Canada faces Czechia and the US plays Sweden in the quarterfinals at the Olympics

MILAN (AP) — Like a shock to the system, hockey at the Olympics goes from nobody getting eliminated in group play to a single-elimination knockout round until one team is left standing. It's Game 7 every time.

“The anxiety just goes up a little bit,” said Drew Doughty, a three-time Olympian for Canada. “But all these guys on our team are made for these situations.”

With Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby leading the way, Canada looks primed for another run to the gold-medal game after winning each of the previous two Olympics with NHL players in 2014 and 2010. The U.S. could be on a collision course to meet its northern neighbor in the final, but Finland, Slovakia and others are out to spoil the story line that fans in North America are rooting for.

The quarterfinals are up next on Wednesday, with Canada set to face Czechia and the U.S. playing Sweden. It’s Finland against Switzerland and Slovakia versus Germany in the other games.

“This is this when the fun begins,” Sweden captain Gabriel Landeskog said.

McDavid has nine points in nine periods, Macklin Celebrini has four goals and Canada outscored opponents by 17 in the preliminary round. Top-four defenseman Josh Morrissey looks as though he'll return from his injury absence, and two-time Stanley Cup-winning winger Brad Marchand is available for coach Jon Cooper.

Canada is absolutely the team to beat in Milan, and the Czechs know it all too well from getting beat 5-0 by Crosby and Co. in each team's opener.

“This might be the best team ever," Czechia's David Pastrnak said. “So, maybe let’s put the respect aside a little bit and try to take their game to them. Offensively, their power is incredible. ... We have nothing to lose, so we’re going to go out there and leave it all out there.”

Teammate Martin Necas joked: “We let them win the first one because we knew we weren’t going to win two in a row against Canada.” Rugged defenseman Radko Gudas respects the Canadians, but doesn't want Czechia to fear them.

“If you get intimidated, you don’t have anything (and) you shouldn’t be playing pro hockey," Gudas said. “We’ve got to have 120% of our effort (Wednesday) and be on top of our game throughout the whole game.”

The biggest question for Canada is whether Nathan MacKinnon will play after not practicing Tuesday for what the team called maintenance. MacKinnon took a forearm to the jaw in the game against France on Sunday.

“He’ll play through anything,” Crosby said. "That’s never really in question.”

Facing Latvia, Denmark and Germany in the preliminary round allowed U.S. coach Mike Sullivan to hone in on his optimal lineup and Connor Hellebuyck to show why he's the clear-cut starting goaltender. Winning 5-1, 6-3 and 5-1 means the Americans have not tested as much as some other top contenders so far.

That changes against Sweden, which had to play in the qualification round and beat Latvia just to get to this stage.

“As this tournament starts to move forward, the stakes get higher,” Sullivan said. “The competition gets stiffer, and I think our guys are excited for that challenge.”

The Swedes are only seeded seventh because they finished third in their group behind Finland and Slovakia based on a goal differential tiebreaker from one they allowed in the final minute of a 5-3 victory in their round-robin finale. Matthew Tkachuk rightfully called them “one of the powerhouses in the world,” so the difficulty level is ratcheting up big time for him and his U.S. teammates.

“We haven’t seen them yet in this tournament, but we’re very well aware of the personnel group that they have,” Sullivan said.

Slovakia was the beneficiary of Sweden's slip-up, but upsetting Finland last week put Juraj Slafkovsky and his teammates in an advantageous spot in the bracket. Only McDavid had more points in the preliminary round than Slafkovsky, who had six on three goals and three assists.

“They’re a good team,” Germany's Leon Draisaitl said. “They’re a deep team. They finished first in their group for a reason, and for us it’s a matter of finding our game early and getting to it and staying stingy.”

Four years ago in the Beijing bubble, Slafkovsky was tournament MVP when he scored seven goals and led Slovakia to bronze — the country's first Olympic medal in hockey. One more win, and it'll be playing for a medal again.

“The whole nation is watching,” said Dalibor Dvorsky, who scored the tiebreaker-changing goal with 39 seconds left against Sweden. "We just love playing good for our country, and hopefully we can make our fans even more happy in the next two games here.”

Standing in the way are Draisaitl and the Germans, who had little trouble with France in the qualification playoffs. Draisaitl, the 2020 NHL MVP and one of the best players in the world, had a goal and two assists in the 5-1 victory and will be Slovakia's main focal point to content.

“We’ve got to have the head on a swivel, especially with Leon,” Slovakia defenseman Martin Fehervary said.

Bouncing back from its surprising loss to Slovakia, Finland beat archrival Sweden and ran up the score on Italy to clinch the fourth spot and avoid the extra qualification game. The structure that the Finns typically win with internationally took longer than usual to materialize, but now they look like themselves.

“I think we are ready,” captain Mikael Granlund said. “Whatever comes for us, we want to be at our best.”

Switzerland shut out Italy 3-0 to reach the quarterfinals. Finland will be a tougher test.

“Every time the Finns play a tournament, whether it’s world championships or Olympics, they are always one of the favorites,” Switzerland captain Roman Josi said. "They play really good as a team, so we will have to be at our best.”

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

Germany's Leon Draisaitl (29) leaves the ice following a win over France in a men's ice hockey qualification playoff game at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Slovakia's Juraj Slafkovsky end of a preliminary round match of men's ice hockey between Sweden and Slovakia at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Finland's Sebastian Aho, left, celebrates with teammates after scoring his sides first goal during a preliminary round match of men's ice hockey between Finland and Italy at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

United States' Brady Tkachuk, right, celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during a preliminary round match of men's ice hockey between United States and Denmark at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

during a preliminary round match of men's ice Czechia's goalkeeper Lukas Dostal, right, makes a save against Canada's Nick Suzuki hockey between Czech Republic and Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tony Clark intends to resign as head of the Major League Baseball Players Association, a person familiar with the union’s deliberations said Tuesday.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because his decision, first reported by ESPN, had not been announced.

Clark’s decision took place during an investigation by the U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn, New York, into OneTeam Partners, a licensing company founded by the union, the NFL Players Association and RedBird Capital Partners in 2019.

“A lot of people have known that the investigation has been going on,” said the New York Mets' Marcus Semien, a member of the union's eight-man executive subcommittee. “I think that this happening during the investigation is not like, as a subcommittee, is not like overly surprising, but it still hurts and it's still something I'm processing.”

The union's executive board met Tuesday and did not make any decisions about a successor, a person familiar with the session told the AP, also on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made.

Deputy executive director Bruce Meyer is set to be the primary negotiator in the upcoming labor talks, as he was in 2021-22. After Clark and Rick Shapiro led the 2016 negotiations, Meyer was hired in August 2018 as senior director of collective bargaining and legal and was promoted to his current role in July 2022.

Semien believes Clark is leaving to deal with the probe.

“I think so," he said, "because up to this point, before any investigations, I’ve had the ultimate confidence in Tony Clark to lead this player group. I've had the ultimate confidence in Bruce Meyer to be the lead negotiator for this player group.”

The decision was made ahead of an expected start of collective bargaining in April for an agreement to replace the five-year labor contract that expires Dec. 1. Management appears on track to propose a salary cap, which possibly could lead to a work stoppage that causes regular-season games to be canceled for the first time since 1995.

Adam L. Braverman, a former U.S. associate deputy attorney general and U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, was hired by the union's executive subcommittee as outside counsel, two people familiar with the group's action told the AP. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the union hadn't announced that.

The union on Monday canceled Tuesday’s scheduled start of the staff’s annual tour of the 30 spring training camps, which was to have begun with the Cleveland Guardians in the morning and the Chicago White Sox in the afternoon.

Clark, 53, is a former All-Star first baseman who became the first player to head the union.

He played from 1995-2009, becoming a union leader shortly after going to his first executive board meeting in 1999.

Clark was hired as the union's director of player relations in 2010 and was promoted to deputy executive director in July 2013, when union head Michael Weiner's health declined because of a brain tumor. Weiner died that November and Clark was elevated to executive director, following Marvin Miller, Kenneth Moffett, Donald Fehr and Wiener as union head.

Clark led players through negotiations that led to an agreement in December 2016, about 3 1/2 hours before the prior deal was set to expire, and another in March 2022 after a 99-day lockout.

Meyer, 64, spent 30 years at Weil, Gotshal & Manges before joining the NHL Players Association in 2016 as senior director of collective bargaining, policy and legal.

Three members of the subcommittee, Jack Flaherty, Lucas Giolito and Ian Happ, were among the players who in March 2024 advocated for the ouster of Meyer in an effort led by former union lawyer Harry Marino. Clark backed Meyer, the effort failed and those three players were dropped off the subcommittee that December.

The subcommittee voted 8-0 against approving the 2022 labor contract and Meyer had advocated pushing management for a deal more favorable to the union. Team player representatives, the overall group supervising negotiations, voted 26-4 in favor, leaving the overall ballot at 26-12 for ratification.

In addition to Semien, the current subcommittee includes Chris Bassitt, Jake Cronenworth, Pete Fairbanks, Cedric Mullins, Paul Skenes, Tarik Skubal and Brent Suter.

OneTeam says since its formation that it added, among others, the players' associations of the WNBA, MLS, NWSL and the U.S. women's soccer national team. RedBird sold its stake in 2019 to HPS Investment Partners, Atlantic Park Strategic Capital Fund and Morgan Stanley Tactical Value.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

FILE - Major League Baseball Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark answers a question during a news conference in New York on March 11, 2022. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)