It’s the Whole Even-Odd Thing,
If You Know What I Mean
I am excited about the 2026 Winter Olympics so far. We will see USA and Canada battle it out for the gold medal in the Women’s tournament. And for the first time in a long time, we may see a USA-Canada showdown in the men’s tournament, too.
This is the first time in 12 years that the NHL shut down two weeks to allow its players to participate in the Olympics. This is the first Olympics that headlined Auston Matthews for Team USA and Connor McDavid for Team Canada.
But as awesome as having Olympic rosters stuffed with top-level NHL talent, the men’s ice hockey tournament at the Olympics isn’t always great…for North American fans, anyway.
In fact, men’s Olympic ice hockey reminds me of the old Star Trek movies from the 1980s and 1990s, where the odd-numbered films were bad, while the even-numbered films were great. The same pattern applies to men’s Olympic ice hockey since 1998.
The 1998 Winter Olympics was the first year that the NHL took a break so that its best players could compete. The Czech Republic beat USA in the Quarterfinals and then Canada in the Semifinals. The Czechs then won the gold medal in a gripping 1-0 win over Russia. While this is the biggest moment in sports history for the Czech Republic, it was pretty forgettable for fans of USA or Canada – much like Star Trek: The Motion Picture was forgettable for Star Trek fans.
The 2002 Winter Olympic Games, on the other hand, were awesome – just like Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn was awesome! We finally got the USA-Canada showdown that we all wanted. While Canada ultimately came out on top, even Americans can’t argue that it was a great tournament.
Then in 2006, Sweden – backstopped by Henrik Lundqvist – won the gold medal. Allegedly, Sweden sandbagged their last preliminary game against Slovakia so that they’d face off against Switzerland instead of Canada the Quarterfinals, but that’s a story for another time. Both Canada and the U.S. flamed out in the Quarterfinals. That would make this tournament Star Trek III: The Search for Spock for us North American fans; it was watchable, and much better than the first one – but it was no Khaaaaaan!
That leads up to the 2010 Olympic Games, which was like Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (a.k.a. the one with the whales). It was almost as good as the second one, but way better than the third one. Again, Canada beat USA for the gold medal, but at least it was a in overtime.
Of course, my Star Trek movie / Olympic hockey metaphor falters a bit with the 2014 Olympics. USA and Canada did have their big showdown, but it was in the Semifinals and Canada won. Canada then won the gold medal, while USA placed fourth. From an American perspective, you could say this Olympics was like the god-awful Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Terrible for American fans – but practically another Wrath of Khan for Canadian fans.
Then the NHL didn’t send its players to the Winter Olympics in 2018 and 2022. No Star Trek metaphors apply here.
But with the NHL returning to the Olympics in 2026, can I use my Star Trek comparison again? Will the 2026 men’s ice hockey tournament be like Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (the 6th Trek film)? Or even better, like Star Trek: First Contact (the 8th Trek film).
Because we don’t want this Olympics to be like Star Trek: Generations, where we were happy to see a new cast of characters, but were otherwise kind of bored throughout and then disappointed with the ending. (Spoiler alert: Captain Kirk dies!) And so far, this Olympics has been anything BUT boring.
Note: This article is an updated version of an editorial that originally appeared in Volume 4 – Issue 6 of the Puck Junk Newsletter. For stories like these, plus news and updates about hockey cards and collectibles, subscribe to the newsletter here.
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