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Flashback Friday: Looking at the former Flames at the 2018 and 2022 Olympics
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Photo credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
Ryley Delaney
Feb 20, 2026, 20:45 ESTUpdated: Feb 20, 2026, 20:41 EST
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National Hockey League players have played in the Olympics since the 1998 Winter Olympics.
Well, that’s except for two Olympics. NHL players were never going to play at the 2018 Olympics due to the NHL, IOC, and IIHF not being able to find an agreement. They were set to go to the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, China, but a global pandemic made it impossible.
After watching these Olympics, which have just two games remaining (the bronze and gold medal games), it’s hard to envision a world where teams are composed of non-NHLers, but that’s exactly what we witnessed in the 2018 and 2022 Olympics.
In this edition of Flashback Friday, we’ll take a look at former Calgary Flames players who attended those two Olympics.

2018 Olympics

There were 17 former Flames participating in the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. Five of them played for Team Canada and took home the bronze medal: Rene Bourque, Mason Raymond, Cody Goloubef, Kevin Poulin, and Linden Vey. Bourque was tied for the team-lead in goals with Wojtek Wolski, while Raymond had a goal and an assist. Cody Goloubef, who only played with the Flames’ American Hockey League team in 2017-18 had two assists in six games, while Vey had one assist in six games. Poulin was held pointless in four games.
Team Canada defeated Team Czechia in the bronze medal game, with the European country having three former Flames. The most notable of the three is Roman Červenka, who only played one season in the NHL (with the Flames), but has represented Czechia in the last five Olympics. That tournament, he scored three goals and four points. Roman Horák, who spent three seasons with the Flames had four points in six games. Jakub Nakládal played 27 games with the Flames, and he had two assists.
There were two other teams in the tournament with at least two former Flames players, Team Switzerland (Jonas Hiller and Raphael Diaz) and Team Germany (David Wolf and Yasin Ehliz). The latter never played in the NHL, while Hiller was the most notable of the four, as he had a .956 save percentage over four games. Wolf and Ehliz won a silver medal as Team Germany made a Cinderella run to the gold medal game.
Winning gold with Team Russia was Nikita Nesterov. At this time, the defenceman was a future Flame, joining the team for the 2020-21 season. He had a goal in six games with Russia, which came in 6-1 victory in the quarterfinals.
Another former Flames netminder who participated in the 2018 Olympics was Karri Rämö, with Team Finland. However, he didn’t play a minute in the tournament. Also representing a Nordic country was Staffan Kronwall, who was held pointless in four games.
Defenceman Chad Billins played for Team USA, where he was held pointless in five games. Overall, he played just 10 NHL games, all with the Flames in 2013-14. Mike Testwuide was also born in the United States, but he represented South Korea as he played the majority of his career there. He only played nine games with the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat in 2012-13, where he scored two goals and three points. In the 2018 Olympics, he was held pointless in three games.

2022 Olympics

There were 22 former Flames participating at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, China. Team Finland took home the gold, but there were no former Flames on that team. They beat Team Russia in the gold medal game, while Team Slovakia beat Team Sweden for the bronze medal.
In total, five players who were in the Flames’ organization won a medal. Pavel Karnaukhov was drafted by the Flames in 2015, but never played for the team. He scored a goal and an assist. Nesterov, who was already mentioned, was a former Flame at this point, scored twice and had four points. Additionally, Alexander Yelesin was held pointless in six games, which were more than the four games he played in the NHL, all with the Flames in 2019-20.
On Team Slovakia, Marek Hrivík played three NHL games, but had two goals and four points in seven Olympic games. Miloš Roman was selected by the Flames in the 2018 draft, and he picked up an assist in seven games. Both players helped Slovakia qualify for the 2026 Olympics, but weren’t on the roster.
Team Canada had four former Flames on their roster, Corban Knight, Ben Street, Tyler Wotherspoon, and Adam Cracknell. Knight played nine games with the Flames in 2013-14 and 2014-15, but scored two goals and three points in five Olympic games. Street played a similar number of games with the Flames over two seasons, then scored two goals and three points in four games. 
Tyler Wotherspoon played 15 games with the Flames, along with six post-season games, and picked up two assists in five Olympic games. Cracknell played the most NHL games of the bunch, but he only played for the Flames’ AHL team. Cracknell had an assist in five Olympic games.
There were a handful of returning players too. Team Germany brought back Ehliz and Wolf, while also bringing former Flame Tobias Rieder. Interestingly, Reider was also a part of the 2026 Olympic team for Germany, picking up an assist in five games. He had a goal and two points in four games four years ago.
Also returning to the 2022 (and 2026) Olympics for Team Czechia was Roman Červenka. He played just 39 NHL games during the lockout year of 2012-13, but has had a strong career in Europe. Serving as the team’s captain in 2022, Červenka scored two goals and five points in four games, with two goals and five points at the 2026 Olympics. Former Flame Michael Frolík also represented Team Czechia, who was held pointless in two games.
Lastly, Raphael Diaz represented Team Switzerland for a second time, as did Reto Berra and Markus Granlund. Berra had a rough tournament, finishing with an .883 save percentage in three games.
Team Sweden had two former Flames, Oscar Fantenberg and Joakim Nordström. Fantenberg played 15 games with the Flames and was held pointless in six Olympic games.  Nordström played 44 games with the Flames, and scored a goal and two points in six games at the Olympics.
As for Team USA, who had another poor tournament, former Flames Kenny Agostino and Nick Shore represented the country. Agostino, who was acquired in the Jarome Iginla trade, scored one in four games. Shore played just nine games with the Flames and three with Team USA in the 2022 Olympics.
Representing the hosts was Spencer Foo. He played four NHL games, all with the Flames in 2017-18, where he scored twice. He played the same number of games at the 2022 Olympics, but was held off the scoresheet.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for FlamesNation, Oilersnation, and Blue Jays Nation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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