HENDERSON, NV — Connor Bedard didn’t take it personally when Canada left the Chicago Blackhawks sensation off its 4 Nations Face-Off roster.

“I mean, I kind of knew. I had a slow start last year,” he told ESPN last week. “There are so many great players in Canada. Even if I went out and played great and didn’t make the team, it’s not like I was going to be butt-hurt.”

Tage Thompson of the Buffalo Sabres took it a little more personally when Team USA passed him over for the 4 Nations Face-Off.

“Going into the second half of the season, it was extra motivation to show them that I could play,” he said. “That maybe I did belong out there. I used it to fuel my game and push it in the right direction.”

Apparently, trying to earn the chance to represent one’s country in a best-on-best tournament is a heck of a motivator. Thompson had 24 points in 27 games for the Sabres following the 4 Nations break, with 18 goals.

Dozens of NHL players enter the 2025-26 season with Olympic aspirations. The NHL is returning to the Winter Games for the first time since 2014, taking a break in its season so players can chase gold in Italy next February.

While many players from the 4 Nations Face-Off rosters for Canada, the U.S., Sweden and Finland will carry over to their respective Olympic rosters, executives such as Team USA GM Bill Guerin have said that the 4 Nations group was “probably not gonna be the exact lineup that we take to the Olympics.”

That’s good news for players such as Clayton Keller, the Utah Mammoth forward who was left off the 4 Nations roster and, like Thompson, wasn’t exactly thrilled about it.

“Obviously I was upset, but I used it as motivation,” Keller said. “I think I played my best hockey of the year after that. We really came out strong and made a push for the playoffs”

THOMPSON WAS PERHAPS the most significant snub from the Team USA 4 Nations roster. That he was added as an injury replacement reserve for the championship game against Canada underscored how close he was to making the cut.

Thompson watched that game in Boston. Watched as the U.S. lost in overtime, 3-2, unable to break through against goalie Jordan Binnington before Connor McDavid ended the game and secured the gold medal for Canada.

“Obviously, I would’ve loved to be out there and be a guy to help them win,” he said. “But I don’t pick the team. I’m just playing and doing my job on the ice.”

When Team USA was constructed for the 4 Nations Face-Off, Guerin and his management team opted for veteran depth forwards with potential as two-way players — such as Vincent Trocheck, Chris Kreider and Brock Nelson — rather than bringing on younger players better known for their offense.

One reason was their versatility, as players such as Nelson and Trocheck have thrived in different roles in the NHL. Guerin said it’s an adjustment for star players when they join a best-on-best team and are no longer getting their usual ice time and offensive looks.

“You have to check your ego at the door. That happens on any championship team. I feel like we had that in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey team,” Guerin told ESPN. “You just have to do things that you’re not used to doing. Play roles that you’re not used to playing or the minutes that you’re not used to playing. You have to accept that.”

Another reason players such as Keller and Thompson were overlooked was a lack of championship tournament experience. Thompson has never appeared in a Stanley Cup playoff game after eight seasons — seven of them with Buffalo. Keller has appeared only once in the NHL postseason, playing nine games with Arizona during the empty-arena COVID bubble playoffs in 2020.

Both players sought to boost their résumés by playing on the U.S. team in the 2025 IIHF world championships last spring, when the Americans captured their first title since 1960. Guerin put a premium on having players who might be on the Olympic bubble play in worlds.

Not only were Thompson and Keller there, but so were hopefuls such as defensemen Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Jeremy Swayman of the Boston Bruins, both of whom were on the 4 Nations roster. Younger players such as Anaheim Ducks defenseman Jackson LaCombe and Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Alex Vlasic parlayed their world championship experience into Team USA Olympic orientation camp invites in August.

While Thompson and Keller both said their focus is on their respective NHL seasons, they can’t ignore the Olympic carrot dangling in front of them.

“I think it’s something super cool and exciting and something to play for, and I’m just going to play my game and let the rest take care of itself,” said Keller, who led Utah with 90 points in 81 games last season. “I’m not stressing about it.”

“You don’t want to think about it too much. I feel like my priority is helping our team win in Buffalo. If I do that, then everything just falls into place,” said Thompson, who was Buffalo’s leading scorer with 44 goals in 76 games. “The Olympics is a big goal of mine. It’s something I’ve wanted to be able to do for a long time. So to make the team would be something pretty special. But you don’t want to put too much thought into it.”

Bedard, entering his third season in the NHL after being drafted first overall by Chicago in 2023, opted not to play for Team Canada at IIHF worlds this year. His focus was on his skating and other developmental work in the offseason. Despite Canada’s considerable depth at forward, Bedard is keeping his Olympic hopes alive, having attended orientation camp in August.

“It’d be incredible. It’s not something I think about now too much. I just want to go into camp and have a good start, personally and as a team, and then you see what happens,” said Bedard, who had 67 points in 82 games to led Chicago last season.

Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson‘s name was circulated among fans after the Americans — and specifically the Tkachuk brothers — mucked things up at 4 Nations. In fact, Wilson fought Brady Tkachuk in a game against the Ottawa Senators a few weeks after the tournament.

While Olympic rules likely mean there won’t be another punch-up between Canada and the U.S., Wilson did earn a Team Canada Olympic orientation camp invite this summer after being left off the 4 Nations roster.

“It was cool. It’s an impressive group of guys, to say the least. It really makes you want to put your head down and just work as hard as you can to put yourself in the conversation for making the Olympic team,” Wilson said. “When you’re a kid, it’s the Stanley Cup and an Olympic gold medal. That’s everything. That’s your biggest, wildest dreams. But you look around that [camp] room, every guy beside you wants it just as much as you do — and it’s the best players in the league.”

Wilson believes that the first few months of the 2025-26 season will see players with Winter Games dreams working extra hard to make a final impression.

“For all those Olympic hopefuls, you don’t have a lot of opportunity to gracefully dip your toes in the water to start the year. It’s a small runway before they started announcing rosters and stuff like that,” he said. “You better believe every guy that was in the conversation this summer was working really hard to start well.”

MAKING AN OLYMPIC ROSTER means taking a roster spot from someone who played in the 4 Nations Face-Off. Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim played three games for Team Canada at 4 Nations, and competed for the Canadians at IIHF worlds, where they were stunned in the quarterfinals by Denmark.

“Obviously, 4 Nations was something that was a privilege to be on. I probably wasn’t thinking about it a couple years ago, and just the last couple seasons I put myself in that situation,” Sanheim said.

The work doesn’t stop just because he made that roster. Sanheim was one of 14 defensemen who attended Team Canada’s Olympic orientation camp. He’s considered on the bubble for the 2026 Winter Games.

“I think Canada’s such a deep team and the guys that are competing for those roster spots — you could take about 20 guys to fill, what is it, eight spots? So it’s going to be a challenge,” Sanheim said. “The Olympics are something that I’m striving towards and want to be a part of. It’s exciting to have that opportunity.”

Patrick Kane has had that opportunity twice, winning silver in 2010 and losing bronze in 2014 for the Americans. The 36-year-old winger’s absence from Team USA’s 4 Nations roster wasn’t a surprise, as Kane himself admitted his play last season didn’t warrant a selection. However, his presence at the U.S. Olympic orientation camp in August was a surprise to some, although not to Kane.

“They told my agent there’s the potential of maybe making the team. That I was under consideration. So when you hear that, it’s not really that big of a surprise that you’re there,” he said.

Kane said the real surprise was that his Detroit Red Wings teammate Alex DeBrincat wasn’t invited to camp after not making the 4 Nations cut either.

“I think both of us have some motivation to get off to good starts this year,” he said.

Kane remembers back in 2010 when he was a 21-year-old star on the U.S. Olympic team, surrounded by veteran national team members such as Chris Drury, Jamie Langenbrunner and Brian Rafalski. Now, he would be that elder statesman should he make the cut for 2026. But like every other NHL player that hasn’t formally been named to an Olympic roster, Kane knows he must earn it.

“I want to get to a point where obviously you put yourself in consideration for the team just on your play, right? Not for your name or what you’ve done in the past,” Kane said. “That’s the goal going into this year.”

An elderly British couple who were detained by the Taliban earlier this year have been freed.

Barbie Reynolds, 76, and her husband Peter, 80, were detained by the Taliban’s interior ministry on 1 February as they travelled to their home in Bamyan province, central Afghanistan.

In March, they were moved to a maximum security prison in Kabul where they had been held without charge since.

They were safely released from detention on Friday and flown to Doha following mediation led by Qatar.

Sky Correspondent Cordelia Lynch was at Kabul Airport as the freed couple arrived and departed.

Mr Reynolds told her: “We are just very thankful.”

His wife added: “We’ve been treated very well. We’re looking forward to seeing our children.

“We are looking forward to returning to Afghanistan if we can. We are Afghan citizens.”

Asked by Lynch if they had a message for family and friends, Mrs Reynolds replied: “My message is God is good, as they say in Afghanistan.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the news in a statement thanking Qatar.

“I welcome the release of Peter and Barbara Reynolds from detention in Afghanistan, and I know this long-awaited news will come as a huge relief to them and their family,” he said.

“I want to pay tribute to the vital role played by Qatar, including The Amir, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, in securing their freedom.”

Richard Lindsay, the UK’s special envoy to Afghanistan, told Lynch it remained “unclear” on what grounds the couple had been detained.

He said they were “very relieved to be going home and delighted to be reunited with their family”.

Asked about the state of their health, he said: “I am not a doctor, but they are very happy.”

He added the British government’s travel advice to the country was clear. “We advise British nationals not to travel to Afghanistan. That remains the case and will remain the case,” he said.

Abdul Qahar Balkhi, a spokesperson at the Taliban government’s foreign ministry, said in a statement posted on X that the couple “violated Afghan law” and were released from prison after a court hearing.

He did not say what law the couple were alleged to have broken.

Qatar, the energy-rich nation on the Arabian Peninsula that mediated talks between the US and the Taliban before the American withdrawal, helped in releasing the Reynolds.

Mirdef Ali Al-Qashouti, acting charge d’affaires at the Qatar Embassy in Kabul, told Lynch that Qatari officials ensured the couple were kept in “comfortable” conditions during talks.

He told Lynch the Reynolds’ release was because of “continuous efforts by my government to keep our policy in helping releasing hostages and our mediation and diplomacy”.

“Throughout their eight months in detention – during which they were largely held separately – the Qatari embassy in Kabul provided them with critical support, including access to their doctor, delivery of medication, and regular communication with their family,” a Qatari official told Reuters news agency.

Hamish Falconer, minister for the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan, said in a statement: “The UK has worked intensively since their detention and has supported the family throughout.

“Qatar played an essential role in this case, for which I am hugely grateful.”

The couple have lived in Afghanistan for 18 years and run an organisation called Rebuild, which provides education and training programmes.

They have been together since the 1960s and married in the Afghan capital in 1970.

Read more from Sky News:
Afghans relocated to UK ‘exaggerating’ Taliban threat

Their son, Jonathan, told Sky News in April his parents had “never heard one accusation or one charge”.

He said the British government had offered to evacuate them when the Taliban took over, to which they replied: “Why would we leave these people in their darkest hour?”

Mr and Mrs Reynolds are now on their way home, where they will be reunited with their family.

An elderly British couple who were detained by the Taliban earlier this year have been freed.

Barbie Reynolds, 76, and her husband Peter, 80, were detained by the Taliban’s interior ministry on 1 February as they travelled to their home in Bamyan province, central Afghanistan.

In March, they were moved to a maximum security prison in Kabul where they had been held without charge since.

They were safely released from detention on Friday and flown to Doha following mediation led by Qatar.

Sky Correspondent Cordelia Lynch was at Kabul Airport as the freed couple arrived and departed.

Mr Reynolds told her: “We are just very thankful.”

His wife added: “We’ve been treated very well. We’re looking forward to seeing our children.

“We are looking forward to returning to Afghanistan if we can. We are Afghan citizens.”

Asked by Lynch if they had a message for family and friends, Mrs Reynolds replied: “My message is God is good, as they say in Afghanistan.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the news in a statement thanking Qatar.

“I welcome the release of Peter and Barbara Reynolds from detention in Afghanistan, and I know this long-awaited news will come as a huge relief to them and their family,” he said.

“I want to pay tribute to the vital role played by Qatar, including The Amir, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, in securing their freedom.”

Richard Lindsay, the UK’s special envoy to Afghanistan, told Lynch it remained “unclear” on what grounds the couple had been detained.

He said they were “very relieved to be going home and delighted to be reunited with their family”.

Asked about the state of their health, he said: “I am not a doctor, but they are very happy.”

He added the British government’s travel advice to the country was clear. “We advise British nationals not to travel to Afghanistan. That remains the case and will remain the case,” he said.

Abdul Qahar Balkhi, a spokesperson at the Taliban government’s foreign ministry, said in a statement posted on X that the couple “violated Afghan law” and were released from prison after a court hearing.

He did not say what law the couple were alleged to have broken.

Qatar, the energy-rich nation on the Arabian Peninsula that mediated talks between the US and the Taliban before the American withdrawal, helped in releasing the Reynolds.

Mirdef Ali Al-Qashouti, acting charge d’affaires at the Qatar Embassy in Kabul, told Lynch that Qatari officials ensured the couple were kept in “comfortable” conditions during talks.

He told Lynch the Reynolds’ release was because of “continuous efforts by my government to keep our policy in helping releasing hostages and our mediation and diplomacy”.

“Throughout their eight months in detention – during which they were largely held separately – the Qatari embassy in Kabul provided them with critical support, including access to their doctor, delivery of medication, and regular communication with their family,” a Qatari official told Reuters news agency.

Hamish Falconer, minister for the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan, said in a statement: “The UK has worked intensively since their detention and has supported the family throughout.

“Qatar played an essential role in this case, for which I am hugely grateful.”

The couple have lived in Afghanistan for 18 years and run an organisation called Rebuild, which provides education and training programmes.

They have been together since the 1960s and married in the Afghan capital in 1970.

Read more from Sky News:
Afghans relocated to UK ‘exaggerating’ Taliban threat

Their son, Jonathan, told Sky News in April his parents had “never heard one accusation or one charge”.

He said the British government had offered to evacuate them when the Taliban took over, to which they replied: “Why would we leave these people in their darkest hour?”

Mr and Mrs Reynolds are now on their way home, where they will be reunited with their family.