Winners, losers from group stage of men's Olympic hockey tournament

The group stage of the men's hockey tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics concluded on Sunday, with the United States, Canada and Slovakia winning their respective groups and earning a bye into the quarterfinal. Finland, as the next highest ranking team, also earned a bye.

The knockout phase of the tournament will begin on Tuesday, with a playoff round to determine which of the remaining teams will advance to the quarterfinals.

So with the first part of the tournament complete, let's take a look at some winners and losers from the group play. 

Winners from men's Olympic hockey group play

Slovakian hockey. Just an absolutely massive showing for Slovakia to come out of Group B as the top team and earn a bye into the quarterfinals. What adds to the win for Slovakia is it will now get the winner of the Germany-France game, which would be a winnable game that could send them through to the medal round. 

Slovakian hockey had declined significantly over the past 10-15 years, but the emergence of Juraj Slafkovsky (Montreal Canadiens) has helped put them back on the map on the international stage. Whether they get a medal or not, this has been a strong showing. 

Macklin Celebrini, forward, Canada. You expect Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins), Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers) and Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche) to dominate in games like this, and they have. But Celebrini, the San Jose Sharks' 19-year-old phenom, has arrived on the biggest stage, with the biggest stars, and has emphatically showed that he belongs. 

He finished the group stage with four goals and six total points, tied for the second-leading scorer in the tournament so far. He is not just a passenger on Team Canada. He is one of the best players on it. 

Jordan Binnington, goalie, Canada. The biggest question mark on Team Canada, and expected to be the biggest liability, Binnington looked rock solid in his two group-play starts and validated Hockey Canada's belief in him. 

He has had a miserable season for the St. Louis Blues, but Canada loves the fact he has a Stanley Cup ring and started on last year's 4 Nations team and continues to ride with him. 

So far, it is working. 

Leonardo Genoni, goalie, Switzerland. One of the great things about this tournament is getting a chance to see non-NHL players get their moment to shine. 

The 38-year-old Genoni is a legend in Swiss hockey, but never played a single game in the NHL. He was outstanding in the group stage and is a big reason the Swiss are a sleeper contender to medal. 

Losers from men's Olympic hockey group play

Sweden. By losing to long-time rival Finland, and then giving up a late goal in a 5-3 win over Slovakia, they lost their chance to win Group B and not only have to play a knockout game on Tuesday just to reach the quarterfinals, they would then have to play the United States. 

That is honestly a nightmare quarterfinal matchup for both teams and guarantees that one gold medal favorite is leaving Italy without a medal. 

Jeremy Swayman, goalie, United States. Sometimes in a tournament like this you only get one opportunity, and even though Swayman's opportunity resulted in a win, it was not a strong showing.

He allowed three goals, including one from center ice. 

By Game 3, he was relegated to third-string goalie duty. 

Czechia. This is setting up to be a tough tournament for a team that was hoping to contend for a medal when it began. 

After winning just one game in the group stage (against France), Czechia is now facing a potential quarterfinal matchup against Canada (a team that beat them 5-0 in group play) if it can get through Denmark on Tuesday. 

Los Angeles Kings. The top thing NHL teams want to see out of this is zero injuries. 

That did not work out for the Kings who lost one of their top forwards, Kevin Fiala (Switzerland), to a season-ending leg injury in their game against Canada. That is going to be a significant issue for their offense and playoff push.