Maltais joined a select group of skaters in 2022. With a gold medal in the team pursuit event at the 2022 Beijing Games, she became just the fourth skater in history — and the first Canadian — to win an Olympic medal in both speed skating and short track.

By Trevor Stynes MILAN, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Canada's defence of their Olympic women's ice hockey title took longer than expected to get underway, and they also took a while to get the goals flowing before finishing off Switzerland on Saturday,

Team Canada looks to finish Day 1 strong after earning its first medal at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics

The Italians have 25 first-time Olympians and four NHL draft picks, including Clara, defenseman Thomas Larkin (Columbus Blue Jackets, fifth round, 2009), forward Matthew Bradley (Canadiens, fifth round, 2015) and forward Cristiano DiGiacinto (Tampa Bay Lightning, sixth round, 2014).

The NHL players are back in the Winter Olympics for the first time since the 2014 games in Sochi, Russia, and Canada is once again entering the tournament as one of the top favorites to win Gold.

Elegant and energetic, Milan puts its best foot forward to kick off the 2026 Winter Olympics with a star-studded opening ceremony.