The Olympic men’s hockey tournament is three days old. However, the biggest story in the Olympic men’s hockey tournament to date came in the game between Canada and Switzerland on Friday as it appears that Switzerland left winger Kevin Fiala suffered a serious leg injury colliding into the boards with Team Canada forward Tom Wilson of the Washington Capitals.

Fiala needed a stretcher to get off the ice. He was in so much pain on his back, he was seen lying on his stomach, as he came off the ice.

The Fiala injury would have made Gary Bettman cringe. The NHL has been uneasy for allowing its players to play in the Olympics due to injuries.

Anyway you look at it, this is a serious blow not only to Team Switzerland for the rest of the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan/Cortina d’Ampezzo, but to a Los Angeles Kings organization that is struggling to score goals. This also makes the Kings’s recent acquisition of Artemi Panarin even more significant.

Fiala follows in Tavares’s shoes

The last time we saw a serious injury by a National Hockey League player at the Olympic Winter Games came in 2014 in the quarterfinal game between Canada and Latvia. In this tilt, Canadian Tavares tore his medial collarteral ligament and his meniscus in his left knee. Like Fiala, Tavares collided into the side boards.

Fiala’s NHL statistics this season

In 56 games for the Kings, Fiala has 18 goals and 22 assists for 40 points. He his a -11 with 34 penalty minutes, 17 power-play points, two game-winning goals, 147 shots on goal, seven faceoff wins, 24 blocked shots, 39 hits, 19 takeaways and 75 giveaways.

Fiala’s first game-winning goal this season came on October 26 in a 3-1 Kings win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Fiala’s second game-winning goal came on November 9 in a 3-2 Kings win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

[US, Mexico & Canada customers only] Feb 13, 2026; Milan, Italy; Kevin Fiala of Switzerland is taken off the ice by medical staff on a stretcher after sustaining an injury against Canada in men’s ice hockey group A play during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mike Segar/Reuters via Imagn Images

Where was Fiala in the Kings depth chart?

Fiala was currently on the Los Angeles Kings’s third line alongside Andrei Kuzmenko and Quinton Byfield. Over the last three minutes iof ther game, both teams seemed to be mentally shaken by the ailment.

Who will Switzerland rely on now?

Roman Josi, the veteran blueliner on the Nashville Predators, is expected to carry the load on defense the rest of the way for Switzerland. The four-time All-Star won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman in 2020.

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