Morning Sports Update

Bruins’ Charlie McAvoy, Jeremy Swayman named to Team USA’s roster for 2026 Winter Olympics

Bruins center Elias Lindholm and defenseman Henri Jokiharju were also named to Olympic rosters on Friday.

Jeremy Swayman and Charlie McAvoy are going to the Olympics. Matthew J Lee/Globe Staff

By Conor Roche

4 minutes to read

Multiple Bruins players named to Olympic rosters: The Bruins will have some representation on Team USA when the Winter Olympics take place in February.

Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy and goalkeeper Jeremy Swayman on Friday were named to the United States men’s ice hockey team’s 25-man roster for the upcoming Milano Cortina Games.

McAvoy and Swayman weren’t the only Bruins players named to an Olympic roster, either. Center Elias Lindholm was named to Sweden’s roster, and defenseman Henri Jokiharju was named to Finland’s roster.

In a bit of a surprise, Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm wasn’t named to Sweden’s roster for the Olympics. Lindholm was on Sweden’s roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off last winter. Bruins center Morgan Geekie, who is second in goals in the NHL this season (25), found out earlier this week he won’t be on Canada’s roster for the upcoming Olympic Games.

McAvoy and Swayman were on Team USA’s roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off last winter, and USA Hockey opted not to tinker with the roster too much after losing to Canada in last year’s tournament. Only three players from USA Hockey’s 4 Nations Face-Off roster aren’t on the Olympics roster.

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There was some doubt, though, about McAvoy possibly playing in the Olympics after he fractured his jaw in November. But he’s since returned to action, and now he’ll fulfill a lifelong dream.

“The Olympics are as big as it gets in sports,” McAvoy told Olympics.com and Olympic Broadcasting Services in September. “It’s going to be incredible, and it will be a lifelong dream come true.

“Everything from living in a village to the Games themselves — there are so many things that exist in the Olympics that don’t exist anywhere else, which make it what it is and make it as special as it is,” McAvoy said. “What a dream come true to be able to go to Milano Cortina 2026. It doesn’t get any bigger.”

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McAvoy, who was one of the alternate captains for Team USA in the 4 Nations Face-Off, has a goal and 19 assists in 29 games this season. Swayman has gone 15-10-2 in the games he’s started this season, posting a 2.84 goals against average and a 90.4 save percentage.

Lindholm has six goals and 19 assists in 31 games for the Bruins this season, while Jokiharju has six assists in 25 games.

A pair of other Bruins standouts will likely join the group heading to the Milano Cortina Games soon. The Czech Republic roster hasn’t been announced yet, but Bruins forwards David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha were named to its preliminary roster for the Winter Games back in June.

The 2026 Winter Olympics will mark the first Olympic Games that will feature active NHL players since 2014.

Trivia:

Who was the last player to play for Team USA at a Winter Olympics while he was on the Bruins roster?

(Hint: He helped the Bruins win a Stanley Cup.)

Answer below.

Scores and schedules:

The Celtics opened 2026 on a high note, defeating the Kings, 120-106, in Sacramento on Thursday night. Boston will close out its five-game road trip in Los Angeles on Saturday, taking on the Clippers at 10:30 p.m.

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The Bruins, meanwhile, have a couple more games left on their West Coast road trip. They take on the Canucks in Vancouver at 10 p.m. Saturday before facing the Kraken in Seattle on Tuesday.

Finally, the Patriots close out the regular season when they host the Dolphins at 4:25 p.m. Sunday. A win in that game, and the Patriots are guaranteed at least a top-two seed in the AFC. If they win and the Broncos lose to the Chargers, the Patriots will get the AFC’s No. 1 seed.

Read more from Boston.com:

Indiana demolishes Alabama in Rose Bowl

In one of the more surprising turnarounds in recent sports memory, Indiana moved just two wins away from winning a national championship following its dominant 38-3 victory over Alabama on Thursday. Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza threw more touchdowns (three) than incompletions (two), but Indiana center Pat Coogan took home offensive MVP honors.

More on Celtics’ win over Kings

Boston’s win in Sacramento on Thursday was a pretty tightly contested affair until the final minutes of the fourth quarter. That’s when Jaylen Brown and Derrick White took over, helping the Celtics go on a 14-6 run over the final six-plus minutes of the game to seal the win.

On this day:

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Thirty-two years ago on Friday, the Patriots defeated the Dolphins, 33-27, in an overtime victory to close out the 1993 regular season. The win helped the Patriots improve to 5-11 in their first year under Bill Parcells. However, at the time, it was viewed as possibly the Patriots’ final home game in Foxborough and the New England region, as rumors of relocation were prevalent.

Of course, the Patriots remained in Foxborough as Robert Kraft bought the team shortly after the conclusion of the 1993 season.

Daily highlight:

Ole Miss was able to pull off the upset of No. 3 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on Thursday night, coming back from a nine-point deficit in the second half. As part of Ole Miss’ rally, quarterback Trinidad Chambliss made a play where he scrambled around roughly 35 yards in the backfield before making a completion for a first down on a third-down play.

Ole Miss was able to kick the game-winning field goal in the final seconds, and it rode one of the Patriots’ team planes back to Oxford following the win.

Trivia answer: Tim Thomas in 2006.

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