McDavid on the Metro in Milan: Canada's NHL players stick out at the Olympics

MILAN (AP) — Even though Bo Horvat occasionally takes the train into New York City from his home on Long Island, it's not usually surrounded by two dozen of his teammates.

That changed at the Olympics when he and Canada's NHL players spent their day off from practicing riding the metro in Milan on a tour of the city. Photos and videos of Connor McDavid and others popped up all over social media, as some of the most recognizable athletes rubbed elbows with the locals and tourists.

“We were crammed in there like sardines,” Horvat said. "We were all in red coats and sticking out like sore thumbs. I think anybody could’ve recognized us taking the subway. It was really cool to be a part of.”

Captain Sidney Crosby organized the excursion to the Duomo and short-track speedskating, according to Hockey Canada general manager Doug Armstrong, and Horvat said goaltender Jordan Binnington was “volun-told” he was in charge of shepherding 25 guys around town.

“He pulled through,” Horvat said of Binnington. “He was our tour guide for the day. He did a great job. He got everybody there and everybody home.”

They saw Canada take home silver in the short-track speedskating mixed team relay, falling just short of host Italy. Winger Brad Marchand, a two-time Stanley Cup champion, had never seen speedskating or any other Olympic event live before.

“To see the intensity between the laps, how fast the athletes are going, one little mistake, how it can derail a competition not only for yourself, but for other players as well, it was awesome to be there and to root on Canada,” Marchand said. “It just shows that the level of separation between winning and losing, at any level, is so small. But at this level, you’re dealing with the best of the best in every sport, and the margins for error are so small."

U.S. players meet Snoop Dogg

Some American players had their own fun away from the rink with the chance to meet Snoop Dogg, who has become one of the faces of the Olympics.

Matthew Tkachuk said Snoop had some great one-liners that “made for a hilarious 15 or 20 minutes.” There was also a motivational element.

"He’s ‘Coach Snoop’ so he was giving us some pump-up speeches," Dylan Larkin said. “Probably one of the few people I’ve met that’s kind of larger than life. You look at him, and he doesn’t even look real. It was an awesome experience.”

Tage Thompson gets a big role right away

The U.S. returned to practice Wednesday to prepare for its opening game Thursday against Latvia, and coach Mike Sullivan revealed a top power-play unit of Quinn Hughes, Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, Tkachuk and Tage Thompson. The first four seemed to be automatic choices.

Thompson's ascension is notable because he did not make the 4 Nations Face-Off roster a year ago and is one of just a few newcomers. It helps that he's the tallest U.S. skater at the Olympics at 6-foot-6.

“He’s a great goal scorer (and) he has the ability to make plays,” Sullivan said, adding that Thompson being a right-handed shooter also factored into the decision. "Tage is one of those guys that’s a right shot, but he also has the skill set to play the position that we’re asking him to play.

Filip Forsberg rides the pine as Sweden’s 13th forward

The first day of games included some surprises, from Slovakia upsetting Finland to how heavily favored Sweden had such trouble against host Italy.

Also somewhat unexpected was how NHL star Filip Forsberg played just one shift for a minute, 7 seconds in Sweden’s opener as the team’s 13th forward.

“For us coaches and management, we’re looking at dividing into roles, players that can handle different kind of ice times, different kind of situations,” coach Sam Hallam said afterward. “Filip on the ice today would’ve been great. He can be on the ice much more next game. But if we want to go deep in this we’re gonna need everyone. ... We have ambition to go deep into this tournament. We need good players from one to 25.”

Coaches won't reveal their starting goalies

Sullivan, like at his day job coaching the New York Rangers, intends to announce his starting goaltender the morning of each game. Canada's Jon Cooper said he needed to inform his goalies who's getting the nod against Czechia before announcing it publicly. Czechia coach Radim Rulik also wouldn't say.

Connor Hellebuyck figures to start for the U.S. against Latvia and Jordan Binnington for Canada. They were in net when the teams met in the 4 Nations final, which Canada won in overtime.

Lukas Dostal is expected to start for Czechia, though Karel Vejmelka and Dan Vladar are also intriguing alternatives.

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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics