Canadian hockey fans don’t have to wait any longer; hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics starts today.
While the Women’s Hockey has been underway for several days now, the men’s hockey portion of the Olympics started on Wednesday, February 11th. The 2026 Olympics are significant because NHL players are back for the first time since 2014.
Canada’s men’s team will open the Winter Olympics against Czechia. Here is everything you need to know about the line combinations and starting goalies for both teams.
Team Canada Line Combinations
Team Canada’s head coach, Jon Cooper, has kept the line combinations the same for practically every practice.
On the morning of their game against Czechia, TSN’s Ryan Rishaug reported who would be scratched for the opening game.
“Sanheim, Jarvis, and Kuemper all taking part in Canada’s practice/scratches ice this morning,” Rishaug posted on X early on February 12, 2026. “With the afternoon start time, the rest of the group won’t see the ice until warmup.”
Of course, by afternoon start time, he means that it’s afternoon in Italy.
Here are the line combinations at the last Team Canada practice:
Team Canada Forward Lines
Celebrini – McDavid – Wilson
Hagel – MacKinnon – Reinhart
Stone – Crosby – Marner
Marchand – Horvat – Suzuki
Bennett
These Olympic Games present an incredible opportunity for San Jose Sharks‘ youngster, Macklin Celebrini. He will be on the team’s top line alongside Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid and power forward Tom Wilson.
Team Canada Defense Pairings
Toews – Makar
Morrissey – Parayko
Harley – Doughty
Theodore
Of course, Cooper would keep Colorado Avalanche teammates Devon Toews and Cale Makar together to begin the Olympics. Each defense pairing can shut down the opposition while swiftly moving the puck up the ice.
Goalies:
Binnington
Thompson
Who is Team Canada’s Starting Goalie?
GettyWill Jordan Binnington be Team Canada’s starting goalie vs. Czechia?
Predicting Team Canada’s starting goalie for their first game against Czechia is a literal coin toss. With Darcy Keumper of the Los Angeles Kings a scratch, the St. Louis Blues‘ Jordan Binnington and Washington Capitals‘ netminder Logan Thompson are the only options.
However, fans are going to have to wait until warmups to discover who the starting netminder is going to be for Team Canada. When speaking to reporters on Wednesday, February 11th, Cooper said that he would “inform the starter of his decision later Wednesday.”
There are a few specific details that may hint at which way Cooper will proceed.
For starters, NHLers participated in the 4 Nations Faceoff event in 2025. Cooper coached Team Canada for the event. And who started all four games of that event for Team Canada? If you guessed Binnington, you are correct.
However, another report from Rishaug suggests that Binnington will be the starting goalie.
“Looks like Binnington has his own net at the far end of the ice. Other two sharing,” Rishaug posted on X on February 11th, 2026.
Binnington finished the 4 Nations Faceoff with a 2-2 record to go along with a 2.38 goals against average (GAA), and a .907 save percentage (SV%).
Team Czechia Line Combinations
Czechia’s roster includes a variety of NHL players from the Vancouver Canucks, New York Islanders, Boston Bruins, Anaheim Ducks, Philadelphia Flyers, and Vegas Golden Knights.
Forward Lines:
Martin Necas – Tomas Hertl – David Pastrnak
Ondrej Palat – David Kampf – Ondrej Kase
Roman Cervenka – Lukas Sedlak – David Tomasek
Matej Stransky – Radek Faksa – Dominik Kubalik
Defense Pairings:
Radim Simek – Filip Hronek
Michal Kempny – Radko Gudas
Jan Rutta – David Spacek
Goalies:
Lucas Dostal
Dan Vladar
Where to Watch Canada vs Czechia?
The Canada vs Czechia game will be broadcast at 10:30 AM Eastern Standard Time (EST). The game will be broadcast on CBC, RDS2, ICI Tele, and streaming on ICI TOU.TV & CBC Gem.
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