USA vs. Latvia live updates: Winter Olympics 2026 men’s hockey news, predictions and latest

One of the biggest changes since NHLers were last on the Olympic stage 12 years ago is how the games will be called.

Without much fanfare, the NHL and IIHF have spent the last five years or so diligently narrowing the gap between rulebooks.

“The last time the NHL players were at the Olympics, the rulebooks of the IIHF and the National Hockey League were significantly different,’’ Scott Zelkin, head of officiating for the IIHF, said in an interview with The Athletic on Tuesday. “Not only standards, how we penalize different fouls, but also just the pure and simple labeling of penalties and what you can call different fouls.

“In the last handful of years, those two rulebooks have come to the point where they are almost identical,’’ added Zelkin, a former NHL referee from 1997 to 2003. “There are a few nuances that are different, and the fans may see some differences, but in general, the rulebooks now are really, really close. So that’s the first thing that in our mind is helping to standardize the officiating really across the world.’’

It’s an IIHF tournament with an IIHF rulebook, but the overall sense is that a blended officiating standard will be on display at this men’s Olympic tournament.

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