Feb 22, 2026; Milan, Italy; Connor Hellebuyck of the United States defends against Sam Reinhart of Canada during the men’s ice hockey gold medal game during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-Imagn Images
The 2026 Winter Olmpics are over and seven of the ten Florida Panthers who took part are returning to the team with medals. Matthew Tkachuk won gold with the United States; Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand and Sam Reinhart got silver medals with Canada; and Finns Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen and Niko Mikkola received bronze medals. Congratulations to that septet and to Uvis Balinksis, Gustav Forsling and Sandis Vilmanis, who also played some good hockey in Milan.
Florida will return to action with a key back-to-back against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres starting Thursday at Amerant Bank Arena. The Cats, who are currently at the bottom of Atlantic Division, are eight points out of a playoff spot and will likely need to win 19 or 20 of their remaining 25 games to make the postseason. 15 of those games will be on the road. A daunting task…
In prospect news, 2024 sixth-rounder Stepan Gorbunov went pointless, failed to register a shot on goal and took one faceoff in Traktor Chelyabinsk’s 4-2 win over Lada in action from the KHL. It was Gorbunov’s 24th KHL appearance of the season. He has scored two goals at that level. Gorbunov played 20 games for Chelmet (8G/11A) in the VHL as well.