Throughout the Winter Olympics, Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy will give readers of The Athletic an inside look at Team USA.
At 28, McAvoy, a former Boston University standout and three-time gold medalist in international tournaments, is in his ninth full NHL season. On Sunday, he was named one of Auston Matthews’ two alternate captains at the Olympics, with Matthew Tkachuk being the other.
Here’s his first diary entry, edited for clarity and length, as told to senior writer Michael Russo.
MILAN – It’s been a blast so far in Milan, and I’m so glad I came early.
Landed a few days ago and me and Zach Werenski, Jake Oettinger and Sway (Jeremy Swayman) got fitted with our Ralph Lauren outfits and then got to be part of the opening ceremony.
We went back and forth for a little. But once I saw that we were done on the 4th and the ceremonies were on the 6th, I knew there was a chance that maybe we’d be able to come over here. So everybody with USA Hockey, the USOPC, everybody, they went through and jumped through a lot of hurdles for us to be able to get over here and have the chance to walk through. And after getting that experience, it was absolutely incredible. For me, it felt like once in a lifetime, to be there and walk and see thousands of people cheering us on and be with the other athletes and everybody from Team USA. It truly was one of the most special things I’ve been a part of.
And once you get to meet so many different athletes, you want to go to events and root them on. So we went last night to the figure skating, and it was incredible.
The village is really cool. It honestly feels like being back in college again, really, you know, it’s dorm rooms, it’s small, there’s a dining hall, some rec spaces, athletes everywhere. So that’s kind of like your students. And it’s always busy. Everybody’s just coming and going, everybody’s on their own schedule. So, it just feels like I’m back at BU a little bit.
What’s really sweet is I’m by myself. Don’t know how that happened. Actually, like half the guys are alone, and then the other half have roommates. So I’m one of the single ones. I don’t know how much time I’ll spend in my room anyway. I think we’re gonna be spending a lot of time together, this group.
— Charlie McAvoy (@CMcAvoy44) February 7, 2026
As you can tell, I’m not comfortable after being hit in the jaw (by Florida’s Sandis Vilmanis) the other night. I’m in pain. I’m having trouble chewing. My face is swollen again. Back to square one, it feels like.
I got to a place where I felt really comfortable after breaking my jaw earlier this season. I kept the fishbowl on just as a precaution. And the idea was to try and take it off here. I could have taken it off before, but the idea was you’d really, really regret it if I took it off beforehand and something bad happened. So I kept it on. I had gotten used to it. Then I get hit in the fashion in which I got hit. And it sucks, because it’s just really, it’s really painful. Honestly, it feels like it did when I first broke it. I’ve had a lot of that pain come back. So it’s just frustrating that this is kind of something I have to go through again, but I can play in the bubble, and I’ve done it for a while now, and it’ll just be about managing the pain.
I know a lot of attention has been given to my tweet of the play. I didn’t say anything (about him not getting suspended). I feel like a lot of people have a strong opinion on it that I share. So it is what it is. These things are not up to me, unfortunately. And we just have to have trust in the system.
It didn’t occur to me until someone brought it up that we play Latvia in the first game, and I’ll play him Thursday. It doesn’t matter to me. I just want to beat Latvia. I don’t know him. I’m not going to be looking for retribution. Like, whatever happened in the NHL can stay in the NHL, and we’ll handle that whenever we get there. But this is about USA versus Latvia and us getting off to a really good start.
It’s just an honor to be here. I mean, it’s incredible. You get that taste in 4 Nations, you know, the speed, the skill, just how impressive the practices even are. Getting a chance to play with these guys the way everybody sees the game and thinks the game and performs, it’s just unique, and it’s really special to be a part of. Practice was great today. We’ve waited a long time to get to the Olympics, and now it feels like it has officially started.
I’m looking forward to just getting back to the village with these guys. It’ll be the first night that we have together to spend some time and catching up with a lot of guys that I haven’t seen in a while. This group will be spending a lot of time together. It’s a special group, and we just hope we can make our country proud and come home with gold.