The year was 2014. Taylor Swift released the album 1989, the ALS ice bucket challenge was at its peak and Game of Thrones was going strong. That was the last time that active NHL players played in a hockey game at the Olympics.

At long last, that will change on Wednesday. Best-on-best international hockey returned in limited but thrilling capacity a year ago when Canada, the United States, Finland and Sweden competed in the NHL-created 4 Nations Face-Off tournament in Montreal and Boston. Now, a dozen countries will compete for Olympic glory with no holds barred.

For the vast majority of the field, this will mark their Olympic debut. No one from the United States’ 2014 team will compete in Milan Cortina. In fact, only seven members of the 25-player roster are still playing in the NHL.

Canada only has two returners from their gold medal Sochi team in captain Sidney Crosby and defenseman Drew Doughty, who both also won gold on home soil in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

“I think there's some days that it feels like 12 [years] and other days it feels like yesterday,” Crosby said Sunday. “It's so great, though. I think there's been a lot of anticipation ever since we found out we were going back to the Olympics, and then the naming of the team.

So it's just great to be with the guys and get out there and get to work, see the speed, and start to try to get better here and become a team."

Even for those who are back, their careers are in a much different place than they were in Sochi. Swiss defenseman Roman Josi was in just his third NHL season when he competed in the 2014 Winter Olympics. In January, he reached 1,000 NHL games played, adding the silver stick awarded for the milestone to his trophy case alongside the 2019-20 Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman.

"There's something about the Olympics. Growing up as a kid you always watch the Olympics – Summer or Winter Olympics, doesn't matter,” the long-time Nashville Predator said. “I remember the game from 2006 when [Switzerland] beat Canada. That was amazing. There's just so many cool memories from the Olympics."

After missing the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, NHL players adamantly supported returning to the Olympics in 2022 when the league and its players' association were negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement in 2020. That July, it was announced the league planned to return for the Beijing Winter Olympics. However, a spike in COVID-19 cases shortly before the tournament forced the league to back out due to mass re-scheduling of NHL games.

The last two Olympics have primarily featured professionals in overseas leagues and collegiate players, harkening back to Olympics past. It wasn’t until 1998 that NHL players were able to play in the Olympics. Of course, that restriction set the stage for one of the greatest moments in Olympic history when the U.S. men’s hockey team upset the Soviet Union in the “Miracle on Ice” with a roster composed exclusively of college players.

One American player in particular did benefit from the NHL’s absence in Beijing four years ago. Defenseman Brock Faber was a sophomore at the University of Minnesota when the NHL officially withdrew from the Beijing Winter Olympics on Dec. 22, 2021, less than two months before the Opening Ceremony. Faber was one of 14 NCAA players named to Team USA that year. As a result, he’s the only member of the team that has played in the Olympics before.

As for the rest of the team, they’re soaking in the experience before the action arrives on Wednesday.

“It is pretty cool to see,” said Auston Matthews, who was named team captain on Sunday. “I have never seen anything like this. It is what the Olympics are all about. It is the best athletes from all around the world. It is very cool to be a part of.”

The best news is that best-on-best appears to be back for good. The NHL plans for a top-tier international tournament every two years, alternating between the Olympics and the World Cup, the latter of which hasn’t been held since 2016.

“What we are doing is building a relationship... when it comes to the players they obviously have been outspoken in wanting to participate," IOC sports director Pierre Ducrey said in a press conference on Sunday. "We believe in addition to having the best players here, allowing them to be on the biggest stage, we can generate more benefits to our respective organizations [the IOC and NHL] by working together.”

The last two Olympics featuring NHL players showcased iconic moments, from Crosby’s golden goal in 2010 to T.J. Oshie’s repeated shootout heroics for Team USA against Russia in 2014. The 4 Nations Face-Off exceeded the hype with another overtime finish in the final, with Connor McDavid taking the torch from Crosby with an overtime winner of his own.

There won’t be a repeat of the viral three fights in nine seconds between the U.S. and Canada – fighting is banned at the international level. But the fire that was lit last year should only grow with the pageantry and history of the Olympics taking things to the next level.

Reuters contributed to this report.