Team Canada is getting the most out of their Olympic experience in Italy — no matter if Nathan MacKinnon likes it or not.
Tuesday, the team attended the short-track speed-skating event at the Milan Ice Skating Arena. The players did not take a private bus from the Olympic Village to and fro. They took public transportation.
One Olympics attender, Joshua, rode the metro — the Metropolitana di Milano — with Team Canada and stood by Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson. Joshua, who was born and raised in Milan, posted viral photos and videos of the chance encounter and was blown away by the experience.
“I’m attending the Olympics here in Milan,” Joshua said to RMNB. “I went to the Opening Ceremony and am going to other sports venues as well to watch the different events that my city has to offer.
“I immediately saw the Canadian Team of Hockey with their red jackets. My Swiss boyfriend who is a volunteer in the Olympic Village and a huge hockey fan was pretty amazed. I wasn’t expecting this experience at all. It was surprising to see NHL players commuting, too.”
While the players stayed mostly to themselves, Wilson spoke to several interested hockey fans nearby.
In one photo, though, Connor McDavid, the greatest hockey player in the world, looks back concerned.
“The players were pretty actually chill even though it was packed and hot inside the metro,” Joshua said. “Tom Wilson was having some conversation with some fans regarding the Olympics and the sightseeing that they did. They were having their day off today.”
The Italian was not aware of who Wilson was before today, but left with a positive impression.
“I got to be honest, I didn’t know Tom Wilson at all but my boyfriend, being a good hockey nerd, was telling me everything about him as we were in front of him, in Italian,” Joshua said. “He seems such a good guy and a very good player as well!”
In one of Joshua’s viral posts, he wrote in Italian, “cercavo shane hollander amo.” Grok translates that to “I was looking for Shane Hollander, I love him 😭.” Hollander is one of the main characters in “Heated Rivalry,” a book turned into a wildly popular HBO show, that documents a secret, enemies-to-lovers romance between fictional hockey players, Shane Hollander (Montreal) and Ilya Rozanov (Boston).
cercavo shane hollander amo pic.twitter.com/yu4uplppGE
— vicentin husband (@vicentinhusband) February 10, 2026
“I have already seen the series, many times actually!” Joshua said. “In Italy, the show hasn’t been out yet. It will come out in a few days, cannot wait but yes, there’s already a huge Italian fan base of the series. I’m so grateful as I got to see also Hudson Williams here in Milan of fashion week and the Canadian team in span of a month.”
According to Joshua, the players were not taking the metro back to the Olympic Village. “They were almost taking me home as we were doing the same route and changed into the same metro,” he said.
In the end, he chose not to bother any of the players and ask for a photo. He was happy just documenting the moment for himself from afar.
“I was living this unique Olympic moment at it fullest,” Joshu said. “I’ll be surely watching Team Canada and of course rooting for the Italian Team.”
As for how viral he’s going online, Joshua was really enthused.
“It’s fun and i love getting to know people’s reaction,” he said. “It’s crazy how everything now spreads around so quickly!”
