Miro Heiskanen keeps his cool after Finland stumbles against Slovakia in a tournament twist that has Stars fans twitching. The Dallas defenseman, a puck-moving machine who's carried the blue line all season, brushes aside the panic as Leijonat recalibrate for gold medal contention. With NHL eyes on these prelims, Heiskanen's steady hand hints at bigger things when the real stakes hit.

Rasmus Ristolainen sits at a crossroads with the Flyers, where a dominant showing for Finland in Milan could flip his trade stock from question mark to hot commodity. Front offices around the league whisper about his physical shutdown game suiting a contender's blue line, but only if he stays upright through the grind of top-pair minutes alongside guys like Heiskanen.

Finland's Olympic title defense carries a different weight this time around, loaded with NHL firepower that shifts expectations in Milan. With Barkov sidelined by injury, Granlund steps up as captain while Heiskanen anchors a massive blue line, blending vets and young guns like Kakko and Lundell. Korpisalo slides in for the injured Luukkonen, giving them a Bruins backbone between the pipes. The Finns always punch above, but this roster tests if NHL depth turns pressure into gold-medal fuel.

Miro Heiskanen anchors Finland's blue line with Esa Lindell, leveraging their Dallas Stars chemistry to drive puck movement and shutdown play in Milano Cortina. The 26-year-old Stars defenseman returns to Olympics since his teenage debut, carrying expectations beyond hardware as Finland eyes gold with a stacked roster including Roope Hintz and Mikko Rantanen.

Finland rolls out an Olympic roster stacked with NHL stars like Miro Heiskanen, Sebastian Aho and Roope Hintz, but captain Aleksander Barkov sits out with his knee injury from the Panthers' season. GM Jere Lehtinen plugged the gaps by adding Kraken sniper Eeli Tolvanen and Habs prospect Oliver Kapanen to keep the leadership flowing without their heart-and-soul center.

The men's hockey tournament at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics kicks off today with Slovakia facing Finland, setting the stage for a grueling round-robin before single-elimination playoffs lead to the gold medal game on February 22. NHL stars like Jake Oettinger debut for Team USA while Dallas sends four Finns including Miro Heiskanen in his second Games, and insiders buzz about 148 NHLers total with 124 first-timers hungry to prove themselves.