Well, Super Bowl Sunday came and went. Now it’s back to hockey. 

Over in Milan, it was a busy day with captain announcements and first practices. Two Bruins were named alternate captains, and multiple NHL players will be wearing extra letters on their jerseys when the tournament starts. A Devils star, who entered the Olympic break on injury, looks like he will find himself in a new role once the games begin. Also, Canada’s captain was no surprise, but he has the experience and support to lead Canada back to gold. 

Back in Boston, the Beanpot wraps up tonight. It will be a historic battle between two longstanding rivals at the TD Garden, and a showcase of Bruins prospects. Six of them are playing in the final game, with one skating in the third-place game at 4:30 PM. 

Happy Monday, here is today’s Daily Bean: 

Boston Bruins

PASTRNAK, MCAVOY WEARING ‘A’: Two Bruins alternate captains are wearing the ‘A’ for their Olympic team. Yesterday, the Czech national team announced David Pastrnak as an alternate. Following that announcement, USA Hockey announced that Charlie McAvoy will be an alternate captain. 

Michael Russo (via 𝕏): Here are the line combinations from Team USA’s practice today. Charlie McAvoy skated on the top defensive pair with Quinn Hughes, and Jake Oettinger and Jeremy Swayman shared a net.

Ondrej Mach (via 𝕏): David Pastrnak skated on the first line with Team Czechia, which should be no surprise. He was with Martin Necas and Tomas Hertl. Here are the rest of Czechia’s lines. 

Adam Johansson (via 𝕏): Here are Team Sweden’s lines from yesterday. Hampus Lindholm is skating with Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Elias Lindholm is between Lucas Raymond and a rotating Jesper Bratt or Filip Forsberg. 

Konsta Kiviniemi (via 𝕏): Henri Jokiharju skated on the second defensive pair with Olli Maatta. It also appears that Joonas Korpisalo, who was a late addition to the Finnish roster, will be the third goaltender. Here are the rest of Team Finland’s lines. 

IIHF (video via 𝕏): Jeremy Swayman helped lead Team USA to a World Championship victory over the summer. He speaks on the win, how it has helped him find confidence, and how he can carry his experience into the Olympics. 

Prospects Update

Today is the last day of the Beanpot. Last week, five Bruins prospects made it to the scoresheet, and BC and BU picked up wins to set up the 300th Battle of Comm. Ave at the TD Garden. 

4:30 PM: Harvard vs. Northeastern

7:30 PM: Boston College vs. Boston University

Both games can be found on NESN, and out-of-market fans can watch on NHL Network (or ESPN+). In Canada, the game will be televised on TSN3. 

The prospects playing tonight:

Andre Gasseau (BC)
James Hagens (BC)
Kristian Kostadinski (BC)
Mason Langenbrunner (Harvard)
Dean Letourneau (BC)
Will Moore (BC)
Jonathan Morello (BU)

NHL News & National Hockey Now

New Jersey Hockey Now: It looks like Jack Hughes might be playing in a new spot for Team USA. At practice today, Hughes skated on the fourth line. The top-six spot he had, with Auston Matthews and Jake Guentzel, has been filled by Matt Boldy. However, it’s worth noting that Mike Sullivan said Hughes is a “full-go” for the tournament.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Penguins captain Sidney Crosby will wear the ‘C’ for Team Canada. He has been the Penguins captain since he was 19, and this will be his second time as Canada’s captain in the Olympics. He also captained the Canadians to a championship at the Four Nations Face-Off. His assistants knew it should be him; Connor McDavid said that it’s “not even a question.”

Mark Masters (via 𝕏): Here are the line combinations from Canada’s practice yesterday.  

Team Finland: Team Finland named Ducks forward Mikael Granlund as its captain for the Olympics. Joining him in the leadership group are Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho and Stars forward Mikko Rantanen. 

DailyFaceoff: Former NHLer Tomas Tatar will captain Slovakia at the Olympics. He was one of Slovakia’s flag bearers at the Opening Ceremony. Additionally, Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak and Capitals’ defenseman Martin Fehervary will wear the ‘A’ for Slovakia. 

NHL.com: Oilers’ forward Leon Draisaitl holds the all-time points lead among all German-born players in the NHL. Now, he will captain the German team at the Olympics. He will have two NHLers, Tim Stutzle and Mo Seider, as his alternates.

Detroit Hockey Now: Red Wings players have found success at the Olympics, and so have their AHL players. Since 1920, there have been 22 players to play with the Red Wings and win an Olympic gold medal. The most recent came in 2022 (Valtteri Filppula). Can Lucas Raymond make it 23? 

Today’s Olympic Schedule

6:10 AM: Japan 2 vs. 3 Italy (box score, video highlights) 

10:40 AM: Germany vs. France (Peacock)

2:40 PM ET: Switzerland vs. USA (USA Network) – airing at 11:00 PM on USA

3:10 PM ET: Canada vs. Czechia (Peacock) – airing at 5:00 PM on USA

Tomorrow:

6:10 AM: Japan vs. Sweden (Peacock)

10:40 AM: Italy vs. Germany (Peacock)

2:10 PM: Canada vs. USA (USA Network) – airing at 11:00 PM on USA

3:10 PM: Finland vs. Switzerland (Peacock)

(All times ET)