USA unveils women’s roster for 2026 Winter Olympics

One of the most dominant forces in women’s hockey has its troops ready to battle it out in Italy.

On Friday morning’s episode of TODAY on NBC, USA Hockey formally revealed its women’s ice hockey roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

The group of 23 players hopes to erase the disappointment from four years ago and capture Olympic gold once again.

The roster is made up of many of the usual suspects. Captain America Hilary Knight will be playing in her fifth and final Olympics in Italy, and will be joined by her longtime international teammates, Alex Carpenter, Kendall Coyne Schofield and Megan Keller. Other veterans such as Aerin Frankel and Lee Stecklein are gearing up for the big event.

This U.S. team is filled with plenty of first-time Olympians who were big parts in last year’s gold-medal performance at the IIHF Women’s World Championship. University of Wisconsin stars Laila Edwards, Caroline Harvey and Kirsten Simms are expected to be big-time players, with reigning PWHL playoff MVP Gwyneth Philips proving to be a solid second option behind Frankel.

Here’s the full roster of players selected to represent the United States in Milan in February:

Forwards: Hannah Bilka, Alex Carpenter, Britta Curl-Salemme, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Joy Dunne, Taylor Heise, Tessa Janecke, Hilary Knight, Abbey Murphy, Kelly Pannek, Hayley Scamurra, Kirsten Simms, Grace Zumwinkle

Defenders: Cayla Barnes, Laila Edwards, Rory Guilday, Caroline Harvey, Megan Keller, Lee Stecklein, Haley Winn

Goaltenders: Aerin Frankel, Ava McNaughton, Gwyneth Philips

The Americans have made it to six of the first seven Olympic finals in women’s hockey, winning the inaugural gold in 1998, before winning it all again 20 years later. The team has fallen to Canada in the 2002, 2010, 2014 and 2022 gold medal games, infamously winning the bronze in 2006.

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.