Six of the Colorado Avalanche players returned home from the 2026 Winter Olympics with a medal, but what if it were 25?
It’s a question that is impossible to answer, but fun to contemplate: How would the Avs, the NHL’s top team at the Olympic break, fare against the top national teams if they had been allowed to enter the tournament?
We asked a handful of the Avs players. Here’s the scenario: the eight Olympians from Colorado play for the Avs, and those countries get to replace them with alternates. Let’s replace France, which wouldn’t have been in the tournament had Russia been allowed to compete, with the Avalanche.