hockey. First gold medals in ski mountaineering, a new Olympic sport.
• Feb. 22: Gold medal game, men’s ice hockey. Closing ceremony.

Dozens of countries will stream or air each day's events, with some delaying broadcasts until primetime depending on the time zone. That will be the case in the U.S., where Eastern time is six hours behind Milan and Cortina. NBC will carry showcase events at night while streaming sports on Peacock.

Among athletes to watch are two of the most decorated Alpine skiers in history, 41-year-old Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin. The pair opened the World Cup season in dominant form, raising American hopes of a golden run in Cortina. Chloe Kim is back in snowboarding. And NHL players are back on Olympic ice for the first time since 2014, so keep an eye on the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby.

It’s unclear if Russian athletes will compete. Some sports federations are deciding whether to let Russians compete as neutral athletes, but only after they are cleared by an independent review to ensure that they have not publicly supported the war in Ukraine and are not affiliated with Russia’s military or other forces.

Ski mountaineering will make its Olympic debut while skeleton has added a mixed team event, luge has added women’s doubles and large hill ski jumping added women’s and men’s super team events.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.