USA unveils jerseys for 2026 Winter Olympic hockey tournament

The red, white, and blue have their gear for February.

On NBC’s Today on Wednesday morning, along with U.S. Sledge Hockey star Jack Wallace, USA Hockey revealed the jerseys the men’s and women’s teams will wear at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy.

The jerseys are similar to what we have seen in recent years from American squads. Honoring the 1960 U.S. Olympic Team that won the gold medal, the home sweaters are blue, with white marking the away sweaters, and the lettering ‘U-S-A’ going diagonally across the front. They are almost carbon copies of what we’ve seen American teams have worn for the better part of a decade.

Unlike what we’re accustomed to seeing in other IIHF tournaments – the Men’s and Women’s Worlds, World Juniors, etc. – the International Olympic Committee doesn’t allow branded logos, meaning the U.S. isn’t allowed to have the USA Hockey logo across the chest.

The men’s team is looking to avenge years of disappointing results at the Winter Olympics. The last time the men made it to the gold medal game was in Vancouver in 2010, when they unceremoniously lost to Sidney Crosby and Team Canada. The United States has won two men’s gold medals at the Olympics, last doing so in 1980 in Lake Placid.

This year’s team has plenty of firepower projected to make the roster, including the first six already named. Auston Matthews captained the Americans to a second-place finish at the 4 Nations Face-Off last February, and he’ll be flanked by the likes of the Tkachuk brothers, Brady and Matthew, Jack Eichel, and reigning Hart Trophy winner, Connor Hellebuyck.

The women’s team has had much more success since women’s hockey was introduced in the Olympics in 1998. Along with winning the first gold medal in Nagano, the U.S. also won gold in Pyeongchang in 2018. The Americans have been to six of the seven gold medal games at the Olympics, failing to reach the final in 2006. After winning it all in 2018, the U.S. lost in decisive fashion to Team Canada in the gold medal game in Beijing in 2022.

The U.S. is expected to bring many of its usual suspects back, including Hilary Knight, Kendall Coyne Schofield and star goaltender Aerin Frankel. They’ll also have a plethora of young talent expected to be key players in the event. University of Wisconsin stars Laila Edwards and Kirsten Simms, and reigning Patty Kazmaier winner Casey O’Brien, are projected to bolster the American lineup as it looks for the gold.

The U.S. Men’s Sledge Hockey team has been dominant in the Paralympic Games for the past two decades. Since missing the podium in 1998, the Americans have won gold five times, including winning gold almost four years ago.