MILAN, Italy — National Hockey League stars are adapting to different rinks, rules and routines at the Milan Cortina Games, where rivals-turned-team mates will compete for gold beginning on Wednesday after the NHL’s 12-year absence from the Olympics.

The tournament is a dream come true for players who had to wait to compete in the Games after the NHL opted out in 2018 and 2022 – even as it obliterates the tightly choreographed daily routine for many of the league’s multimillion-dollar stars.

“In the NHL there’s routine,” said Finland’s Sebastian Aho, a prolific scorer for the Carolina Hurricanes.

“You skate in the morning at the same time, you play most of the time (at the) same time, you know every rink, you know all the players. I’m not saying it’s easy at all, but at least it’s familiar.”

SCARCE TIME TO ADAPT

The NHL began its Olympic break on Friday, less than a week before the men’s tournament was set to kick off on Wednesday.

That leaves scarce time for players to adapt to new team mates and Olympic playing surfaces that are shorter than a typical NHL rink, as well as the International Ice Hockey Federation’s slightly gentler approach to the game.

“The rules are a little different here. Obviously it’s important that you don’t take penalties or sit in the box,” said forward Sam Bennett, who was a late addition to the Canadian roster.

Fighting, a staple in the bone-crunching world of the NHL, has long been strictly prohibited in IIHF competition and players are going into the Games aware of the constraints they face in Milan.

“Everyone’s cognizant of it and thinking about it but also at the same time you still want to play with that same edge,” said American Brock Nelson, a center for the Colorado Avalanche.

COACHES SEEK PRE-TOURNEY CALM

The return of NHL stars to the Olympics for the first time since 2014 has proven one of the big stories of these Games, with reporters swarming practices – when allowed.

A few teams at the built-from-scratch Santagiulia Arena complex closed some of their practices to reporters in the days leading up to the tournament, including favorites Canada on Monday.

“It was only done because the rink’s too small,” Canada coach Jon Cooper told the dozens of reporters who were packed shoulder-to-shoulder inside the smaller practice facility adjacent to the main arena for a post-practice media availability.

“It’s just distractions and people, there’s just issues to have so many people here,” he said of the practice rink.

Sweden head coach Sam Hallam said the option to close a practice offered a small measure of serenity inside the Olympic cauldron.

“Sometimes it’s just nice to have that calmness,” Hallam told reporters on Tuesday, a day before his team kicks off its Olympic campaign against hosts Italy.

“It’s no mysteries, we’re not going to invent something new out there. But just keeping it a bit calm is nice.”

–Reuters, special to Field Level Media

The Cleveland Cavaliers are signing two-way forward Nae’Qwan Tomlin to a two-year, $3 million fully guaranteed contract, ESPN reported on Tuesday.

An undrafted second-year player out of Memphis, Tomlin has taken on a much larger role this season.

After playing five games as a rookie last season, he’s appeared in 43 of the Cavaliers’ 54 games this season (two starts). Tomlin, 25, is averaging 6.5 points and 3.1 rebounds in 17.1 minutes per game, shooting 48.7% from the floor.

Cleveland (33-21) currently sits in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, a game ahead of the Toronto Raptors and 1.5 games back of the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks, who are tied for second.

–Field Level Media

New England Patriots rookie left tackle Will Campbell apologized to the media on Tuesday, two days after he skipped out on reporters following the team’s loss in Super Bowl LX.

Campbell, 22, said he wanted to get his head on straight before speaking into a live microphone after he allowed a sack and a Next Gen Stats-attributed 14 QB pressures allowed against an aggressive Seattle Seahawks defense. It didn’t get much better from there for the Patriots, who dropped a 29-13 decision to the Seahawks on Sunday in Santa Clara, Calif.

“When I get emotional, I tend to have no mind, and that’s not the way that I need to approach this thing,” Campbell said of snubbing the media. “I know myself, and if I would have spoken after, I would have said something that I didn’t need to say. So, I slept on it, I watched it. I know what I got to get better at and move on.”

Campbell admitted he was the target of criticism on social media, especially given that the Patriots selected him with the fourth overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft.

“It comes with the job when you don’t perform. Obviously I was picked high, paid a lot. So people expect a certain thing, and I expect more of myself,” Campbell said. “So whenever I don’t perform, I don’t expect everyone to be like, ‘It’s OK, buddy.’ I mean, obviously it sucks. But it doesn’t suck for anyone more than it sucks for me.”

Campbell also acknowledged that the MCL sprain he sustained against the Cincinnati Bengals on Nov. 23 affected his performance late in the season. He was carted off the field in that game and went on injured reserve before returning for Week 18 and the playoffs.

The blind-side protector of quarterback Drake Maye wasn’t using it as an excuse, however.

“Obviously it wasn’t 100%. When you tear a ligament in your knee, it’s not gonna be how it was before. But I was healthy enough to go,” he said. “I’m not gonna say that it held me back, but it wasn’t the same as it was before. But I was good.”

There’s been chatter about if Campbell’s future will be at guard instead of left tackle after his postseason struggles, but Patriots coach Mike Vrabel wasn’t having any of that.

“Will is 22 years old. He’s our left tackle. He’ll get better. He’ll get stronger,” Vrabel said Tuesday. ” … There’s plays he’d like to have back. We’re not moving Will to guard, center, tight end or anywhere else.”

–Field Level Media