Though a matchup between Latvia and Team USA doesn’t say much on paper, it will be different as the two national teams vie to hit the ground running at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Moreover, there might be lingering bad blood between Charlie McAvoy and Sandis Vilmanis, as the latter delivered a controversial hit to the head of the former earlier in the 2025–26 NHL season.
The NHL is frozen. Whatever happened in the season up until this point is irrelevant. All that matters is striking gold in Milan-Cortina 2026. Whether it’s a realistic goal or not, every participating country aims to go all the way. That is true for McAvoy’s USA, as much as it is for Vilmanis and Latvia.
As Latvia and USA take to the ice in Italy, Vilmanis and McAvoy meet again shortly after the incident at Amerant Bank Arena. McAvoy took to his social media with a slow-motion video showing Vilmanis’ elbow going up to meet his jaw along with a selfie of how his face looked after the hit. Still, as McAvoy is available to play for Team USA, Vilmanis made something clear to his counterpart with an honest message.
“Of course I didn’t mean to do that,” Vilmanis admitted, via The Boston Globe. “You know, it just happened so quick. And, of course, you don’t see who it is, right? Yeah, I made, uh, not a great play there. But I mean, it’s hockey. It happens really quick.”
The story behind the feud
During the Florida Panthers’ 5–4 shootout victory over the Boston Bruins, Vilmanis was assessed an illegal check-to-the-head penalty for his hit on McAvoy. Needless to say, everyone in the arena expected retaliation of some sort from the Spoked B throughout the night.
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However, Vilmanis didn’t return to the ice, as Paul Maurice and his staff decided to take him out of the game. Vilmanis admitted to feeling lightheaded after the hit, but the medical staff cleared him to return. Regardless, the Panthers thought it was wiser to keep him out of harm’s—and revenge’s—way.
All eyes on meeting between Vilmanis and McAvoy
All eyes are now fixed on what might happen if McAvoy and Vilmanis come across each other on the ice in Milan. However, Uvis Balinskis—who plays with Vilmanis for both Latvia and Florida—believes they have nothing to worry about. Once they return to North America and the Bruins and Panthers meet, that’s a whole different story.
“Not here, probably,” Balinskis admitted. “Maybe when we go back to the National League. Maybe when we play Boston again he may need to keep his head up a little bit more. But I don’t think he’s in trouble.”
In the Winter Olympics, fighting is not allowed. If two players drop the gloves, they are ejected from the game. With a gold medal in their sights, it’s hard to see either Vilmanis or McAvoy hindering their national team over their dispute. It can wait until they are back in NHL action. After all, revenge is a dish best served cold.
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