Team Canada skated at the practice rink at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on Tuesday.
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Connor McDavid leads the Olympic tournament in scoring with nine points, but Team Canada’s top-line centre is contributing in so many ways beyond just goals and assists.
“I mean, he’s doing everything,” said captain Sidney Crosby. “Whether it’s with the puck, without the puck, [being] physical, he’s leading by example in every possible way. He’s poised. Guys have taken some runs at him, he just continues to play. He’s shown a lot of focus that way. He’s been leading the way for sure.”
McDavid’s laser focus has been evident from the moment he landed in Milan. He landed a big hit on his first shift in the first game.
“It’s pretty incredible,” said linemate Tom Wilson. “I mean, he’s playing on another level right now. He’s the best in the world. When he’s your linemate you might have to think the game a little bit quicker. You might have to get the puck to him a little bit quicker, but once he has it special things happen.”
McDavid seems to be making the most of every play be it in a game or in a practice drill.
“Playing with Connor has been a highlight of my career,” said Wilson. “I can learn so much from him … A day like today, Connor and Sid are the hardest-working guys, executing at the highest level on the ice in practice.”
McDavid has recorded three points in all three games he’s played here. So, how can Czechia slow him down in Wednesday’s quarterfinal?
“I gotta talk to Coop [and tell him] not to play him,” said smiling defenceman Radko Gudas, who played for Canada’s coach Jon Cooper early in his NHL career. “Just try to be in the middle of the ice as much as possible and don’t give him enough speed. Try to clog the middle for him or try to be right on him and not give him space in the neutral zone especially, but it’s going to be really hard. He’s one of the top players and he’s playing with some great players as well. It’s one of the big challenges with Team Canada.”
Gudas on key against McDavid: ‘I gotta talk to Coop not to play him’ After Czechia defeated Denmark in their qualification round game to setup a date with Canada in the quarter-finals on Wednesday, Radko Gudas spoke about his team’s performance in a tight game and having another shot at playing Canada.
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Nathan MacKinnon missed Tuesday’s practice. The Colorado Avalanche centre seemed to hurt his leg late in Sunday’s blowout win over France.
“Zero concern,” Cooper said. “He’s a bull that kid. To have that much power, strength and skill all packaged in one, it’s a rarity. He’s a gamer that kid.”
In a sign Canada is confident MacKinnon will play, they did not make a significant change to their power play at practice. Instead, Wilson, also a right shot, simply served as a placeholder in MacKinnon’s spot on the flank of the top unit.
“They were calling me ‘Nate’ out there for a couple minutes, but it was just in good fun,” Wilson said with a smile. “They needed a guy to go over and play on that side. There was one play where I said Nate definitely would’ve made that pass to Sid 10 out of 10 times.”
Sam Bennett also missed the practice.
“A long tournament, a lot of stuff going on, and maintenance day for guys,” Cooper said. “But I expect to have everybody fully healthy [for Wednesday].”
‘Zero concern’: Cooper says just a maintenance day for MacKinnon Nathan MacKinnon was absent from Canada’s practice on Tuesday, but head coach Jon Cooper says he has ‘zero concern’ about his availability for their quarter-final and it was just a maintenance day.
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That includes winger Brad Marchand, who missed the last two games to rest a lingering issue that flared up in an NHL game with the Florida Panthers on Jan. 29.
“It’s always tough,” said Marchand, who picked up an assist in the opening win over Czechia. “You work your entire life to be here and you want to be on the ice so bad.”
Although the 37-year-old admitted he didn’t think he’d be a regular in the lineup as he boarded the plane for Milan.
“You always want to be in, but the goal was to be here and be part of this team,” Marchand said. “It’s an incredible group and, you know, to be honest, coming in I didn’t think I’d be in the lineup. I thought I’d be the extra guy and be a voice and try to be loud and obnoxious in the room. I’m just so proud and honoured to be part of this group.”
Marchand skated on the fourth line beside Bo Horvat and Seth Jarvis on Tuesday. He also took reps on the second power-play unit.
Is Marchand raring to go?
“He’s always ready to go,” Crosby said with a grin when asked about his fellow Nova Scotian. “I feel like every time he’s on the ice he’s got a ton of energy. That’s his personality.”
Marchand: ‘If called upon I’ll be ready to go’ Brad Marchand was back on the ice at Team Canada’s practice on Tuesday. He discusses how he’s feeling and says he’ll be ready to go if he’s slotted back into the lineup for their quarterfinal matchup.
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Josh Morrissey skated beside Colton Parayko on the second defence pair at practice and appears poised to return to the lineup.
“Just taking it day-by-day,” the Winnipeg Jet said. “A good practice here and trying to get ready for the rest of the tournament the best I can.”
Morrissey sustained an undisclosed injury in the first game of the tournament.
Morrissey believes Team Canada’s defence is rounding into form ahead of quarters Defenceman Josh Morrissey has been dealing with an undisclosed injury and did not play in Canada’s last two games but skated with Colton Parayko during Tuesday’s practice. Morrissey spoke about what he has seen from the team’s defence and how he is feeling.
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Canada earned a bye to the quarterfinal by virtue of winning its group, which offered them the luxury of a two-day break between games.
“Yesterday was a big day,” said Cooper. “It was nice to have a complete day off. Lots of guys went to events [or were] with families and things like that, which we haven’t been able to do.”
At Tuesday’s workout, Canada spent time on 5-on-5 play, 5-on-6 play, the power play, the penalty kill and even did a couple 5-on-3 reps.
“Now we got a couple games under our belt, what’s the holes in our game?” Cooper said. “How can we fix them? Special teams is always a big thing, so you always spend a bunch of time on that. But, overall, get our legs under us and get ready for tomorrow.”
Wednesday will be Canada’s first elimination game in Milan. If they lose, they go home without getting a shot at the medal round. Do they need a Game 7 mentality?
“I hate looking at it like that because you don’t want to put any stress on yourselves thinking, ‘This is it,’” Cooper said. “You don’t want players playing the game not to make mistakes. I want them on their toes not their heels. That’s how we have to play it and see how the chips fall. I like our mentality. It’s not a qualification or quarterfinal, whatever, we’re on game four. You gotta win six. This is game four. Let’s go make the best [of it].”
Jon Cooper at the white board during practice
First practice for 🇨🇦 since start of tournament (played three in four and had day off yesterday) pic.twitter.com/emJ4ZcoPJM
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) February 17, 2026
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The Crosby line with Mitch Marner and Mark Stone took the first reps in the 5-on-6 work. That trio is the one forward unit Cooper hasn’t tinkered with so far.
“The line’s been really good,” the coach said. “They kind of check a lot of boxes and smart players. There’s just a calmness about that line. Yeah, I’m not breaking them up.”
The second 5-on-6 unit was the McDavid line with Brandon Hagel, who plays with Cooper in Tampa Bay, replacing Macklin Celebrini on the left side.
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While Canada fine-tuned things, Czechia sweated out a tight 3-2 win over Denmark in the qualification round.
“It wasn’t a great game from our side, but it was a playoff game and we advanced,” said assistant coach Tomas Plekanec. “There’s a lot of things we want to get better at, but we’re fighting through it throughout the tournament.”
Czechia lost to Canada and Switzerland (in overtime) in the preliminary round and trailed against France in the second period before rallying for a win.
“We’re building our game,” said Martin Necas, who scored the opening goal on Tuesday. “Obviously a couple tough ones, but it’s all about one game. It would be different if it’s a playoff series, best-of-seven. This is one game and we’re going to give it our best.”
What did Czechia learn during the 5-0 loss to Canada last week?
“That even though they have so much skill, they still play the right way,” said goalie Lukas Dostal.
“We know what to expect,” said Gudas. “Put the pucks in the areas where we can get them back, make their D turn, stay out of the box, those are little things we can improve on.”
Plekanec disappointed with Czechia’s game: ‘A lot of things we want to get better at’ Tomas Plekanec is representing Czechia for the third time at the Olympics, but for the first time as a coach. After his team’s win over Denmark, Plekanec explained how there is a lot of things they need to get better at as they prepare to play Canada in an elimination game.
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Dostal is expected to start again on Wednesday even though it’s rare for goalies to play on consecutive days in the NHL.
“In NHL you have so much travelling,” Dostal, who plays for the Anaheim Ducks, pointed out. “You leave after the game. You just have to always stay on task because you play so many games. Here, you finish the practice, you go back to the Village and you can rest, you can eat some food and just hang out with your family. I would say it’s actually more relaxing. You have more energy than actually the NHL games. That’s my personal feeling.”
The afternoon start on Tuesday also helped.
“The game is 4:40 and then you get back and you don’t have to travel anywhere and you can just rest after the game,” Dostal said. “You have all the time for the treatment and stuff like that. When you play some games 7:30 somewhere and then you have to travel and you get back to the hotel at 2 am and you fall to sleep at 4 am and then you have to go play back-to-back that makes it much different.”
Jordan Binnington pitched a 26-save shutout against Czechia in the preliminary round and is expected to get the call again for Canada. The St. Louis Blues goalie had his own net at practice while Logan Thompson and Darcy Kuemper split time at the other end.
Dostal on Canada: ‘They have so much skill, but they still play the right way’ Czechia goaltender Lukas Dostal made 24 saves in his team’s victory over Denmark on Tuesday at The Winter Olympic Games. Afterwards, Dostal looked ahead to paying Canada in the quarter-finals, talked about what he learned from their first game against the Canadians in the preliminary round and the biggest challenge playing against Connor McDavid.
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Following Tuesday’s practice, Wilson spoke to the media for the first time since taking part in the first Olympic fight since 1998. He dropped the gloves with Pierre Crinon in the third period after the French defenceman hit Mackinnon up high.
“When there’s a hit like that made, it gets you on your toes a little bit,” Wilson said. “And then I ended up on a shift with him and we got tangled up and I obviously knew it was the same guy. I think it was just more him understanding there was going to be an answer. We’re going to stick up for our teammates. I didn’t know that necessarily it was going to be a fight, but it turned into that pretty quickly and then obviously more of a wrestling match and a melee and kind of chaos.”
At the Olympics, a fighting major comes with an automatic game misconduct unlike in the NHL where it’s simply a five-minute penalty.
“I was aware of the rules,” Wilson said. “If you fight you get thrown out, but generally speaking that’s it. There’s five minutes left in a 10-2 game. I was aware that as long as I didn’t take it too far or he took it too far you should be good to play the next game.”
Wilson was quick to settle down once referee Kyle Rehman got in his ear.
“You feel it out and you realize that sometimes it gets chaotic and then you kind of feel when it’s getting too far and you have to stop,” Wilson said. “Kyle, one of the refs who we’re familiar with in the NHL, was kind of saying, ‘Tommy, enough, enough. It’s done. It’s done.’ I make sure I listen to him. I stopped because the linesmen are trying to do their job, the refs are trying to do their job, and you never want to push it too far. You just feel it out and stick up for your teammate and then when enough is enough you kind of move on.”
In banning Pierre Crinon for the rest of the Olympics, France’s hockey federation cited his “provocative behavior” after being ejected for fighting Tom Wilson, calling it a “clear violation of the Olympic spirit.” https://t.co/Z1uorE8Ybz
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) February 16, 2026
After sending message on Canada’s unity, Tom Wilson solely focused on quarter-finals Tom Wilson shared some insight into what happened with Pierre Crinon that resulted in the two players dropping the gloves, which also signaled the end of the French defenceman’s time at The Winter Olympic Games. Wilson also touched on the opportunity he has been getting with Team Canada.
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Lines at Tuesday’s practice:
Celebrini – McDavid – Wilson
Marner – Crosby – Stone
Hagel – Suzuki – Reinhart
Marchand – Horvat – Jarvis
Toews – Makar
Morrissey – Parayko
Harley – Doughty
Sanheim – Theodore
Binnington
Thompson
Kuemper
Absent: MacKinnon, Bennett
Power play units at Tuesday’s practice:
QB: Makar
Flanks: McDavid, Wilson
Middle: Reinhart
Down low: Crosby
QB: Theodore
Flanks: Celebrini, Marner
Middle: Marchand
Down low: Stone
5-on-6 units at Tuesday’s practice:
Marner – Crosby – Stone
Toews – Makar
Hagel – McDavid – Wilson
Morrissey – Parayko