{"id":446877,"date":"2026-02-05T11:09:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T11:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/446877\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T11:09:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T11:09:20","slug":"zach-werenskis-milestone-season-propels-blue-jackets-defenseman-to-1st-olympics-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/446877\/","title":{"rendered":"Zach Werenski&#8217;s milestone season propels Blue Jackets defenseman to 1st Olympics | Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) \u2014 Things could not be going any better for Zach Werenski as he prepares for his first appearance in the Olympics.<\/p>\n<p>The Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman, who&#8217;ll play for Team USA in the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/milan-cortina-olympics-how-to-watch-273a072431c6e2b930f770bb608585b0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Milan Cortina Games<\/a>, has a point in seven straight games and is the first blueliner to score 20 goals before an Olympic break.<\/p>\n<p>kAm(6C6?D&lt;: C624965 E96 &gt;:=6DE@?6 8@2= 5FC:?8 E96 7:CDE A6C:@5 @7 k2 9C67lQ9EEADi^^2A?6HD]4@&gt;^2CE:4=6^3=24&lt;92H256 9:&gt; E96 E9:C5 p&gt;6C:42? 5676?D6&gt;2? \ud83d\ude15 }w{ 9:DE@CJ H:E9 4@?D64FE:G6 a_\\8@2= D62D@?D[ ;@:?:?8 !9:= w@FD=6J 2?5 #665 {2CD@?]k^Am<\/p>\n<p>kAm%96 ag\\J62C @=5 vC@DD6 !@:?E6[ |:49:82?[ ?2E:G6 2=D@ 92D E96 &gt;@DE A@:?ED 3J 2 5676?D6&gt;2? 367@C6 2? ~=J&gt;A:4 3C62&lt; H:E9 ea Wa_ 8@2=D[ ca 2DD:DEDX]k^Am<\/p>\n<p>kAm|:&lt;6 vC66? 925 E96 AC6G:@FD &gt;2C&lt; H:E9 e_ A@:?ED 7@C E96 (2D9:?8E@? r2A:E2=D 367@C6 E96 a_`_ &#8216;2?4@FG6C v2&gt;6D] vC66?[ 9@H6G6C[ 5:5 ?@E &gt;2&lt;6 E96 C@DE6C 7@C %62&gt; r2?252]k^Am<\/p>\n<p>kAm\u201cx 766= =:&lt;6 x 42? &lt;:?5 @7 5@ 2?JE9:?8 E92E x\u2019&gt; 2D&lt;65 @7[Q D2:5 (6C6?D&lt;:[ H9@ 92D EH@ 8@2=D 2?5 6:89E 2DD:DED \ud83d\ude15 9:D =2DE D6G6? 82&gt;6D] \u201cp?5 :E\u2019D :&gt;A@CE2?E \ud83d\ude15 2 E@FC?2&gt;6?E =:&lt;6 E92E H96C6 J@F 92G6 8FJD 4@&gt;:?8 E@86E96C \ud83d\ude15 2 D9@CE 2&gt;@F?E @7 E:&gt;6[ J@F 92G6 E@ 2446AE E96 C@=6 J@F\u2019C6 8:G6? 2?5 E96 &gt;:?FE6D J@F\u2019C6 8:G6?] x 766= =:&lt;6 x\u2019&gt; C625J 7@C H92E6G6C E96J 8:G6 &gt;6]\u201dk^Am<\/p>\n<p>kAm(6C6?D&lt;: D6CG65 ?@E:46 5FC:?8 =2DE J62CVD c }2E:@?D u246\\~77 E92E 96 42? 6I46= @? 3@E9 6?5D @7 E96 :46 H:E9 D:I 2DD:DED] xE H2D E96 7:CDE E:&gt;6 \ud83d\ude15 }w{\\D2?4E:@?65 :?E6C?2E:@?2= E@FC?2&gt;6?ED \u2014 H9:49 :?4=F56 E96 r2?252 rFA[ (@C=5 rFA @7 w@4&lt;6J 2?5 c }2E:@?D u246\\~77 \u2014 E92E 2 5676?D6&gt;2? =65 2== D&lt;2E6CD \ud83d\ude15 2DD:DED 2?5 A@:?ED]k^Am<\/p>\n<p>kAm\u201cx 766= =:&lt;6 x\u2019&gt; A=2J:?8 AC@323=J D@&gt;6 @7 E96 36DE 5676?D:G6 9@4&lt;6J x\u2019G6 A=2J65 \ud83d\ude15 2 =@?8 E:&gt;6[ H9:49 \ud83d\ude00 :&gt;A@CE2?E D:?46 q@?6D W4@249 #:4&lt; q@H?6DDX 92D 8@EE6? 96C6 E@ &lt;:?5 @7 4=62? 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H6\u2019C6 ?@E[ x\u2019&gt; 2 72? @7 9:D]\u201dk^Am<\/p>\n<p>kAm%96 q=F6 y24&lt;6ED 8@ :?E@ E96 ~=J&gt;A:4 3C62&lt; @? 2 D6G6?\\82&gt;6 H:??:?8 DEC62&lt; 2?5 2C6 `_\\` D:?46 q@H?6DD C6A=2465 s62? tG2D@? @? y2?] `a] r@=F&gt;3FD 92D 8@?6 7C@&gt; =2DE A=246 \ud83d\ude15 E96 t2DE6C? r@?76C6?46 E@ @?=J EH@ A@:?ED @FE @7 2 A=2J@77 DA@E]k^Am<\/p>\n<p>kAm\u201cpD 6I4:E65 2D x 2&gt; E@ 8@ E@ |:=2? 2?5 C6AC6D6?E @FC 4@F?ECJ \ud83d\ude15 E96 ~=J&gt;A:4D[ x\u2019&gt; 4=@D6 E@ 6BF2==J 6I4:E65 E@ 86E 324&lt; 96C6 2?5 86E 324&lt; H:E9 E96 8FJD 2=C625J[\u201d (6C6?D&lt;: D2:5] \u201cxE\u2019D D@&gt;6E9:?8 DA64:2= \ud83d\ude15 96C6 2?5 H6\u2019G6 AFE \ud83d\ude15 E96 92C5 H@C&lt; C646?E=J 2?5 H6\u2019C6 86EE:?8 C6H2C565 7@C :E]\u201dk^Am<\/p>\n<p>k9C ^m<\/p>\n<p>kAmp! }w{i k2 9C67lQ9EEADi^^2A?6HD]4@&gt;^9F3^?9=Qm9EEADi^^2A?6HD]4@&gt;^9F3^?9=k^2mk^Am<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) \u2014 Things could not be going any better for Zach Werenski as he prepares for&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446878,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5108],"tags":[46305,3962,3644,54257,5180,53505,53504,897,230,5179,3675,5,6,1352,285,1355,4,292,5966,1354,1361,24377,43,1356,49588,2566],"class_list":{"0":"post-446877","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-columbus-blue-jackets","8":"tag-2026-milan-cortina-olympic-games","9":"tag-4-nations-face-off","10":"tag-blue-jackets","11":"tag-blue-jackets-werenski","12":"tag-bluejackets","13":"tag-canada-united-states-cultural-relations","14":"tag-canada-united-states-sports-relations","15":"tag-columbus","16":"tag-columbus-blue-jackets","17":"tag-columbusbluejackets","18":"tag-defenceman","19":"tag-hockey","20":"tag-ice-hockey","21":"tag-ice-hockey-leagues","22":"tag-national-hockey-league","23":"tag-national-hockey-league-teams","24":"tag-nhl","25":"tag-nhl-hockey","26":"tag-olympic-games","27":"tag-seasons-in-american-ice-hockey","28":"tag-seasons-in-canadian-ice-hockey","29":"tag-seasons-in-ice-hockey","30":"tag-sports","31":"tag-top-tier-ice-hockey-leagues","32":"tag-united-states-men","33":"tag-zach-werenski"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=446877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}