Columbus Blue Jackets @ The 2026 Winter Olympics: 2/20/26

It's Semifinals day for the Men's Olympic Hockey Teams at the 2026 Winter Olympics, and it did not disappoint. Game one early this afternoon featured a close game between Team Canada and Team Finland. The game was all Team Finland as they led 2-0, but Team Canada came all the way back, winning 3-2 with a game-winning goal from Nathan MacKinnon with only about a minute before the game would be forced into overtime. So, Team Canada would await the winner of Team Slovakia at Team U.S.A, and if you were a Team U.S.A and/or Zach Werenski fan, this game did not disappoint either!

At 4:19, Zach Werenski would come away with his first assist of the game on the first goal of the game, scored by Dylan Larkin! The Secondary assist would go to Tage Thompson. For those at home keeping track of our Blue Jacket, Zach Werenski, this brings Zach to a 1-2-3 at the Olympics so far. Know this number will increase exponentially as the night goes on! Before this opening period would close, Tage Thompson would add a goal to his earlier assist at 19:19! Jack Eichel gets his fourth assist at the Olympics on the primary, while the secondary becomes Quinn Hughes sixth at the games. This period would close with a 2-0 Team U.S.A lead.  

Jack Hughes would bump Team U.S.A up to a three-goal lead at 12:14 of Period 2! The only assist on this goal would be the second of the game, the third of the Olympics, for our Zach Werenski! Seconds later, at 12:33, Jack Eichel would add his second goal of the Olympics, making the lead 4-0 for Team U.S.A! Brady Tkachuk adds a second assist to his Olympic Gameswith the primary, while his brother, Matthew Tkachuk, adds his sixth of the Olympic Games with the secondary. Before the period could end, another late goal would come for Team U.S.A at 18:24, taking their lead to 5-0! Jack Hughes would put himself on Olympic Hattrick watch after getting his second goal of this game, and his third of the Olympics. Zach Werenski adds his third assist of this game, his fourth overall at the Olympics, on the primary. Matt Boldy also adds an assist to his total at the Olympics, getting his second assist on the secondary. The rest of the clock would drain in Period 2, and Team U.S.A would carry a five-goal advantage into the last twenty minutes of this game. But this game wasn't over yet, and Team Slovakia would make it interesting, 

A few things would change before Period 3 starts. First, Tage Thompson would sit out the last period after having a 1-1-2 night. He took a cringy check in the middle period, and with Team U.S.A. likely in the Gold-Medal game Sunday, I think this was the right call, for sure. Another change is that Team Slovakia would pull their starting goalie as they'd likely be heading to the Bronze Medal match tomorrow night. Team Slovakia would play well ahead of their backup goalie, too, scoring their first goal of the game by way of Juraj Slafkovsky. This goal, at 4:55, marks his fourth at the 2026 Winter Olympics. A. Ruzicka gets his third assist of the games on the primary, while the secondary becomes the second assist of the Olympic Games for M. Fehervary. (The Olympics allows the NHL to share very little information in the app, so I have to leave these names in abbreviations, I'm sorry!) Team U.S.A. would get back their five-goal lead at 10:52 with Brady Tkachuk's third goal of the Olympics! Vincent Trocheck picks up his third assist in the Olympics with the primary, while the secondary becomes the second at the Olympics for Noah Hamifin. Team Slovakia would get one last goal from Pavel Regenda at 13:17, his third in these Olympic Games. M. Kelemen gets his first assist at the games on the primary, while M. Fehervary gets his second assist in this game, and his third in the Olympics. This would take us to our final, 6-2, as Team U.S.A and Zach Werenski advance to the 2026 Winter Olympics Men's Hockey Gold-Medal Game! 

Zach Werenski goes into that Gold-Medal Game with a 1-4-5 record at the 2026 Winter Olympics. For tonight's exciting game, where Zach had 3 of those 4 assist points, his wife Odette was joined by a Columbus friend. Meredith Gaudreau, the widow of the late Blue Jacket, Johnny Gaudreau, joined Odette with Johnny and her Children, as well as Johnny's dad, Guy Gaudreau. It was great to see them at the game, and know that they got to go into the locker room before puck drop to see their dad's jersey hanging in his own personal stall. Team U.S.A. did this last year for the 4-Nations Faceoff, where they took second place, and at the IIHF Worlds, where they won Gold and held Johnny's jersey over the trophy in the team photo. There's no doubt Johnny would've been on both those two teams, and in the Olympics, had he and his brother not been hit and killed in an alledged Drunk driving accident in 2024. Watching the Blue Jackets, Calgary Flames, NHL, and World rally around this family has been nothing short of special, and I look forward to hopefully seeing Team U.S.A. win again for him on Sunday. 

That said, if you want to see that happen, too, set your alarm and get your coffee ready! The Gold-Medal Game is the concluding event of the 2026 Winter Olympics. This means it will be live, and the time difference will put puck drop at 8:00 a.m. Sunday morning! I have to be at work at 12:00 p.m., so I will do what I can to post when the game ends before I leave! 

Also, if you wish to get your fill of Olympic Hockey before it goes on hiatus for the next four years, Team Finland and Team Slovakia will play for the Bronze Medal tomorrow afternoon! The puck will drop for that game at 2:30. Check your local listings for that game!

Good Luck, Team U.S.A! If they can pull off the win, it will be the first Olympic Gold for us in 46 years! Bring it home for your country, friends, family, critics, yourself, and Johnny!