Toronto, Ontario (WGR 550) - The National Hockey League's long-awaited return to the Winter Olympic Games is set to become a reality.
During a press conference on Friday in Toronto during NHL All-Star Weekend festivities, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced that NHL players will be allowed to compete in the Winter Olympics both in 2026 and 2030.
This marks the first time the NHL will compete in the Olympic Games since the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
The 2026 Winter Olympics are set to take place in Milan, Italy, and scheduled to run from Feb. 6-22.
While the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has not formally announced a host for the 2030 Winter Olympics, the ice hockey tournament will be played in Nice, France.
The NHL has previously seen player involvement in the Winter Olympics on five different occasions, starting in 1998 with the Nagano Games in Japan and through the 2014 Games in Sochi.
The last time the NHL was represented at the Winter Olympics, it was team Canada - led by captain Sidney Crosby - taking home the gold medal in back-to-back tries and for the third time in four tournaments.
The reigning Olympic gold medalists in men's ice hockey is Finland after they beat the Russian Olympic Committee in 2022. Slovakia also happened to win the bronze medal at the tournament after beating Sweden.