Team Canada shenanigans during 2nd Olympic practice raises eyebrows.

The gamesmanship has officially begun at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, at least as far as the upcoming Men's Hockey Tournament is concerned.

Over the weekend we were treated to an early preview of what Team Canada's lineup will look like when the Canadians hit the ice for their first official practice of the event. There is however now some reason to question that what the Canadians showed on the ice may not have been what they actually plan to deploy in the tournament.

On Monday morning the Canadians hit the ice for what would be their second practice of the event but when media members arrived to cover the practice they were quickly turned away. They would learn that practice was closed to the media, with the team exercising their option to do so.

TSN's Ryan Rishaug expressed that it was the first time in his career, which has spanned 4 Olympic Games, that he witnessed something of this nature.

"First Olympics of four I’ve covered where teams have the option of closing practices to the media," said Rishaug on Monday morning.

Canadian head coach Jon Cooper was asked about the secrecy following the practice but Cooper insisted that there had been no changes to his lineup. That of course would beg the question of why the Canadiens felt the need to keep their practice under wraps, but we aren't likely to get an answer about that at any point during the tournament.

Several other journalists corroborated today's news, including Sportsnet's Luke Fox who also reported that media had been barred from attending.

Stay tuned for more Olympic coverage.