NHL players are competing at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, the first time in 12 years that they’ve been on this global stage. In order to provide an inside look at the experience, NHL.com has enlisted former Olympic players, coaches and others around the game to share their insights. Today, Dan Bylsma, who was the head coach of Team USA at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
As Team USA gets set to face Team Sweden in what will be its most difficult test to date on Wednesday (3:10 p.m ET; Peacock, NBC, ICI Télé, CBC Gem, SN), I was reminded of a conversation I had with Jussi Jokinen back in the 2013-14 season.
I was the coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins at the time and Jussi was a forward on the team. He’d won a silver medal with Team Finland at the 2006 Torino Olympics, so he knew what you had to do to be successful at the Games.
I had been named the coach of Team USA for the 2014 Sochi Olympics and wanted to pick Jussi’s brain regarding the entire Olympic experience. One thing he said at that time still sticks with me to this day.
“The hardest game and the biggest game you’ll have and the most nervous you’ll be will be the quarterfinal game,” he said.
Exactly the situation Team USA finds itself in after Team Sweden defeated Team Latvia 5-1 in the qualification playoffs on Tuesday.
Here’s a deeper dive into what Jussi was referring to.
Obviously, when you get to the quarterfinals, there’s a lot of pressure to get to the gold medal game. And I think in a tournament like this, there’s not a lot of pressure for teams like Team USA and Team Canada in the preliminary round. Sure, you want to try to get the best seeding possible and goal differential matters, but you do have a bit of wiggle room.
You’re probably going to win. To be blunt: You should win.
Now, come the quarterfinals, it’s a different story.
It’s all happened so quickly to get to this point. And now, suddenly, it’s do-or-die. It’s win or go home.
If you look back at previous Olympics, you’ll see there have been some tough matchups in the quarterfinals. It’s no different this time around. Team Sweden versus Team USA. Team Czechia versus Team Canada. There are no easy outs. Win or go home.