Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid Headline Canada Hockey Roster for 2026 Winter Olympics

Team Canada announced its six preliminary players for the 2026 Olympics on Monday, selecting Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Sam Reinhart, Cale Makar and Brayden Point.

The 2026 Winter Games will be held across Northern Italy, highlighted by events in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo.

"Sidney, Nathan, Cale, Connor, Brayden and Sam provide a strong foundation for a successful team and have been proven winners at all levels of their professional and international careers, and we look forward to all six being key contributors to our team as we look to accomplish our goal of winning Olympic gold," Team Canada general manager Doug Armstrong said in a statement.

Finland are the defending gold medalists in men's ice hockey, while the Canadiens didn't reach the podium at the 2022 Beijing Games. Canada's last medal came in 2018, earning bronze, while the country's last gold medal in men's ice hockey came at the 2014 Sochi Games.

Canada has an impressive nine gold medals in men's ice hockey overall, the most in the sport's history (the Soviet Union had seven, ranking second, and a Unified Team made up of former Soviet states also won the competition in 1992).

In 2022, Canada finished second in Group A, while the United States topped the group. Canada won its playoff game against China in the knockout phase, 7-2, but lost 2-0 to Sweden in the quarterfinals.

NHL players didn't participate at either the 2018 or 2022 Olympics, but the league announced in Feb. 2024 that its players would participate in both the 2026 and 2030 Games. When the announcement was made, Crosby indicated a desire to represent Team Canada.

"To see the best players go head to head representing their country, from my experience I don't know if you get better hockey than that," he told reporters. "... It's something you have to earn, though. It's not something that's given to you. If you're representing your country, then you've got to earn it."

McDavid, meanwhile, is the biggest star in the sport but has yet to compete for Canada in the Olympics. He'll lead a squad that will be favored to win gold.