Schedule for 2026 Winter Olympic men’s, women’s hockey tournaments unveiled
The IIHF officially unveiled the schedule for the men’s and women’s ice hockey tournaments at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on Tuesday.
The women’s tournament will take place between February 5 and February 19, with 10 nations competing, including Canada, the United States, Czechia, Finland and Switzerland in Group A.
All five of those teams will qualify for the quarterfinals, along with the top three teams from Group B, which includes host Italy, France, Germany, Japan and Sweden.
The marquee round-robin game between the United States and Canada is set for February 10 at 8:10 local time, while the gold medal game will take place on the 19th at 7:10 with the semifinals set for the 16th at 4:40 and 9:10 PM.
Since women’s hockey became an Olympic sport in 1998, Canada has taken home the gold five times compared to twice for the United States, while no other country has finished atop the podium.
On the men’s side, the tournament will last from February 11 through February 22, during which time the NHL regular season will pause to allow players to participate for the first time since 2014.
Three groups of four teams apiece include Group A (Canada, Czechia, France and Switzerland), Group B (Finland, Italy, Slovakia and Sweden) and Group C (Denmark, Germany, Latvia and the United States).
The hottest round-robin ticket will be the Group B showdown between Finland and Sweden. That game is slated for February 13 at 12:10 PM local time.
The gold medal game will take place on the 22nd at 2:10, and the participants in that contest will be determined two days earlier in the semifinal games on the 20th at 4:40 and 9:10.
Due to ongoing IIHF sanctions, Russia will not be represented in either tournament.
The Canadians won the gold medal in each of the last two tournaments with NHL participation, winning on home soil over the Americans in 2010 and defeating the Swedes in a dominant tournament-long effort in 2014.
Several of the men’s teams unveiled the first six players of their respective rosters on Sunday and Monday, including both Team Canada and the United States.