US, Canada stage Olympic camps as rosters form for Milan-Cortina 2026

As Olympic preparations move into high gear, the United States and Canada are both staging orientation activities this month to shape their rosters for the 2026 Winter Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. In the United States, a 44-player camp in Plymouth, Michigan, will function as a practical, team-building step ahead of the final roster’s Jan. 11 decision. Canada, meanwhile, has named a 42-player group for a Calgary-based camp that has produced surprise moments and a growing sense of uncertainty about which veterans will ultimately wear the maple leaf in Italy.

The U.S. orientation camp, scheduled for Aug. 26–27 at USA Hockey's headquarters, is largely an administrative and teambuilding event with no on-ice sessions, but it serves as the first critical step in assembling a roster that will compete for an Olympic berth for the first time since 2014. The camp brings together a wide pool of talent, with six players already firmly positioned on the roster: Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews, Brady Tkachuk, Matthew Tkachuk, Quinn Hughes and Charlie McAvoy. These players have been identified as the core around which the team will be built, and the camp will determine how other...