Morning Cuppa Hockey

Season 3 rolls on at the Milan Games and it’s another LOADED Morning Cuppa Hockey as the guys react to a massive day on the men’s side — dominant lines, lineup changes, star power shining early, and big questions heading into the weekend.

It’s thoughts on yesterday’s action as the Miller–Nelson–Hughes line looks downright dominant and sets the tone for Team USA. Macklin Celebrini scores the first goal of the tournament for Canada, announcing himself on the Olympic stage, while injury news hits the blue line with Josh Morrissey out and Travis Sanheim projected to slide in as the seventh defenseman for Game 2. What stood out most — and what needs to tighten up?

Steve Peters joins the show to zoom out on the tournament trends. With Finland losing to Slovakia and Sweden pushed to the brink by Italy, is this true parity — or are traditional powers still adjusting to short-tournament hockey? Did Latvia empty the tank early against the U.S. and burn out midway through the second? With Denmark up next and Germany looming Sunday, how real is that test? Plus, how do you even begin to defend Canada’s power play? This version of Canada looks far more run-and-gun compared to the suffocating 2014 gold medal team — is that sustainable? And what did Peters see from Jordan Binnington after a strong Game 1 amid all the questions about whether he’s “the guy”?

Bruce Boudreau jumps in with big-picture perspective on having NHL players back at the Olympics. As a coach, how do you handle situations like OEL logging zero minutes or Forsberg getting just one shift — isn’t it important to keep everyone engaged? How would he approach 13 forwards and 7 defensemen in a short tournament? Boudreau coached Bo Horvat in Vancouver — are you surprised he’s here after scoring in Game 1? Does slightly smaller international ice change strategy at all? How much does Quinn Hughes raise the ceiling for the United States? And after just missing Tom Wilson in Washington, would he ever have imagined Wilson riding shotgun with McDavid on the Olympic stage?

Grab your coffee, jump in the comments, and subscribe for daily Milan Games coverage — your home for wall-to-wall Olympic hockey talk.

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