Canada’s Hockey Team in Hotel, Not Olympic Village 

Team Canada’s hockey team isn’t embracing an important Olympic tradition.

While most athletes competing in the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games will mix and mingle in the Olympic Village, goaltender Logan Thompson explained why the Canadian men’s hockey team has opted to stay in a hotel. 

“I don’t think we’re doing it as an insult or anything like that,” Thompson, 28, told SportsNet in an interview published Feb. 9. “We want to win gold, and we want to give ourselves the best opportunity to do so.”

The men’s ice hockey team—which includes NFL stars Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid and more—will start their competition run on Feb. 12, where they’ll face off against Team Czechia. Meanwhile, the women’s team won their first game against the Czech Republic earlier this week, but was defeated by Team USA on Feb. 10.(The latter team will also compete against Finland in their final group stage game Feb. 12 after a delay due to the Finnish team’s norovirus battle.) 

Though Team Canada have found more comfort in a hotel, they haven’t completely walked away from the Olympic Village experience. They reportedly stayed in the village—whose accommodations are styled like dorm rooms—for the first few nights in Milan, but ultimately decided a hotel would better accommodate their needs.