One of the Winter Olympics’ most eagerly-anticipated events is always the men’s ice hockey.

The past three winners of the gold medal have been Finland, Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) and Canada, in 2014. Four years before that, in 2010, Canada took home the gold once more, after beating the US in the final in Vancouver.

The USA has 11 medals in total for competition in ice hockey but has not taken home the gold medal since 1980, over 45 years ago. Their only other gold medal came in 1960.

But 2026 will mark the first time since 2014 where NHL players have participated in Olympic ice hockey. Historically the NHL and International Olympic Committee have failed to reach an agreement on allowing NHL players to participate. In both 2018 and 2022 this was the case, affecting the USA, Canada and many other countries.

With the inclusion of the NHL once more, Canada are the favourites for the gold medal in Milan. The USA are behind Canada as the second favourites but the USA are touted as the team to beat in the women’s ice hockey.

Men’s hockey schedule for USA and Canada

USA

February 12: Latvia vs USA

February 14: USA vs Denmark

February 15: USA vs Germany

Canada

February 12: Czech Republic vs Canada

February 13: Switzerland vs Canada

February 15: Canada vs France

If both teams make it through the preliminary games the schedule will be as follows:

February 17: Playoff round

February 18: Quarter-final

February 20: Semi-final

February 21: Bronze-medal game

February 22: Gold-medal game

All games will either be played at the Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena or the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.

India vs Pakistan (Photo by Getty Images)

NEW DELHI: India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said on Tuesday the team has always been mentally ready to face Pakistan in their T20 World Cup league match.The two rivals are set to meet on February 15, and Ten Doeschate stressed that off-field issues never distracted the Indian camp from its preparations.

He admitted Pakistan might have a slight advantage since they have already been in Colombo for two weeks, but India are concentrating on delivering its best performance. “It’s going to be a challenge going to Colombo, where Pakistan have been for the last two weeks, and we’re fully focused on just bringing our best game to that fixture next week,” he told the reporters. With India playing Namibia on February 12 in their second encounter of the ongoing T20 World Cup, clarity over Pakistan’s participation means both teams can treat the match purely as a sporting contest. Meanwhile, India opener Abhishek Sharma missed the team’s first training session in New Delhi due to illness and stomach problems, raising doubts about his availability for the Namibia match. He had a poor start to the tournament with a golden duck against the USA and didn’t field in that match, with Sanju Samson replacing him. At a team dinner hosted by coach Gautam Gambhir, Abhishek left early, adding to health concerns. “Abhi (Abhishek Sharma) has still got a few issues with his tummy, but we are hopeful he will be available for the game in two days time. Bumrah is also feeling and moving a lot better,” he said on Tuesday. Jasprit Bumrah also missed the USA match due to illness. India may rest Abhishek to ensure he is fully fit for the Pakistan game, with Sanju Samson possibly opening in his place. Abhishek is seen as a key player due to his explosive T20 batting, and despite his early failure, the team values his impact. India still beat the USA by 29 runs, thanks to Suryakumar Yadav’s unbeaten 84 and strong bowling from Siraj and Arshdeep Singh.

Bengal stormed into the Ranji Trophy semifinals with a dominant innings and 90-run win over Andhra on Tuesday, completing a one-sided contest that had been set up by Sudip Kumar Gharami’s towering knock of 299.

Andhra resumed their second innings on the final day at 64 for three, but the result was virtually sealed after they had already fallen 334 runs behind Bengal’s massive first-innings total on Day 4. With the pitch offering assistance and time running out, Bengal needed only patience and discipline to close out the game.

The hosts will now face Jammu and Kashmir in the semifinal beginning February 15. The other semifinal will see Karnataka lock horns with Uttarakhand.

On Day 5, Andhra’s primary aim was to avoid an innings defeat, but left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed played a decisive role, exploiting the wearing surface to break resistance. Shahbaz finished with impressive figures of 4 for 72, while Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal chipped in with two wickets. Akash Deep, Sumanta Gupta and Anustup Majumdar claimed one wicket apiece.

Mohammed Shami, currently out of favour at the international level, bowled just three overs in Andhra’s second innings after contributing with the bat in Bengal’s first-innings score of 629.

For Andhra, Nitish Kumar Reddy stood tall amid the collapse, showing resolve in a gritty 90 off 144 balls, which included seven fours and two sixes. Chasing 270 to force Bengal to bat again, Andhra needed a substantial stand between Reddy and skipper Ricky Bhui. However, Bhui was dismissed by Shahbaz after adding only 12 runs to his overnight tally.

Shahbaz soon accounted for Saurabh Kumar before removing Reddy to complete a fine spell. Tripurana Vijay scored 46 and Kalidindi Raju added 25, but their efforts merely postponed the inevitable as Gupta dismissed Vijay to seal Bengal’s emphatic victory. Wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat did not take the field due to injury.