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Ducks at the Winter Olympics: Final Recap
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- Ducks at the Winter Olympics: Final Recap
(Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images)
The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina are now in the books, and they delivered highs and lows throughout, with the men's ice hockey tournament, one of the marquee events, providing no exception.
Five members of the Anaheim Ducks organization represented their respective countries during this year's games ( Lukas Dostal , Radko Gudas , Damian Clara, Mikael Granlund , Jackson LaCombe ), and two of them will return home to Orange County with medals to add to their trophy cases.
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Recaps:
Lukas Dostal (Czechia)
If Czechia was going to medal at the Olympics, it would have to be on the back of a superhuman performance from their starting goaltender, Lukas Dostal. Of their 22 skaters on the roster, only nine are currently playing in the NHL, so their roster lacked some of the firepower that nations like the US, Canada, Finland, and Sweden brought to the games.
Dostal, similarly to how his 2025-26 season with the Ducks has gone, performed well (very well for stretches), but not overwhelmingly enough to steal a game (or games) when they mattered most.
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He brought with him to Milan all the trademark elements of his game that have made him an above-average starting goalie in the NHL. He was a master of his angles, tracked pucks, and cut down angles while in the crease. He was calm amid flurries in tight, managed games well, and acted as a third defenseman when opponents tried to establish a forecheck.
Given how events played out, the Czech team had to faceoff against the tournament favorite Canadian squad twice over the five games they played. They opened the tournament against them, losing 5-0, and lost again in the quarter final in dramatic overtime fashion.
"Twice, I got a chance to play against the most offensive team I've probably had the chance to play against," Dostal said after Saturday's practice, upon his return to Anaheim. "You go through it all the time, suddenly you see Makar , McDavid , MacKinnon , all on the same ice, playing against you. It's a big honor.
"They're great players, but that's why it hurt even more. Because we were really close to a miracle. Unfortunately, it didn't work out for us, but for my experience, speed-wise, it was just so fast, so much fun to play in those games."
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Dostal finished his first Olympic Games with four starts, a 1-3-0 record, and an .886 SV% by saving 117 of 132 shots.
Radko Gudas (Czechia)
Gudas had a rollercoaster five games in what will likely be his last Olympics for Czechia. He brought every ounce of physicality one would expect from him, and had the intention of setting heavy tones game-to-game and shift-to-shift.
There were games where he was making delayed reads that would cost him position at times, and there were games where he was playing his best hockey, potentially in years. When he was at his best, he eliminated the front of his crease, made simple outlets or chips, and anticipated how opposing attacks built to make himself most effective when disrupting or killing plays.
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Gudas finished this tournament with an assist in the quarterfinals, nine shots on goal, and four penalty minutes while playing second-pairing minutes and wearing the "A" for his squad.
Damian Clara (Italy)
Clara was one of the breakout stars of these Olympics, perhaps the biggest. Representing the host nation, Italy, in a tournament where they were severe underdogs in every game they played, in a difficult group, and with zero NHL players on their roster, Clara singlehandedly kept Italy close and gave his team a chance to win in two of the three games he started.
He was peppered in the Italian crease throughout every minute he was on the ice in these games, facing the third most shots of any goaltender in the tournament despite only playing 152:07 minutes. The two goaltenders who faced more shots than Clara, Samuel Hlavaj (Slovakia) and Juuse Saros (Finland), appeared in six games each and saw 269:34 and 360:27 minutes, respectively.
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Clara is a unique blend of size and athleticism. The IIHF lists him at 6-foot-7 and 214 pounds, and he used every inch of that frame to make himself as big as possible to cut down angles from anywhere in his end of the ice. He was a bit scrambly to start the tournament, on the sport's biggest stage and in his home nation, but recovered and delivered an unforgettable performance.
Against the cycle, he tracked pucks well, and he had a perfect reverse VH, which eliminated every inch of net when pucks were in tight and on the outside of the posts. He faced countless odd-man rushes and breakaways where he displayed his athleticism, pushing aggressively laterally and getting each skate to each post, eliminating the entire bottom foot of the net entirely. Before making the jump to the NHL, he'll need to improve his game management, decision-making, and puck skills, as well as playing more contained at times and not overcommitting by keeping himself in position to recover.
Clara will return to the SHL to finish his 2025-26 campaign with Brynas IF after an Olympics where he saved 133 of 146 shots for a .911 SV%.
Mikael Granlund (Finland)
With Finnish captain and star center Aleksander Barkov sidelined for these Olympics with a torn MCL and ACL, Ducks forward Mikael Granlund received the "C" as Finland's captain for these Olympics, the second Olympics of his career. Finland's 25-man roster consisted entirely of NHL players, except for Mikko Lehtonen , who only dressed for two of Finland's six games. They played a contained, passive defensive system in both the neutral and offensive zones, relying on counterattacks and power plays to generate most of their offensive chances.
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To start the tournament, Granlund was placed on a line with Mikko Rantanen and Roope Hintz , a line that was first constructed during the Dallas Stars ' 2025 playoff run. On that line, Granlund served as a detail-oriented passenger, making little connective plays to put his talented linemates in good positions to unleash the entire force of their offensive talents. As the elimination rounds kicked off, Finland spread their wealth and scrambled their lines to further garner depth. Granlund finished on a line with Hintz and Tuevo Teravainen.
Granlund didn't drive play through this tournament, as that's not necessarily his strong suit at this point in his career if it ever was. He played complementary and mistake-free on the defensive side of the puck and displayed his creativity, surprising puck-protection skills, and hockey IQ on occasion to set teammates up for quality opportunities.
Finland lost to Canada in the semi-finals, where they got out to an early 2-0 lead, and whether by design or circumstance, they collapsed in their zone, attempting to protect the slot, but ultimately broke under Canada's potency and weight. Ultimately, Finland defeated Slovakia to win the bronze medal, and Granlund finished the tournament with three points (2-1=3) and 14 shots on goal while playing top-six minutes (roughly 17:00 TOI/G) in Finland's six games.
Jackson LaCombe (USA)
LaCombe was the United States' last addition to their Olympic roster after Seth Jones sustained an upper-body injury at the 2026 Winter Classic. LaCombe was expected to serve as the US's eighth defenseman, and it was questionable whether he'd see any game action given the talent on the American blueline.
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Alas, it's become clear he was only going to see Olympic ice during this tournament if someone along the blueline sustained an injury and needed replacing. Though he didn't suit up, he will return to Orange County with a gold medal around his neck, an unforgettable experience, and a hunger to compete in the 2030 games to fuel him.
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