Gabe Landeskog wants to repay Team Sweden’s belief after with Olympic gold

MILAN – Participating in his second Olympic Games, Gabe Landeskog prefers to remain in the here and now. 

However, there are moments when the veteran of over 700 NHL games zones out and considers what it took over the last four years of his life to get here. Four separate knee surgeries. Three full NHL regular seasons missed. Genuine doubt he’d ever play the sport he loves again.

Then, just as he was hitting his stride with points in seven of his last 10 full NHL games, Landeskog suffered a rib injury that sidelined him for the Avalanche’s final 14 contests before the Olympic break. 

But here he is, captaining Sweden into a quarterfinal clash with the Americans at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics.  

His second goal of the tournament in a 5-1 win over Latvia gave his country a 2-0 lead just over halfway through the first period. 

“I’ve got a silver medal at home and that’s, I guess, something that sits there,” Landeskog said to a small contingent of U.S. reporters Tuesday before Sweden earned a shot at the Americans on Wednesday night, referencing his nation’s second-place finish to Canada at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.