SportsLine's expert Mike Severance reveals his USA vs. Latvia picks for their Winter Olympics men's hockey matchup on Thursday

The 2026 Winter Olympics, featuring 16 sports with 116 medal events, will take place from Feb. 4 to Feb. 22 in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Preliminary events will begin on Feb. 4, the opening ceremony will be Feb.

Brock Nelson led Team USA to a commanding 5-1 victory over Latvia in their 2026 Milan Cortina Games opener, scoring twice in a dominant ice hockey performance.

There are some nations competing in these Winter Olympics that are shaking off the rust of international play and others that are just happy to be there. The United States is certainly neither, seeking revenge for its overtime loss to Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off final and validation for their IIHF World Championship last year.

Here's how to watch Team USA hockey's opening game of 2026 Winter Olympics versus Latvia on Thursday.

Team USA has beaten Germany 5-1 to cap a perfect 3-0 record in the preliminary round at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Auston Matthews scored two goals for Team USA, while Zach Werenski, Brock Faber and Tage Thompson each added one.

And that’s that. The round-robin portion of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Italy has concluded, with eight teams set to play in the qualification round on Tuesday.

You know the horse drawing meme where one side is a beautifully detailed illustration of the hind legs and the other is a scanty kindergarten doodle? That was the first thing I thought of at first glance of Germany’s Olympic roster.

The United States and Germany close out preliminary play with plenty on the line Sunday at the 2026 Winter Olympics, with both teams chasing stronger positioning heading into the knockout rounds. Team USA enters the matchup unbeaten in Group C,