Captain Roman Josi shakes hands after Switzerland's 4-0 win over France on Feb. 12, 2026 at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
photo: IIHF / Andrea Cardian
In 2014, Roman Josi made his Olympic debut in Sochi as a 23-year-old defenseman for Switzerland. On a veteran roster, Josi and 21-year-old Nino Niederreiter were the two youngest players on the Swiss team that was knocked out by Latvia in the playoff qualification round and finished ninth.
At that stage of Josi’s career, the opportunity overshadowed the outcome.
“It was such a cool experience, being young and playing for the country,” he recalled.
This February in Milan, Josi returned to the Olympic stage at age 35. This time, he was wearing the ‘C’ for Switzerland, as he does for the NHL’s Nashville Predators and did for Switzerland’s silver-medal team at the 2024 IIHF World Championship.
“Being able to captain our team was pretty special,” said Josi about his second Olympic experience. “It was so much fun being over there, playing all those games. Nothing but good things to say about it. It was really cool.”
With NHL players returning to the Olympic stage for the first time since Sochi, Tim Stutzle made his Winter Games debut with Team Germany in Milan, at 24 years old.
“It was a lot of fun,” Stutzle said. “Playing with guys you grew up with or guys you know from Germany is always great. I think we had a really good team.”
Wearing an ‘A’ as part of Germany’s leadership group along with captain Leon Draisaitl and fellow alternate Moritz Seider, Stutzle’s four goals in five games tied him for second-most in the tournament. After earning the second seed in Group C in preliminary-round play, Germany dispatched France in the qualification round before falling to Slovakia in the quarter-final.
“It's obviously not the ending we wanted, but I think there's some stuff we can be proud of,” Stutzle said of the team’s sixth-place finish.
It won’t be remembered like their sparkling silver in Pyeongchang in 2018, but it is their best Olympic finish ever with NHL players in the competition.
“We’ve just got to keep building towards being better, especially on the international stage,” Stutzle said. “I think Germany has done a great job developing that and hopefully, there's more kids coming up.”
Switzerland’s fifth-place finish was also solid — the best for that nation since fifth in 1952. But the Swiss results at the IIHF World Championship have been on the upswing recently. The team has won silver at the last two tournaments in 2024 and 2025.
And after taking a 2-0 lead against Finland at the quarter-final in Milan, Josi's group wa less than two minutes away from advancing to the medal round for the first time since 1948 before falling to the Finns in overtime.
“The way we played against Finland — I thought we played a pretty good game and ended up losing kind of a heartbreaker,” Josi said. “Looking back, I think you had a really good chance at your first medal, and it didn't happen. So that was a game that kind of hurt because you were so close. I thought we played a good tournament. We played some really good games. It didn't end the way we wanted. But I thought as a team we played really well,”
The Swiss roster suffered one of the toughest injury losses of the Olympics when forward Kevin Fiala suffered a season-ending leg injury at the tail end of the team’s second preliminary-round game, against Canada.
Fiala’s misfortune gutted the squad, both on and off the ice, but also served as a rallying point.
“That was a big loss for us and obviously we felt for him too,” Josi said. “He loves playing for Switzerland and he's one of our best offensive players. So not having him definitely hurt us. For him, he's very passionate about Switzerland. He's very passionate about playing for Switzerland. Not being able to play after that was pretty tough for him.”
The IIHF Men’s World Championship is a stand-alone event. Josi has played nine times for Switzerland at Worlds and was named tournament MVP in 2013, when the won the first of his three silver medals. Stutzle’s biggest international moment so far came when he was named best forward by the IIHF Directorate while captaining Germany’s world juniors team in 2021.
At the Olympics, of course, it's about much more than hockey. During daily life in the Olympic Village, players get the opportunity to interact with athletes from different sports and teams.
“That was good,” said Josi, who led the Swiss team with 22:04 of ice time per game. “It was fun being around all the other athletes. And it was really cool because there wasn't much in the room, so you would always hang out with your teammates in the dining hall and just be around your teammates most of the time. Which is what's really fun.”
While Stutzle enjoyed his time in the Village, he kept his focus on the task at hand. Averaging 21:55 of ice time per game, he ranked second among all forwards in the tournament behind only his captain, Draisaitl (24:29).
“It was awesome,” said Stutzle of his Olympic experience. “I had a great time seeing all the other athletes and what they do. In the gym, as well. I enjoyed every second of it — kept it fairly simple. We played five games in seven days so we didn’t do a lot. Just kind of stay in the grind and keep putting in the work.”
One of Stutzle's highlights was sharing space with Germany’s women’s hockey team, which was back in Olympic competition for the first time since 2014.
“I love women's hockey,” Stutzle said. "I think it's great for the sport and they've really done a great job. I enjoyed watching them at the Olympics and kind of supporting them as well. It was awesome to see them and talk to them. Most of them play in Germany, but some of them are overseas as well.”
Switzerland’s women had a tremendous tournament, winning the bronze medal. Goaltender Andrea Brandli was named top goaltender by both the IIHF Directorate and the voters of the media all-star team. Alina Muller, who scored the bronze medal-wining goal in overtime, was also named to the all-star squad.
“They were in the same house and we had the same lounge, so they were hanging out in lounge a couple times with us and we saw them in the hall,” Josi said. “It's cool when you see the woman's team and you both play the same sport and are going for the same goal. You talk about each other's games, which is always so fun. And they ended up winning bronze which is really cool for Switzerland.”
For Josi and Stutzle’s friends and family, travel to Milano was easy from their Central European nations. That will also be the case next time around, as the French Riviera will play host in 2030.
At that stage of Josi’s career, the opportunity overshadowed the outcome.
“It was such a cool experience, being young and playing for the country,” he recalled.
This February in Milan, Josi returned to the Olympic stage at age 35. This time, he was wearing the ‘C’ for Switzerland, as he does for the NHL’s Nashville Predators and did for Switzerland’s silver-medal team at the 2024 IIHF World Championship.
“Being able to captain our team was pretty special,” said Josi about his second Olympic experience. “It was so much fun being over there, playing all those games. Nothing but good things to say about it. It was really cool.”
With NHL players returning to the Olympic stage for the first time since Sochi, Tim Stutzle made his Winter Games debut with Team Germany in Milan, at 24 years old.
“It was a lot of fun,” Stutzle said. “Playing with guys you grew up with or guys you know from Germany is always great. I think we had a really good team.”
Wearing an ‘A’ as part of Germany’s leadership group along with captain Leon Draisaitl and fellow alternate Moritz Seider, Stutzle’s four goals in five games tied him for second-most in the tournament. After earning the second seed in Group C in preliminary-round play, Germany dispatched France in the qualification round before falling to Slovakia in the quarter-final.
“It's obviously not the ending we wanted, but I think there's some stuff we can be proud of,” Stutzle said of the team’s sixth-place finish.
It won’t be remembered like their sparkling silver in Pyeongchang in 2018, but it is their best Olympic finish ever with NHL players in the competition.
“We’ve just got to keep building towards being better, especially on the international stage,” Stutzle said. “I think Germany has done a great job developing that and hopefully, there's more kids coming up.”
Switzerland’s fifth-place finish was also solid — the best for that nation since fifth in 1952. But the Swiss results at the IIHF World Championship have been on the upswing recently. The team has won silver at the last two tournaments in 2024 and 2025.
And after taking a 2-0 lead against Finland at the quarter-final in Milan, Josi's group wa less than two minutes away from advancing to the medal round for the first time since 1948 before falling to the Finns in overtime.
“The way we played against Finland — I thought we played a pretty good game and ended up losing kind of a heartbreaker,” Josi said. “Looking back, I think you had a really good chance at your first medal, and it didn't happen. So that was a game that kind of hurt because you were so close. I thought we played a good tournament. We played some really good games. It didn't end the way we wanted. But I thought as a team we played really well,”
The Swiss roster suffered one of the toughest injury losses of the Olympics when forward Kevin Fiala suffered a season-ending leg injury at the tail end of the team’s second preliminary-round game, against Canada.
Fiala’s misfortune gutted the squad, both on and off the ice, but also served as a rallying point.
“That was a big loss for us and obviously we felt for him too,” Josi said. “He loves playing for Switzerland and he's one of our best offensive players. So not having him definitely hurt us. For him, he's very passionate about Switzerland. He's very passionate about playing for Switzerland. Not being able to play after that was pretty tough for him.”
The IIHF Men’s World Championship is a stand-alone event. Josi has played nine times for Switzerland at Worlds and was named tournament MVP in 2013, when the won the first of his three silver medals. Stutzle’s biggest international moment so far came when he was named best forward by the IIHF Directorate while captaining Germany’s world juniors team in 2021.
At the Olympics, of course, it's about much more than hockey. During daily life in the Olympic Village, players get the opportunity to interact with athletes from different sports and teams.
“That was good,” said Josi, who led the Swiss team with 22:04 of ice time per game. “It was fun being around all the other athletes. And it was really cool because there wasn't much in the room, so you would always hang out with your teammates in the dining hall and just be around your teammates most of the time. Which is what's really fun.”
While Stutzle enjoyed his time in the Village, he kept his focus on the task at hand. Averaging 21:55 of ice time per game, he ranked second among all forwards in the tournament behind only his captain, Draisaitl (24:29).
“It was awesome,” said Stutzle of his Olympic experience. “I had a great time seeing all the other athletes and what they do. In the gym, as well. I enjoyed every second of it — kept it fairly simple. We played five games in seven days so we didn’t do a lot. Just kind of stay in the grind and keep putting in the work.”
One of Stutzle's highlights was sharing space with Germany’s women’s hockey team, which was back in Olympic competition for the first time since 2014.
“I love women's hockey,” Stutzle said. "I think it's great for the sport and they've really done a great job. I enjoyed watching them at the Olympics and kind of supporting them as well. It was awesome to see them and talk to them. Most of them play in Germany, but some of them are overseas as well.”
Switzerland’s women had a tremendous tournament, winning the bronze medal. Goaltender Andrea Brandli was named top goaltender by both the IIHF Directorate and the voters of the media all-star team. Alina Muller, who scored the bronze medal-wining goal in overtime, was also named to the all-star squad.
“They were in the same house and we had the same lounge, so they were hanging out in lounge a couple times with us and we saw them in the hall,” Josi said. “It's cool when you see the woman's team and you both play the same sport and are going for the same goal. You talk about each other's games, which is always so fun. And they ended up winning bronze which is really cool for Switzerland.”
For Josi and Stutzle’s friends and family, travel to Milano was easy from their Central European nations. That will also be the case next time around, as the French Riviera will play host in 2030.