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DENVER (AP) — The NHL players who skated at the Milan Cortina Games peaked way earlier than usual. They had to, with an Olympic gold medal on the line.
Very little downtime later, they’re trying to peak again. They need to, with hockey’s silver Stanley Cup up for grabs.
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The game plan for teams with Olympians leading into the playoffs revolves around getting them plenty of rest. That may mean skipping morning skates, limiting their practice time, cutting back on game minutes or, in extreme cases, sitting them out. For some squads — looking at you, U.S. (gold), Canada (silver), Finland (bronze) and fourth-place finisher Slovakia — their time on the ice was pretty much the equivalent of a first-round playoff matchup.
“It’s a lot of hockey in a short amount of time,” New York Islanders center Bo Horvat said after playing for Canada, which played six games in 10 days.
Then again, some players got a gauge of what’s required to re-energize after competing in the 4 Nations Face-Off last season.
“Take the rest whenever you can find it, for sure,” said Avalanche forward Brock Nelson, who helped the U.S. to its first men’s Olympic hockey gold medal since 1980. “The (NHL) schedule is just so compact for everybody now. Just trying to ride the energy.”
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The season paused for 19 days from Feb. 6-24 to allow players to participate in the Olympics. Adding the holiday break, each team is playing 82 games over 170 days — one every 2.07, even more condensed than every 2.15 days in 2024-25 with 4 Nations. In 2023-24, teams played every 2.26 days with stops only for the holidays and All-Star festivities.
Back to their day job
Returning to the Ottawa Senators was not easy for Brady Tkachuk after leading the U.S. alongside brother Matthew.
“It was definitely an adjustment coming back, not going to lie, playing in probably the biggest game that has been played in a while and then the emotions of winning,” Tkachuk said. “It took a little bit to get readjusted.”
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Tkachuk, the 26-year-old Senators’ captain, is back to “normal” now. Older teammate Lars Eller, who played for…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/grind-milan-cortina-games-olympians-185748792.html
Author : PAT GRAHAM and STEPHEN WHYNO
Publish date : 2026-03-30 18:57:00
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