Along with Canada, Team USA is one of just two countries that have won gold in women's ice hockey since the event was added to the Olympics in 1998. The Americans won that inaugural year in Nagano, then endured four straight Canadian victories until 2018, when Team USA struck back with a dramatic overtime win to capture gold in Pyeongchang.

Who are the favorites and underdogs heading into the men's and women's 2026 Olympic ice hockey tournaments?

The 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics officially begins today with the opening ceremony and a number of early events. Curling began the action over the past two days and continues this Friday, as does the women’s ice hockey competition that saw Team USA beat Czech Republic yesterday.

The 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics’ early events continued on day -1 ahead of Friday's opening ceremony. After opening the games on day -2 as the first event to start competitive play, curling continued with wins for the U.

The 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics ice hockey events will take place at the Milano Rho and Milano Santagiulia ice hockey arenas, kicking off with preliminary round matches on Thursday, Feb. 5, running through to the men's gold medal match on Sunday, Feb. 22. A full schedule of the ice hockey events can be found down below.

Here's what to know about Thursday's slate of women's ice hockey games at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, including how to watch information.

The Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony is Friday, along with mixed doubles curling, figure skating and training for Alpine skiing, luge and ski jumping.

The Russians would have fielded one of the most talented teams in the tournament