Two former Huskies, Alex Petan and Deedra Irwin, are set to compete in this year’s 2026 Winter Olympics. The games, which started on Feb. 6, take place in Milano Cortina, Italy. While Irwin is representing Team USA, Petan, a Canadian native, will be playing for Team Italy.
Petan played hockey with the Huskies from 2012 to 2016, graduating with a degree in Sports and Fitness Management. During his junior season, he was the assistant captain and was promoted to captain for his senior year. During his career at MTU, he skated in 153 games, earning 135 points, scoring 59 goals, and 76 assists. He was a second-team All-American in 2015-16 and was also honored as the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Player of the Year, WCHA Scoring Champion, and All-WCHA First Team Selection. He was also honored on the All-WCHA Second Team as a junior and the WCHA All-Rookie Team as a freshman. After graduation, he moved to the American Hockey League (AHL) and played within that league for three seasons until moving to Europe for the 2017-18 season, where he has been located since. While this is his first appearance at the Olympics, he marks the 18th hockey Husky to appear at the games.
Irwin was a three-sport varsity student-athlete during her time at MTU, competing on the Track and Field, Cross Country, and Nordic Skiing teams. She graduated in 2015 with a degree in Exercise Science. She was named the GLIAC Women’s Cross Country Freshman of the Year in 2011. On the track, she broke school records in the 800, 1,500, 5,000, and 10,000 meters and was part of a record-setting 4×400 relay team. She earned All-GLIAC honors in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and an honorable mention in the 800. As a Nordic skier, Irwin was the top classic skier in the Central Region. Irwin was recently invited back to MTU as the commencement speaker for the Spring 2025 graduation ceremony. Unlike Petan, this year marks Irwin’s second appearance at the games, first appearing in the 2022 Beijing games. She competed in five events, and had the best placement of seventh place in the 15 km event.
Students are encouraged to support them throughout the Olympics. Both Huskies next events are scheduled for this Wednesday, Feb. 11. Irwin is set to compete in the Women’s 15km Individual at 8:15 a.m., while Petan will be competing against Sweden at 3:10 p.m. Both events are available to stream on NBC’s Peacock. The overall schedule can be found online on the Olympics website.
