The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch the NHL without actually spending anything. This clearly isn't a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to stream select NHL fixtures before recovering your investment.

The men’s hockey gold medal game caps the tournament, with the finalists meeting after Friday’s semifinals to decide Olympic gold.

Mike Peter, Phil Cartwright & George Booth Alpine skiiing - women's slalom Chemmy Alcott Four-time Olympic alpine ski racer on BBC Two

CBC Gem is geo-restricted to Canada, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These handy tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Canada, meaning you can access free live streams of the 2026 winter sports ice hockey from anywhere in the world.