WASHINGTON, DC — Dreams came true for Tom Wilson and Logan Thompson, who learned on Wednesday that they’d be playing for Team Canada at the 2026 Olympics. The news came just hours before an afternoon game against the New York Rangers, and the pair was still riding the high when speaking to reporters postgame.
“I think that’s the highest honor you can receive as a hockey player, is to be called on by your country to play in the Olympics,” said Wilson. “It sounds cliche, but you want to win the Stanley Cup and you want to win a gold medal as a Canadian kid growing up.”
The fact that they’d gotten named to the team together only added to their excitement. The two, who are close on and off the ice, made sure to both cheer each other on and poke fun at each other after Wednesday’s game.
“I think I speak for everyone in the room, that everyone would be really disappointed Tom wasn’t there,” Thompson said. “Thankful to be there with him, going over with a teammate, best friend.”
“Not too much Italian food, okay?” Wilson quipped, patting Thompson on the shoulder.
“I’ll keep it tight,” Thompson said with a grin.
Wilson, too, made sure to hype up his teammate.
“It’s going to be fun,” he said. “I get to go over there with the best goalie in the world. We’re two best buds.”
“Two best friends,” Thompson agreed.
The rest of the Capitals’ roster was just as excited about the news, celebrated by video coach Emily Engel-Natzke during the team’s meeting that morning.
Thompson and Wilson will head to Italy alongside defenseman Martin Fehervary, who made Slovakia’s roster this summer. Caps goalie prospect Antoine Keller will also represent France at the Games.
Washington honored its newest Olympians during the first period against the Rangers, earning a standing ovation from Capitals faithful.
Goaltender Charlie Lindgren spoke to Wilson and Thompson’s talent Wednesday afternoon.
“(Wilson’s) kind of our bull,” he said. “We all love Tom in here. He’s such a great guy, such a great leader.”
Wilson responded to the news with one of the best games of his career, putting up two goals and a Gordie Howe hat trick to lead the Capitals to a 6-3 victory against the Rangers, earning his 200th career goal in the process.
“That could be one of the greatest days for a hockey player,” head coach Spencer Carbery said of Wilson.
Speaking of Thompson, his goaltending partner, Lindgren said, “He deserves it 100%. There’s, in my opinion, not a single doubt in my mind that he should be on that team. You look at the body work he’s delivered the last year and a half that I’ve seen him play, I certainly think he’s been the best goalie in the league. I’m not just saying that because he’s my partner, but I really believe that he’s been that good. and I’m just happy to see him get rewarded there.”
Before Hockey Canada’s public announcement at noon, team management contacted both players to tell them they’d made the roster. Wilson got the call at home with his family, including both of his parents, which made the moment even more special.
“You never know, the phone could be ringing for them to tell you ‘Great try, but you were close,’” he said. “So when they do tell you the good news on the phone, I think they could tell with my reaction. My mom was very excited. I mean, we owe everything to them. Those were the early mornings, freezing cold rinks, flooding the backyard rink in -15 Celsius so that I could just play (on) it all night long and that’s where the dream started.”
Wilson joked that he’d tried to keep his cool as his family recorded the conversation.
“There were lots of emotions,” he said. “PR team wanted me to record my reaction, so just trying to keep it together. That’s the new school, I guess. But my parents were there, and my son, and my wife, so it was special.”
Thompson recalled cheering for Canada as a childhood, watching Calgary Flames superstar Jarome Iginla as he helped lead the country to a gold medal. He could hardly have imagined then that he’d someday join his boyhood hero as an Olympian.
“You dream about wearing the leaf on your jersey as a kid,” he said. “I watched the Olympics growing up, and I remember when they won gold, when Jarome Iginla was on that team. Being from Calgary, that was awesome. So being able to get that call today, kind of like Tom said, it’s just a privilege. I’m really thankful for the opportunity.”
Both Wilson and Thompson took unconventional routes to the Games. Wilson’s early career was dominated not by scoring but by physicality, something that made him an instant fan favorite but led to supplemental discipline and made him a pariah around the league. Thompson, meanwhile, went undrafted and toiled in Canadian college hockey and the minor leagues before getting a shot at the NHL with the Vegas Golden Knights. Neither seemed likely to become Olympians.
That sentiment, justified or not, remained when Team Canada made its picks for the 4 Nations Face-Off last winter, leaving both Wilson and Thompson off the list. But now, the two are arguably Washington’s best players. After scoring his first career 30-goal season in 2024-25, Wilson is on track to best that mark, currently leads the Capitals in scoring with 40 points (21g, 19a) and is tied for ninth-most goals in the NHL.
To Carbery, however, Wilson’s value lies beyond his box score stats.
“Willy isn’t defined by goals and assists and points, there’s so much more to what he does, but it helps when you’re talking about the outside world and people watching,” he said. “So when he’s leading our team in scoring, when he has the most power to play goals on our team, and he’s known for the physicality and the penalty kill and the 200-foot play, and the smart, responsible, all the physical elements, and then you’re going, ‘Geez, this guy’s leading the Capitals in goals and assists. Wow.’
“I think it just helped to get off to a really good start offensively….Really what he does foundationally is, he’s going to bring a physicality, a competitiveness, an intelligence, a 200-foot game, a penalty (kill), all these other things that, like I said, have nothing to do with goals and assists.”
Thompson’s play last season earned him a starting role and a fourth-place finish in Vezina Trophy voting, and he’s lived up to that reputation this year. Among goaltenders with 20 or more games played, Thompson’s .915 save percentage ties Tampa’s Andrei Vasilevskiy for third-best in the league, he has a fourth-place goals-against average of 2.33, and his 22.9 goals saved above expected leads the NHL.
Carbery highlighted Thompson’s desire to prove himself after his snub from last season’s 4 Nations roster.
“What I’m so impressed and so proud of LT for, is whatever happened, arguably could have been on the (4 Nations) team. Let’s just put it that way,” he said. “Could have been on the team last year. Wasn’t. He comes into this year knowing it’s an Olympic year, knowing that he had a really good year and had an argument to be on the 4 Nations Canadian team.
“So you’ve got one thing that you can do to try to make that Olympic team, and that’s play lights out. Essentially, go in, and every opportunity you get to start a hockey game, go play lights out. And that’s literally what he’s done.”
When the news broke Wednesday, people from all throughout Thompson’s winding rote to the Games joined in to cheer him on.
“I think (I got congratulations) from every coach I’ve been with,” Thompson said. “Just people that have helped me get here through the ranks, whether that’s CIS (Canadian collegiate hockey), East Coast, AHL, everyone from different organizations. It’s just it’s special when you when we hear most people and just that they’re happy for you.”
Wilson and Thompson will now have just over a month to get ready to compete for gold in Milan. The tournament is set to begin on February 11.
“I’m so excited to just put on the logo and come together as a group, and play in the Winter Olympics and try and make our country proud and just take all that in,” Wilson said. “There’s so many amazing athletes that have put their entire life into what they do, and it’s going to be so cool to see them doing that as well.
“So it’s going to be such a special group of guys, and to put that jersey, on I’m looking forward to taking that in with Thommer, and it’s going to be special memories for our whole life.”
