SportsLine's expert Mike Severance reveals his USA vs. Latvia picks for their Winter Olympics men's hockey matchup on Thursday

Latvia unveiled its roster for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 on Tuesday, headlined by Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins. The best Latvia has finished in the tournament was the 2014 Sochi Olympics, when it reached the quarterfinals. This is the first group of NHL players to represent Latvia at the Olympics since then.

The U.S. men’s ice hockey team plays its first game of the Milan Cortina Olympics on Thursday in a showdown against Latvia.

Severance is coming off an outstanding NHL season in which he went 235-155-21 (plus $2,022). He entered the Olympic break on a 26-12 roll on NHL money-line picks this season, returning $1,326 for $100 players. Anyone following his hockey picks at their favorite sportsbooks could have seen huge returns.

Latvia’s Teddy Blueger tried to make a pass out of his defensive zone, but the puck hit the skates of Nylander and went to the stick of Sweden teammate Joel Eriksson Ek, whose shot on goal hit Kempe’s right skate and went in for a 1-0 lead at 10:55.