Five Musketeers Alumni to Participate in Olympic Games
USHL Sioux City Musketeers

Five Musketeers Alumni to Participate in Olympic Games

Published on January 14, 2026 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Sioux City Musketeers News Release


Sioux City, IA - The Sioux City Musketeers will have five former players who will be representing their native countries in the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. They are Jake Guentzel (USA), Eeli Tolvanen (Finland), Akira Schmid (Switzerland), Martin Pospisil (Slovakia) and Stephane Da Costa (France).

Jake Guentzel is perhaps the most well known of this group. The 2017 Stanley Cup Champion played for the Musketeers in the 2012-13 season. In 60 games for the green and gold he scored 73 points, netted 29 goals with 44 assists. That season led to Guentzel getting drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 3rd round of the 2013 NHL Draft.

The winger spent eight seasons with the Penguins organization before being traded to the Carolina Hurricanes and then signing with the Tampa Bay Lightning as a free agent in 2024 for a seven year, $63 million contract.

Guentzel has proven that he's worth every penny of that deal. Last year for Tampa Bay he scored 80 points in 80 games. He's on the same pace of production this year with 44 points through 42 games.

This will be Guentzel's second opportunity with to represent his home nation. He became a household name with Team USA in last years Four Nations Tournament scoring three goals for the Americans in four games.

Eeli Tolvanen is more experienced in representing his home country, as he has worn the Finnish colors numerous times in his hockey career. He also wore Musketeer colors from 2015-2017. In two seasons with Sioux City Tolvanen played in 101 games and scored 92 points split between 47 goals and 45 assists.

Tolvanen became a first round draft pick of the Nashville Predators, being selected 30th overall in the 2017 NHL Draft.

The Vihti, Finland native spent parts of the next four seasons playing for Nashville before he was placed on waivers by the Predators where in 2022 the Seattle Kraken picked him up and revitalized his career.

With Seattle, Tolvanen has found a resurgence. Playing in 253 games for Seattle, he has scored 129 points via 63 goals and 66 assists.

In 2018, Tolvanen represented his home country at the PyeongChang Olympics. He scored three goals and had six assists for Finland.

Akira Schmid was added to Switzerland's olympic roster and will be one of the mainstays in net for the Swiss. He is the last Swiss goalie to play in the NHL in the last six years.

Schmid is currently in his second season as goaltender for the Las Vegas Golden Knights. In 23 games he has a 2.49 GAA and a 13-4-5 record to go with a .895 save percentage.

Schmid played for the Omaha Lancers from 2018-2019, before being traded to the Musketeers during the 2019-20 season. He truly took off during the 2020-21 season where he was the starting goalie for the Musketeers. In 36 games he turned away .921% of the shots he faced and allowed only a 2.01 GAA while cruising to a 22-13-1 record and being named USHL Goaltender of the year.

Having been drafted by the New Jersey Devils back in 2018 Schmid made the instant leap from Sioux City to the NHL and professional hockey. The 2021-22 season saw Schmid play mostly in Utica for the Devils AHL team, but he did suit up six times for New Jersey making him the first Musketeer to go from Sioux City to the NHL directly in one year.

Schmid was on the bus between New Jersey and Utica over the following couple of seasons. His stand alone performance came in the 2024 postseason. Schmid became the starting goaltender in the Devils first round series against the New York Rangers. In a series that went the full seven games, Schmid pitched a shutout in game seven to secure New Jersey their first postseason series win in over a decade.

His efforts were thanked by being traded by New Jersey to the Las Vegas Golden Knights in the 2024 off-season.

This will be Schmid's first Olympic Games, he has represented his country in the 2019 and 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Martin Pospisil was selected to the Slovakian Olympic roster for the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games.

Pospisil played two seasons for the Musketeers from 2017 to 2019. He appeared in 93 games and scored 100 points netting 24 goals and passing out 76 assists. He served as a Musketeers alternate captain in 2018-19 and helped lead the Musketeers to the postseason.

He was drafted by the Calgary Flames in the fourth round of the 2018 NHL Draft. Pospisil spent a few years at the AHL level before breaking through with the Flames in 2023-24 and playing in 63 games for the parent club scoring 24 points with eight goals in his rookie season.

A native of Zvolen, Slovakia, Pospisil became a mainstay for the Flames in 2024-25 playing in 81 games and scoring 25 points with four goals and 21 assists. In February of the 2024 season, Pospisil was given a two-year contract extension worth $2 million.

This will be Pospisil's first Olympic Games, he has represented Slovakia numerous times in his career.

Stephane Da Costa is a blast from the past as he last played for the Musketeers seventeen years ago, in 2009. He will represent team France in the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympic Games. This is the first time France has fielded a men's hockey team in the games since the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.

Da Costa spent two seasons in Sioux City, he suited up in 99 games for the Musketeers and racked up 43 goals and 60 assists for 103 total points. His 31 goals in 2008-09 led the Musketeers that season.

After a pair of collegiate seasons at Merrimack, Da Costa spent the next four with the Ottawa Senators in the NHL. There in 47 games with Ottawa he scored seven goals and had four assists for 11 total career points in the NHL.

Since his NHL playing days, Da Costa has still called hockey a profession. He has spent 11 seasons playing in the KHL in Russia. He has compiled 516 career games in the KHL and scored 464 points with 185 goals and 279 assists.

This season he has played for Yekaterinburg Avtomobilist and has 31 points in 34 games in his age 36 season.

The Milan-Cortina Olympic Games begin on February 6, 2026.

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