What’s The Difference Between Olympic Hockey And The NHL?
There was a recent long absence of National Hockey League players in the Olympics, but now the world’s best hockey players from the NHL can return to represent their country and play…
There was a recent long absence of National Hockey League players in the Olympics, but now the world's best hockey players from the NHL can return to represent their country and play in the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Italy.
NHL players missed the 2018 and 2022 games, largely because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The return of the sport's best players is highly anticipated and should bring back the high competitive level that the 2014 Sochi Olympics had.
While fans will be excited to see the return of young and old star players like Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby, it's important to know the differences between NHL-level play and the International Ice Hockey Federation rules that are used at the Olympics. Let's take a closer look at those league differences now.
Rink Size
One of the first differences between the two leagues is the playing surface dimensions. The right playing surface can help with pace and overall style of play.
- NHL Rinks: The standard for a North American rink is 200 feet long by 85 feet wide. The smaller surface usually leads to a faster-paced and more physical game, with less open ice. The ice hockey players have less time to make decisions, and being decently close to the boards can lead to more big hits and battles for the puck.
- Olympic Rinks: The international rinks are larger and measure 200 feet long by 100 feet wide, which makes them 15 feet wider than the NHL's standards for rink size. The extra space leads to more flow for the game and becomes all about the skating speed, stick handling, and unique passing plays. Also, that open ice makes the game look a little less tight, and the skilled players will benefit more than the physical type of players.
The 2026 Olympics will be played on rinks that are closer to NHL size (approx. 196.85 ft. x 85.3 ft), aiming to accommodate the style that the NHL players are used to playing.
Physical Play
The NHL and IIHF rulebooks are completely different on fighting and overall physical play.
- NHL Rules: Fighting is still a part of NHL games, and even though it can be controversial at times, it's long been ingrained the culture. Now, players who drop the gloves will go to the box for five minutes and no power plays are rewarded. The teams just continue with five-on-five hockey. The player will eventually come back out, and sometimes emotional momentum can happen for one of the teams.
- Olympic Rules: The IIHF is not about fighting at all and has a zero-tolerance policy for any participation in it. Any hockey player who starts throwing punches will get a major penalty and be kicked out of the game. This policy takes away some of the strategy that goes with being extra physical on a team. The rule has done pretty well: according to the New York Times, there have only been eight fights since 1960.
Sudden Death
Both NHL play and the Olympic tournament, in the event of a tie, go to extra time, but they have different structures in place.
- Preliminary Rounds: Both leagues use the same format for the early-round games at the Olympics. A five-minute overtime is played out, and it's three-on-three. Now, the difference comes in the shootout format. The NHL has three different shooters per team, and the Olympics have five. After five players have gone, the same player can be used multiple times in the sudden-death rounds.
- NHL Playoffs: In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, there are no shootouts. Teams will simply play five-on-five until someone scores. The periods are the standard 20 minutes long, just like the regular season. It can also be hard to draw a penalty, as it really has to be a bad penalty to get that power play.
- Olympic Eliminations: For the quarter and semi-final rounds, there's a single 10-minute overtime, and it's played three-on-three. For the gold medal game, the IIHF uses most of the NHL's playoff format of playing 20 minutes, three-on-three, until someone scores. The ultimate prize feels even more epic when the winning country scores on a random play instead of a scheduled shootout.
Playing in the NHL means you've reached the top of the professional hockey world. It shows that you're among the world's elite and competing for one of the best prizes in the sport: the Stanley Cup. With the Olympics, it's more about national pride and the rare moment of seeing the best players from each country going at it for a couple of weeks every four years. For an NHL player, it's a real honor to represent their home country on the global stage.
The Olympics offer a chance to add a rare achievement to a professional player's career, and that is getting a gold medal. Playing in both the NHL and the Olympics shows that a hockey player can perform in high-stakes moments and be well respected.
