Let the Olympic Games resume and let the in-season tournament begin.

The NHL, along with the league's players' association and the International Ice Hockey Federation announced on Friday a plan for NHL players to participate in the 2026 and 2030 Winter Olympic Games.

In a separate announcement Friday from the NHL and NHLPA, plans were spelled out for the Four Nations Face-Off, a round-robin tournament between players from Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States that will be played under NHL rules. The tournament will be played in lieu of the All-Star Game.

NHL players have not participated in the Olympics since 2014, when Canada, led by Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Toews, won its ninth hockey gold medal. The 2026 Games are scheduled for Feb. 6-22 in Milano Cortina in Italy and will be the sixth time NHL players participate.

The NHL had planned to participate in 2022, but lack of agreement on COVID protocols caused the league to back out. Roman Josi, Juuse Saros, Mikael Granlund,  Filip Forsberg and Mattias Ekholm were likely representatives for their countries for those Games. Former Predators coach John Hynes was supposed to be an assistant coach for the U.S. that year and said missing the opportunity was "disappointing."

Josi played for Switzerland in the 2014 Games, along with former Predators Yannick Weber and Nino Niederreiter. Former Predators defenseman and captain Shea Weber, former defenseman P.K. Subban, current defenseman Ryan McDonagh and former forward Matt Duchene were on Canada's gold medal team that year.

Former Predators Kimmo Timonen and Granlund played for Finland. Martin Erat played for Czech Republic. Predators forward Gustav Nyquist played for Sweden

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“For years, the players have embraced the opportunity to compete for Olympic gold, and we are excited that today’s announcement makes it a certainty for our members in the 2026 and 2030 Olympic Winter Games," NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh said. "We also know that hockey fans worldwide have long been anticipating the next best-on-best international competition, and now they can finally see some of their favourite players represent their countries and line up together.”

Josi, Saros and Forsberg seem likely candidates from the Predators to play in the 2026 Games.

How Four-Nations Face-Off tournament will work

• The tournament will be held in February in two North American Cities, one in Canada and one in the U.S. Seven games will be played during a nine-day stretch from Feb. 12-20.

• Each team will have 23 players, three of which will be goalies, that are chosen by Hockey Canada, Finnish Ice Hockey Association, Swedish Hockey Association and USA Hockey.

• Each association will pick its first six players this summer and will complete roster later this year.

• Each team will play three games in a round-robin format, with three points awarded for a victory, two points for a victory in overtime or shootout, one point for a loss in overtime or shootout.

• Two teams will best record will play a one-game championship.

• Overtime format for tournament games will be 3-on-3 sudden death for 10 minutes, followed by a three-round shootout.

• Overtime format for one-game championship will be full-strength, sudden-death through successive 20-minute periods.

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NHL back to Olympics in 2026; tournament replaces All-Star Game