'Young and dumb' at the Olympics before, returning players bring valuable experience to Milan

MILAN (AP) — Sidney Crosby is 16 years removed from his first Olympics, when he scored the golden goal to give Canada a much needed title on home ice at the 2010 Vancouver Games.

“There’s some days that it feels like 12 years and other days where it feels like yesterday,” Crosby said.

Rasmus Dahlin was only 17 when he went to South Korea for his first for Sweden in 2018.

“I did not enjoy it one bit,” Dahlin said. “I was just young and dumb. I didn’t really realize I was at the Olympics.”

Crosby and Drew Doughty are at their third Olympics and first since 2014. Dahlin and Finland's Miro Heiskanen and Eeli Tolvanen played in 2018. U.S. defensemen Brock Faber and Jake Sanderson and Slovakia’s Juraj Slafkovsky are among those going back to back after being in the Beijing bubble at the 2022 Winter Games.

Now they are all together in Milan as part of the first full international men’s hockey tournament with the world’s best talent in a decade, dating to the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Ten of the 12 teams involved in Milan have at least one player with Olympic experience, with just a handful bridging the dozen-year gap between NHL appearances.

“That was 12 years ago, which is wild to think,” Sweden captain Gabriel Landeskog said Monday. “You realize those opportunities don’t come around very often, and now here in 2026, we feel very fortunate to get this opportunity again and are very excited about the opportunity.”

There are only four left from Vancouver: Crosby, Doughty, Latvia's Kaspars Daugavins and Czechia's Roman Cervenka. Canada won each of the past two tournaments with NHL players and is looking to make it three in a row.

The Russian team won gold in 2018, and Finland followed in 2022.

“A lot of things are different, but the same goal is in mind and that’s the gold medal,” Doughty said. “It means so much, and it’s been so long since the last one. That’s all you think about when you come here.”

Daugavins, 37, is here for the fourth time. Cervenka, 40, is the only five-time Olympian in the field.

Sweden is tied for the most players back from the 2014 Sochi Olympics with four: Landeskog, Erik Karlsson, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and injury replacement Marcus Johansson. Landeskog and Karlsson were talking Monday about their experience back then and don't remember as much as they would have liked.

“It’s an experience that some of us have that is very valuable,” Karlsson said. “It’s always something that, when you’re in those moments, it gives you a sense of comfort that you’ve been here before."

While Canada has two in Crosby and Doughty, the U.S. has no one back from 2014. Czechia and Switzerland have three apiece and Finland two.

Latvia has Daugavins, Zemgus Girgensons, Ralfs Freibergs and Kristers Gudlevskis back. Gudlevskis memorably made 55 saves on 57 shots to almost knock off Canada in the quarterfinals in Sochi, and his next game at the Olympics is Thursday against the heavily favored Americans.

“I feel like every next time I’m coming to the Olympic Games, I appreciate it more and more,” Gudlevskis said. "I just feel more appreciative for the opportunity to be here and be a part of this whole thing."

A rookie in 2014 and not close to making Canada's roster then, Nathan MacKinnon didn't remember why the league didn't go to the 2018 Olympics and lamented the missed opportunity of not going to Pyeongchang. A variety of factors from the time differential and South Korea not being a hockey market to the disruption of the season factored in.

Heiskanen, now an elite No. 1 defenseman with Dallas, and Tolvanen, now 400 NHL games in, only made Finland — and the same for Dahlin with Sweden — because federations could not take players from the best league in the world.

“We were kind of the kids around that everybody else was babysitting,” said Tolvanen, who made the all-tournament team.

Unlike Dahlin, who was much younger than the rest of his teammates and sulked about it, Tolvanen and Heiskanen enjoyed their first Olympics.

“To get to play there at 18 years old, it was a pretty cool moment and something for sure I remember the rest of my life,” Heiskanen said. "It probably helps a little bit to know how all the things work here and know a little bit what to expect.”

The post-pandemic plan was for players to return to the Olympics in Beijing, but scheduling issues caused the league to pull out just before the drop-dead date to decide. USA Hockey and Hockey Canada went with more young prospects than four years earlier, and Slafkovsky showcased himself by scoring seven goals at age 17 to earn MVP honors as he led Slovakia to the bronze medal.

The U.S. lost in the quarterfinals in a shootout, just as it did in 2018, and gave Faber and Sanderson a valuable lesson about the perils of a single-elimination tournament. They just won't be espousing much about it to their elders.

“You kind of just soak it all in,” Sanderson said. "But I think Fabes and I being the two youngest on the team, I don’t think we’re holding court too much there.”

A big difference this time is the chance to roam freely around the city, rather than being confined to a bubble with COVID-19 precautions everywhere. While that's a world of difference, Faber was surprisingly comfortable arriving at his second Olympics.

“Pretty similar, though, honestly,” Faber said. “A lot more similar than I thought it would be.”

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Sweden's Gabriel Landeskog skates with the puck during men's ice hockey practice at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Finland's Mikko Lehtonen carries his country's flag during the Olympic opening ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Canada's Sidney Crosby skates up the ice during men's ice hockey practice at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Canada's Drew Doughty arrives for men's ice hockey practice at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

NEW YORK (AP) — A jury found Wednesday that entertainment giant Live Nation, which hosts tens of thousands of concerts a year, and its Ticketmaster subsidiary had a harmful monopoly over big venues.

The ruling, in a lawsuit brought by dozens of states, won’t immediately bring relief for concertgoers who have long complained about high ticket prices. But it could cost Live Nation hundreds of millions of dollars and perhaps force the company to sell some of its concert venues when the judge hands out penalties later.

Among other things, the jury found Ticketmaster's anticompetitive practices led to people in 22 states paying an extra $1.72 per ticket, which the judge could order the companies to pay back.

A jury in New York deliberated for four days before reaching its decision. State attorneys general who sued Live Nation said the verdict could potentially lead to lower ticket prices for music fans.

Live Nation said in a statement that the verdict “is not the last word on this matter.”

The company predicted that once a remedy phase of the litigation is completed before the judge and all appeals are resolved, the outcome likely won't be much different from what the federal government achieved with a settlement it reached with the company just after the trial began.

That deal included a cap on service fees at some amphitheaters, plus some new ticket-selling options for promoters and venues — potentially allowing, but not requiring, them to open doors to Ticketmaster competitors such as SeatGeek or AXS.

The trial gave fans the equivalent of a backstage pass to a business that dominates live entertainment in the U.S. and beyond.

Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino testified, answering questions about matters including the company’s Taylor Swift ticket debacle in 2022. Rapino blamed a cyberattack.

Jurors also got to see a Live Nation employee’s internal messages to another employee declaring some prices “outrageous,” calling customers “so stupid” and boasting that the company was “robbing them blind, baby.” The employee, Benjamin Baker, who has since been promoted to a position as a ticketing executive, apologetically testified that the messages were “very immature and unacceptable.”

Live Nation Entertainment owns, operates, controls booking for or has an equity interest in hundreds of venues. Its subsidiary Ticketmaster is widely considered to be the world’s largest ticket-seller for live events.

The verdict could cost Live Nation and Ticketmaster hundreds of millions of dollars, based on the jury's estimate that customers paid an extra $1.72 per ticket. The companies could also be assessed penalties. In addition, sanctions could result in court orders that they divest themselves of some entities, including venues such as amphitheaters that they own.

In its statement, Live Nation said the jury's award of $1.72 per ticket applied to “a limited number of tickets” sold at 257 venues and representing about 20% of total tickets sold. The company estimated the aggregate single damages figure would be below $150 million, though it would be trebled.

The civil case, initially led by the U.S. government, accused Live Nation of using its reach to smother competition — by blocking venues from using multiple ticket sellers, for example.

Live Nation insisted it is not a monopoly, saying that artists, sports teams and venues decide prices and ticketing practices. A company lawyer said its size was simply a function of excellence and effort.

“Success is not against the antitrust laws in the United States,” attorney David Marriott said in his summation.

Ticketmaster was established in 1976 and merged with Live Nation in 2010. The company now controls of 86% of the market for concerts and 73% of the overall market when sports events are included, according to an attorney for the states, Jeffrey Kessler.

Ticketmaster has long drawn ire from fans and some artists. Grunge rock titans Pearl Jam battled the business in the 1990s, even filing an anti-monopoly complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice, which declined to bring a case then.

Decades later, the Justice Department, joined by dozens of states, brought the current lawsuit during Democratic former President Joe Biden's administration.

Days into the trial, Republican President Donald Trump's administration announced it was settling its claims against Live Nation.

A handful of the states joined the settlement. But more than 30 pressed ahead with the trial, saying the federal government hadn't gotten enough concessions.

New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said in a release after the verdict that Live Nation's “illegal, anti-competitive practices” had driven up ticket prices and made it harder for fans to see their favorite acts.

New York Attorney General Letitia James called the verdict “a landmark victory.”

After the victory, Kessler would not say specifically what the states will seek in the next phase of the litigation, which was expected to involve another lengthy legal proceeding before penalties are decided.

But he celebrated the moment.

“It’s a great day for consumers," he said.

FILE - The Ticketmaster logo is seen along the sideline of the field before an NFL football game, Sept. 15, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)