MILAN — The Canadian women’s national hockey team has won gold at five of the last six Winter Olympics, but the U.S. women’s national hockey team has all the momentum heading into the 2026 Milano Cortina Games.
The U.S. women swept Canada in the 2025 Rivalry Series, something neither team has done in the tournament’s six-year history. The Americans dominated and outscored the Canadians 24-7 throughout the tournament’s four-game slate, led by five goals from Hilary Knight, who is set to appear in her fifth and final Olympic Games.
Meanwhile, the U.S. men are looking to end a 46-year gold-medal drought. The Americans should get a boost from the return of NHL players to the Olympics for the first time since the 2014 Sochi Games.
Here’s what you need to know about ice hockey at these Games.
Men’s ice hockey dates back to the 1920 Summer Olympics, before it was transferred to the Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The women’s event was added to the program at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics.
Just like the NHL but with wider rinks, Olympic ice hockey pits two teams against each other in each game, and whichever team scores the most goals wins. During a hockey match, each team has a goalie plus five skaters (usually two defensemen and three forwards) on the ice, with substitutions sometimes coming as often as every 30 seconds. An ice hockey game normally lasts 60 minutes, divided into three periods of 20 minutes each, and will move to an overtime and then a shootout to break a tie.
The American and Canadian women each have seven Olympic medals, but Canada has the edge with five gold medals, compared to the United State’s two. The Canadian men also have the most Olympic medals with sixteen overall and nine golds. The Soviet Union won nine medals overall and seven golds before dissolving in 1991.
Women’s tournament
Men’s tournament
Contributing: Ellen Horrow
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