Team Canada men’s hockey players ditching Olympic village to sleep in hotel
There will be a noticeable lack of Canadian NHL players around the Olympic village this year.
With Team Canada set to open up their 2026 Olympic tournament on Thursday, questions have swirled around whether or not players will opt to stay in the athletes’ village throughout the Games.
Photos and videos of athlete rooms have been shared around, showing a pretty cramped setup that fits two to a room on tiny beds. It would represent quite a change for a team full of millionaire athletes, and Team Canada’s men’s hockey team has opted for a more luxurious option.
Every NHL player at the Olympics will have the choice of staying in an NHLPA-provided hotel room, and Team Canada has chosen to do just that. Canadian GM Doug Armstrong confirmed after Wednesday’s practice that players will be staying in a hotel.
The move has drawn criticism from some thinking Canada should bunk up like the rest of the athletes, but Armstrong told reporters that this is nothing new for NHL players at the Olympics.
“The players have always had a hotel room in all of the Olympics prior to this, in Vancouver [2010] and Sochi [2014],” Armstrong said. “They’ve stayed with their families. They have a room in the village, they have a room provided by the NHL and NHLPA outside there.
“This is no different than the tournaments we had before. We just wanted to give our players that option to stay where they’re most comfortable to prepare for the games.”
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There is no doubt that staying in a hotel would be the more comfortable option for the Canadian squad. Just because they aren’t sleeping in the village doesn’t mean that players won’t be cheering on their Canadian compatriots during the Games.
The team already made headlines for their hilarious reaction during Tuesday’s dramatic short-track speed skating relay when Canada captured a silver medal.
However, each player having their own space to relax, recover, and prepare would certainly be a leg up on any other team that opts to stay in the tighter quarters of the Olympic village.
One of the teams opting to stay in the village is Canada’s arch-rival, the United States. They had the option of going to a hotel of their own, but the Americans decided as a team to stick out with the rest of their Olympic colleagues.
“We want the full experience,” Brady Tkachuk said of the decision.
Brady Tkachuk says he and his USA teammates have already decided they are staying in the Olympic Village for the duration of the tournament.
“We want the full experience,” he said.
— Kyle Bukauskas (@sportsnetkyle) February 8, 2026
The decision, no matter how normal it is for Team Canada, is sure to ruffle some feathers. We will find out just how much of an advantage a nice, quiet hotel stay is when the Canadians open up their Olympic tournament against Czechia on Thursday.