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2026 Winter
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Everything you need to know about the latest edition of international best-on-best women's hockey. Dennis Pajot / Getty Images
MILAN — The women’s hockey tournament is always a highlight of the Winter Olympics.
It’s also the sport’s opportunity to draw in audiences who might not keep up with the day-to-day stories and specifics of the sport. This year, with the Professional Women’s Hockey League partway through its third season, there’s even more to catch up on.
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“It’s an important moment for the sport to put the best performance on,” said Jayna Hefford, a five-time Canadian Olympian and PWHL executive vice president of hockey operations. “Because there’s going to be people that watch women’s hockey for the first time.”
Before the tournament officially begins on Thursday, here’s everything you need to know about Olympic women’s hockey.
The 2026 Olympic women’s hockey tournament will consist of 10 teams. The top five teams from the 2024 IIHF women’s world championships — Canada, USA, Finland, Czechia and Switzerland — automatically qualified for the tournament, as did the host, Italy. The final four nations — Japan, Sweden, France and Germany — earned their spots through Olympic qualification tournaments.
Russia, which would have been the sixth automatic qualifier based on its current IIHF points total, remains barred from international competition due to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Unlike the men’s tournament, which splits teams evenly across three groups, the top five countries in women’s hockey are placed in one pool (Group A) and the bottom five in another (Group B). Each team will play against all four other countries in their group once during the preliminary round.
All five teams from Group A and the best three teams from Group B advance to the quarterfinals, which will be played according to seeding. The first-placed team in Group A will play the third-placed team in Group B, and so forth.
The gold medal game is expected to come down to Canada and the United States, as it has for all but one tournament — in 2006, when Sweden upset the U.S. in the semifinals — since women’s hockey became an Olympic sport in 1998.
The rivalry between the two countries goes back to before the International Ice Hockey Federation even sanctioned a women’s world hockey championship, and it's long been credited as one of the best rivalries in sport.
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The Americans will be heading to Milan with confidence after sweeping the Canadians in the four-game Rivalry Series by a combined score of 24-7. As the No. 1 team in the IIHF rankings, Team USA is the favorite with a combination of elite veterans and dynamic young talent.
Four of the top six scoring forwards in the PWHL are on the American Olympic team, led by Minnesota Frost captain Kendall Coyne Schofield. Megan Keller, on her third Olympic squad, is the league’s highest-scoring defender. Forward Abbey Murphy and defender Caroline Harvey, both college hockey standouts, will play in their second Olympics after making the 2022 roster as teenagers. They rank No. 1 and 2 in scoring in the NCAA.
Captain Hilary Knight will be chasing a second Olympic gold medal in her fifth and final tournament; she is the only five-time Olympian in U.S. women’s hockey history. Should the U.S. win a medal in Milan, Knight will also become the most decorated American women’s hockey player.
On the other side of the border, Canada will lean on an experience-heavy roster. Sixteen players have prior Olympic experience, and nine have played in more than two Olympic tournaments. Captain Marie-Philip Poulin, who was voted the best player in the PWHL by her peers in The Athletic’s recent women’s hockey player poll, will play in her fifth Olympics; Brianne Jenner – the reigning Olympic MVP – Natalie Spooner and defender Jocelyne Larocque will play in their fourth.
Poulin is the ultimate X-factor for Team Canada. She has scored in all four Olympic gold medal games she’s played in since 2010 and scored the “golden goal” in 2010, 2014 and 2022. But the team also has many elite players in their prime years, such as 2025 PWHL rookie of the year Sarah Fillier, first-time Olympian Daryl Watts – who is third all-time in PWHL scoring – and Ann-Renée Desbiens, who has a 4-0 record at the Olympics and a .954 save percentage in the PWHL.
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Pre-tournament success has rarely been an accurate indicator of who is going to win gold between these two teams. In 1998, Canada was the favorite and lost. The Americans were the better team in 2002 … and lost. The only safe assumption is a tight game — probably needing overtime! — and that the Canada-USA rivalry will deliver on the sport’s biggest stage.
Finland and Czechia are expected to battle for a bronze medal, as the two countries have at back-to-back women’s world championships. Czechia won bronze in 2022 and 2023, beating Switzerland in both tournaments. After a few down years, Finland is peaking at the right time, winning two straight bronze medals heading into Milan.
Both teams have a mix of young talent from the NCAA and well-established professionals. Finland will once again be led by captain Jenni Hiirikoski, who will play in her fifth Olympics; Boston Fleet forward Susanna Tapani; and Vancouver Goldeneyes forward Michelle Karvinen, who became the highest-scoring Finnish player at 2025 worlds in April.
Petra Nieminen has been one of the very best forwards in the Swedish Women’s Hockey League and co-led Finland in scoring — with Tapani — at the last Olympics in 2022. Nelli Laitinen is a feature on the No. 3 Minnesota Golden Gophers' blue line and will play in her second Olympics. Ronja Savolainen, a top-pair defender for the Ottawa Charge, should play a key role on the blue line after leading Finland in scoring during last year’s world championships.
The Czech women’s national team is headlined by the PWHL’s 2025 No. 1 pick Kristýna Kaltounková, who is tied for second in goals in the PWHL midway through her rookie season. Natálie Mlýnková (Montreal Victoire) and Tereza Vanišová (Vancouver) bring skill and pro experience to the forward group. Captain Aneta Tejralová is a steady presence on the blue line. Nineteen-year-old Adéla Šapovalivová — a freshman at the University of Wisconsin — will make her Olympic debut after strong performances at women’s worlds as an underage forward.
Switzerland is a safe bet to finish fifth. That’s their IIHF world ranking, and it’s where they’ve finished at the last two women’s world championships as Czechia has made its push for the podium. The Swiss have star power in Alina Müller (Boston Fleet), but the team hasn’t won a medal since the 2014 Sochi Olympics, when Müller was just 15 years old and Florence Schelling was still their star goalie.
In Group B, Sweden looks promising with an exciting young team, including NCAA stars Josefin Bouveng (University of Minnesota) and Ohio State freshman Hilda Svensson, whose 44 points in 26 games is eighth in the nation. No. 1 goalie Emma Söderberg could have a big tournament with more games under her belt in the SDHL — her .931 save percentage is fifth in the league — versus her time as a back-up in the PWHL. Sweden could be a fun dark horse, but the team has suffered due to the group format. Even if they win Group B, Sweden will need to beat a top team in the quarterfinals to make a podium push.
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Montreal Victoire goalie Sandra Abstreiter will lead Germany from the crease after helping the team qualify for the Olympics with a .967 save percentage during the February 2025 qualification tournament. Former Charge forward Akane Shiga headlines Japan with her speed and skill.
Italy has a number of players who could be familiar to fans in North America, including former Boston University captain Nadia Mattivi; Kristin Della Rovere, who is on the Toronto Sceptres’ reserve list; and defender Laura Fortino, who won Olympic gold in 2014 with Team Canada.
France, which ranks 14th in the world, is led by center Estelle Duvin and former New York Sirens forward Chloé Aurard-Bushee.
Feb. 5: At 8:40 a.m. ET, Italy and France will play in the first game at the controversial Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. The arena only saw its first game action at a test event — where a hole developed in the ice — less than a month before the start of the women’s hockey tournament. At a press conference on Sunday, Christophe Dubi, the IOC Olympic Games executive director, said the rink is ready for hockey games. But he also said, "Do we have every single space in the venue finished? No.
"And is it absolutely needed for the Games? No. So no one's experience is going to be tainted by anything that needs to be painted or carpeted after the Games. Let's be very clear. Anything that is public-facing, anything that is (for) media or, starting with the athletes, (is) absolute top."
Later on Thursday, the United States and Canada will also open their 2026 Olympic tournaments at the smaller Milano Rho arena. The Americans will face Czechia, and the Canadians will face the Finns.
Feb 6: Switzerland opens its Olympic tournament against Czechia, which will play two back-to-backs in the preliminary round. Later that day, at 2 p.m. ET, the Olympic opening ceremony will begin.
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Feb 7: Italy will play another game at Santagiulia, this time against a highly skilled Swedish team. If the host nation wants to get out of the group stage, it will need an upset or two. If it's not against Sweden, perhaps Germany or Japan.
Feb 8: Czechia and Finland will face off in what could be a bronze-medal game preview. The game, between the third- and fourth-best teams in the world, will be important for seeding within Group A.
Feb 9: Czechia will finish its preliminary round against Team Canada in a big measuring-stick game as the Czechs try to push for their first Olympic podium.
Feb 10: The Heated Canada-USA Rivalry returns to the Olympic stage for the first time since the 2022 gold medal game in Beijing.
Quarterfinal games will take place on Feb. 13 and 14, followed by the semifinals on Feb. 16.
The bronze medal game will be on Feb. 19 at 8:40 a.m. ET, followed by the gold medal game at 1:10 p.m.
Women’s Olympic hockey games will be available on national broadcasts across CBC, TSN and Sportsnet in Canada. Games will also be on the CBC Gem streaming service.
NBC is the American Olympic broadcaster and will air games on NBC, CNBC and USA Network. Games will also be streamed on Peacock and NBC Sports platforms. The TV and streaming schedule can be seen here.
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Hailey Salvian is a staff writer for The Athletic covering women’s hockey and the NHL. Previously, she covered the Calgary Flames and Ottawa Senators and served as a general assignment reporter. Follow Hailey on Twitter @hailey_salvian