MILAN -- Favorites, predictions, underdogs and more are all featured in the first Olympic edition of the "NHL @TheRink" podcast recorded by Dan Rosen and Shawn P. Roarke on Wednesday.
The co-hosts got together for the episode after being on site to cover the first three days of practices leading up to the start of men's hockey tournament at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
In the 45-minute podcast, they break down the reasons why both believe Team USA will come away with the gold medal, and who other than Team Canada will provide the stiffest competition.
Spoiler alert: Team Czechia and Team Switzerland are no slouches, according to the co-hosts.
They go through the initial depth charts for the United States and Canada based on the line rushes they witnessed during practice this week, discuss why Tom Wilson and Macklin Celebrini are going to start with Connor McDavid, and why Jack Hughes is on the fourth line for the U.S., and if they think he'll stay there.
Goaltending obviously will be huge during the tournament. Does Canada have the goalie to win gold the way it used to with Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo and Carey Price? Is the U.S. set up best at that position? Or does Czechia rival the U.S.? What about Team Sweden?
It's a potpourri of Olympic information in 45 minutes, a primer for a tournament that began with two games Wednesday and continues Thursday with the first of four consecutive four-game days during the preliminary round.
The "NHL @TheRink" podcast is free and listeners can subscribe on all podcast platforms. It also is available on NHL.com/multimedia/podcasts and the NHL app.
