NHL Players to Have New Uniform Requirement at 2026 Olympics After Rule Change

The International Ice Hockey Federation has introduced a new uniform requirement for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Per Julian McKenzie of The Athletic, hockey players participating in the Winter Olympics in February will be required to wear neck guards.

After Adam Johnson's death in October of 2023 due to his neck being cut by a skate blade, the IIHF announced that neck guards would be mandatory across all levels, though it did not indicate when the mandate would go into effect for senior levels due to a "supply situation."

The NHL announced in June that neck guards will be mandatory for new players starting in the 2026-27 season. Those who played before the start of the 2026-27 season will not have to wear neck guards.

The AHL, USA Hockey and National Federation of State High School Associations have also made neck guards mandatory. Players who participated in the IIHF World Championship in Sweden and Denmark in the spring were required to wear neck guards.

McKenzie noted that a February 2024 poll of NHL players from The Athletic found that 78.5 percent of players opposed a neck guard mandate. NHL legend Wayne Gretzky called for a neck guard mandate in 2023 following Johnson's death.

"... So here we are now, all these kids grow up, especially in Canada, wearing the neck guards. Why take it off? Keep the neck guards on and I'm sure the players' association and the commissioner's office, they're going to grandfather this in and eventually we're going to see kids coming into the league wearing neck guards to protect themselves," he said.

The Winter Olympics take place from Feb. 6 to Feb. 23 in Milan and Cortina, Italy, where NHL players will participate for the first time since 2014.