2026 Olympic Women’s Hockey Preview: United States
For the 2026 United States’ Olympic women’s hockey team, there’s only one thing on its minds: gold.
It usually isn’t that simple, but for an American squad that lost a one-goal game in the last Olympic gold-medal contest, it really is. The U.S. women’s squad has won just one Olympic gold medal since 1998, but with a major injection of youth to this year’s roster, they’re hoping 2026 kickstarts a decade of success on the world stage. If the most recent World Championship and Rivalry Series are an indication, this year’s tournament is made up of the Americans, then everyone else.
With a healthy combination of highly skilled PWHLers and some of college hockey’s best athletes, the U.S. are far-and-away the gold-medal favorite heading into Milano-Cortina.
LOOKING BACK TO 2022
The U.S. was coming off a gold-medal performance in 2018, its first since 1998, and hoped to repeat as Olympic champions. In the preliminary round, the Americans opened with a 5-2 win over Finland, followed by a 5-0 victory over the Russians. After an 8-0 drubbing of Switzerland, they lost 4-2 to the Canadians to close out the opening round.
The U.S. faced more of a challenge in the elimination round, giving up an early 1-0 lead to Czech Republic in the quarterfinals before scoring four unanswered goals to advance. They would beat Finland 4-1 in the semis, advancing to the gold-medal game against Canada.
But the Canadians stormed out to a 3-0 lead, and the U.S. comeback was too little, too late, handing Canada the gold and giving the Americans their fourth Olympic silver medal in women’s hockey.
OFFENSE
This year’s U.S. forward corps may be the most stacked of any group in recent memory. Not only are the top four point-producers in the PWHL American, but they all play for the Minnesota Frost: Kendall Coyne Schofield, Britta Curl-Salemme, Taylor Heise and Kelly Pannek are dominating the league offensively, and there’s no reason to believe they won’t carry that into Milano-Cortina.
Four of the 13 forwards the Americans are sending to Italy are in the NCAA, but don’t let their lack of professional experience fool you. Joy Dunne, who is dominating at Ohio State with 25 goals and 44 points in just 24 games, has been part of the U.S. team at the last two World Championships, including their gold-medal victory in 2025.
Abby Murphy, who has 36 goals and 61 points in just 26 games at the University of Minnesota, has been part of the U.S. national team since 2021 and helped the team earn a silver medal at Beijing 2022. Penn State’s Tessa Janecke was a force to be reckoned with at the 2025 World Championship, finishing with three goals and six points, including the game-winning overtime goal in the gold-medal game.
This will be Hilary Knight’s fifth and final Olympic Games, and she’s hoping to lead this group to its first gold medal since 2018. After a 2024-25 PWHL season that saw her record 15 goals and 29 points in 30 games, her start to the season with the Seattle Torrent has been underwhelming. She and the U.S. group are hopeful that playing with top-tier talent on the world stage will switch things up.
DEFENSE
The U.S. will be led by arguably the best defensive pair in the world with Megan Keller and Haley Winn, who are certified beasts on the blueline with the Boston Fleet. The two defenders average nearly average around 27 minutes per game and are one of the primary reasons for the Fleet’s success in the first half of the 2025-26 season.
Also, add Lee Stecklein to the list of Frost players on this team. She’s one of the PWHL’s best defenders and is averaging more than 24 minutes per game in Minnesota. The team will be comfortable ramping up the pressure on offense with stalwarts like Stecklein, Keller, and Winn locking down the blue line.
One more player to watch on the backend is Rory Guilday of the Ottawa Charge. The 5-foot-11, left-handed defender is averaging 21 minutes a game in her rookie season, and she’s no stranger to international hockey, having played at the World Championships in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
GOALTENDING
All three American goaltenders will make their Olympic debuts in Milano-Cortina. But don’t confuse their lack of Olympic experience with inexperience. Aerin Frankel is arguably the best goaltender in the world, putting up elite numbers for the PWHL’s Boston Fleet (a .946 save percentage and 1.35 goals against average this season). She is also one of the greatest netminders in NCAA history, winning the 2021 Patty Kazmaier and leading the Northeastern Huskies to the 2021 NCAA championship game.
Right beside her is fellow Northeastern alumnus Gwyneth Philips, who holds the NCAA record with a .958 career SV%. She led the PWHL’s Ottawa Charge to the Walter Cup final against the Frost, and despite Ottawa losing, Philips was named the Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP.
Internationally, Philips took over for an injured Frankel in the middle of the gold-medal game in last year’s World Championship, helping the U.S. win gold.
Rounding out the crease is Ava McNaughton, who led the Wisconsin Badgers to back-to-back NCAA championships in 2024 and 2025. and may be on pace to three-peat in 2026.
COACHING
John Wroblewski gets his first crack at Olympic hockey behind the bench for the U.S. He took over as the national team’s head coach for the 2022 World Championship and has found plenty of success during that time, winning gold at both the 2023 and 2025 World Championships, capped with total domination during the most recent edition of the Rivalry Series.
Before taking over as head coach for USA Hockey, Wroblewski coached at the minor-league level for North American men’s hockey, serving as head coach for both the American Hockey League’s Ontario Reign and the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers. He also coached the men’s U.S. National Team Development Program.
BURNING QUESTION
Will their youth help or hinder?
One thing that stands out for this year’s American team is how young it is: 13 of the players and goalies were born in the 2000s, and eight of them still play in the NCAA. Twelve players on this year’s roster are making their Olympic debuts in Italy, including all three goalies. In fact, only six players on the team are in their 30s.
The lack of Olympic experience might hurt some nations, but considering how talented the youth are and how many international games the majority of them have already played, it may not matter. This year’s group could be what kicks off a generation of American dominance on the world stage.
PREDICTION
There really isn’t an argument for picking anyone other than the U.S. as the gold-medal favorite in Milano-Cortina. With their depth both up front and on the blue line, plus having two of the best athletes in the world in the crease, there isn’t a weakness that Canada or any of the other competing nations can exploit.
Of course, this is international hockey, where weird things can happen, and single-game eliminations can create exciting scenarios. But for this highly motivated U.S. group, it’s all business, and there’s only one thing on their minds: gold.
FULL ROSTER
Forwards
Hannah Bilka (Seattle Torrent, PWHL)
Alex Carpenter (Seattle Torrent, PWHL)
Britta Curl-Salemme (Minnesota Frost, PWHL)
Kendall Coyne Schofield (Minnesota Frost, PWHL)
Joy Dunne (Ohio State, NCAA)
Taylor Heise (Minnesota Frost, PWHL)
Tessa Janecke (Penn State, NCAA)
Hilary Knight (Seattle Torrent, PWHL)
Abbey Murphy (Minnesota, NCAA)
Kelly Pannek (Minnesota Frost, PWHL)
Hayley Scamurra (Montreal Victoire, PWHL)
Kirsten Simms (Wisconsin, NCAA)
Grace Zumwinkle, (Minnesota Frost, PWHL)
Defenders
Cayla Barnes (Seattle Torrent, PWHL)
Laila Edwards (Wisconsin, NCAA)
Rory Guilday (Ottawa Charge, NCAA)
Caroline Harvey (Wisconsin, NCAA)
Megan Keller (Boston Fleet, PWHL)
Lee Stecklein (Minnesota Frost, PWHL)
Haley Winn (Boston Fleet, PWHL)
Goaltenders
Aerin Frankel (Boston Fleet, PWHL)
Ava McNaughton (Wisconsin, NCAA)
Gwyneth Philips (Ottawa Charge, PWHL)
PRELIMINARY ROUND SCHEDULE
Here’s the U.S. schedule for its group stage games:
- Thursday, Feb. 5: USA vs. Czechia, 10:40 a.m. ET
- Saturday, Feb. 7: USA vs. Finland, 10:40 a.m. ET
- Monday, Feb. 9: Switzerland vs. USA, 2:40 p.m. ET
Tuesday, Feb. 10: Canada vs. USA, 2:10 p.m. ET
The quarterfinals will begin on Feb. 13 and conclude the following day. Both semifinals are taking place on Feb. 16. The tournament will wrap up on Feb. 19 with both the gold and bronze medal games.