MANALAPAN, Florida — There is no assurance that the rosters will be the same but for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics and for the 2025 NHL 4 Nation Face-Off Doug Armstrong has started scouting.
As Canada’s general manager for the 2026 Olympics, Armstrong, and the St. Louis Blues are also responsible for appointing management groups that will guide the national team at events before the games in Italy, featuring the 4 nation Face-Off which also includes the United States, Finland and Sweden, and the 2024 and 2025 IIHF World Championships which will schedule from Feb. 12-20-2025.
From Feb. 6-22, the 2026 Olympics will take place. The dates and schedule have not been announced for Milan’s men’s ice hockey competition.
On Wednesday Armstrong announced at the NHL general managers meetings, “What we’re going to do is name a management staff for [the 4 Nations Face-Off], a general manager and he’ll get a support staff”. The best players will be selected, at the start of next season and will be assessed in the playoffs. There is undoubtedly a focus on getting 2026. Every team wishes to win on their own merits and that specific event will be most significant for that squad. Then we’ll push forward the information that we gathered from that event.
For both the 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Summer Olympics, Armstrong stated that he is not providing the same personnel in management, support, and coaching.
He continued, “We’re not claiming it’s not going to happen either”. We’ll make sure there is synergy, and manage that similarly to how we handle participants in the Four Nations.
For Canada at the 2024 IIHF World Championship, Rick Nash has been appointed by Armstrong as the GM, which will be played in Czechia from May 10-26.
In the 2022 IIHF World Championship Canada won the silver medal, where Nash served as an assistant general manager. In his third season as a director of player development with the Columbus Blue Jackets after before spending two seasons as their special assistant general manager.
Four World Championships were played by Nash, in 2006, 2010, and 2014 he also played Olympics and won gold in 2010 and 2014 with Canada.
In the 2002 NHL Draft the first pick by the Blue Jackets. During 15 NHL seasons (2002-18) with the Blue Jackets, he played 1,060 regular-season games, Boston Bruins and New York.
Armstrong further said, “I think his experience playing in international events, it is important in hockey to work with John Davidson and Jarmo Kekalainen, and wanting to make a second career his experience as a player “. “I’ve spoken to him a couple of times. He is excited. He eagerly wants to get work. He wants to determine player performance. He wants to hire a coaching staff. He feels thrilled. In this, he’s eager to get all those things. For freshly retired players to get back into the game in a big role”
For the 2026 Olympics squad, Armstrong said the assessment process has started, it differs from previous years he worked as Canada’s General Manager at the Olympics (2010 and 2014) because, since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, there hasn’t been anything look-alike a best-on-best tournament.
Armstrong stated “When you look at the past events you had World Cups or national events, Olympics, to type of refresh your memory on how player has played, since 2016 so there will be a whole new group of players experience this for the first time but we haven’t really had anything international” and “It is a long way away and we have a couple of events before and the main things are the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the season next year to assess players. But the process has begun that’s going to be the interesting part”.
Armstrong said his goal is to select “winning players” who prefer speed, skill, and size to the team.
Armstrong said “In the NHL the assigns that make winning teams typically transfer to win teams internationally”. “If you can have that combination, you’ve got the trifecta.”
Armstrong has one complete specific in his mind as of today.
Armstrong said. “I want him on the team and yeah, right now I watch Sidney Crosby play”. “He’s still a [heck] of a player. In fact I don’t want to go out and create problems and with Sid, there is no problem to create instantly with how dominant he is in our league.”
“Yeah, I watched Sidney Crosby game right now and I want him on the team,” Armstrong said. “He’s still a [heck] of a player. I don’t really want to go out and create problems and with Sid, there is no problem to create right now with how to govern he is in our league.”
