One of the showcase events at the Winter Olympics will be hockey, where NHL players are back for the first time since 2014 and the world’s best women’s players are competing in the Games for an eighth consecutive time.
What's known: The main arena will have ice that's smaller than what the speedy, hard-hitting NHL players are used to. What's not known: Whether the rink will be fully built with a safe ice surface — seating should be fine — by the time play begins.
Assuming that all gets settled, the competition should be remarkable, with star players like Sidney Crosby and Hilary Knight going for Olympic gold.
Each of the 12 teams on the men's side and 10 for the women have rosters of 22 skaters and three goaltenders, dressing 20 and two and playing 5 on 5 in regulation and 3 on 3 in overtime. The games will be familiar to NHL and PWHL fans: 60 minutes of regulation, divided into three periods, with no ties. If there is not a goal in overtime, shootouts — skater vs. goaltender for five rounds — are used to determine the result until the gold medal game, when play continues with sudden-death 20-minute periods until one team scores. Group play sets the matchups for elimination games.
The North American teams are considered the ones to beat for both men and women.
It is expected to be Knight's fifth and final Games as she and Kendall Coyne Schofield give way to the next generation of American talent led by Laila Edwards. Canada captain Marie-Philip Poulin is set to play in her sixth Olympics and is looking for a fourth gold medal. The Canadians gave up 10 goals — for the first time in national team history — to the U.S. in an exhibition game in December.
Finland is the defending champion on the men's side after winning its first Olympic title in 2022 when pandemic-related scheduling issues caused the NHL to pull out. Canada won in 2014 and 2010, the last two times the world's best men's players participated, with Crosby this time joining forces with Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon.
As with all team sports, Russia is barred from hockey at the Olympics because of the war in Ukraine. That sidelines many of the best players in the world, including NHL career goals record holder Alex Ovechkin and two-time Stanley Cup champions Andrei Vasilevskiy and Nikita Kucherov.
The men’s tournament is scheduled to run from Feb. 11-22. The women start Feb. 5, the day before the opening ceremony, with the final on Feb. 19. Games are set to be held in Milan at the Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena, a new, 16,000-seat venue, and a smaller rink in Rho.
Crosby's "golden goal" to give Canada an overtime victory in the final in 2010 in Vancouver is etched in hockey lore. So is T.J. Oshie's shootout success for the U.S. against host Russia in Sochi in '14.
Poulin had her own OT heroics that year, as Canada tied it late after the U.S. hit the post of an empty net, which would have sealed gold. Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and the Americans returned the favor in 2018, beating their archrivals in a shootout in the final.
Men's hockey has been a fixture since the first Winter Games in 1924 and actually debuted at the 1920 Summer Games in Antwerp. Canada has won gold nine times (including Antwerp), the most by far (the Soviet Union won seven times), with Sweden and the U.S each winning twice. The American men haven't won since the 1980 “Miracle On Ice” in Lake Placid. The women's competition was added at Nagano in 1998; either the U.S. or Canada has won every Olympic title since and the fierce rivals have met in the final six out of seven times.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Prayer, grounded in divine Love and spiritual law, offers a reliable foundation for healing,… Read moreInspirational Talk on Effective Prayer: Finding healing and wholeness in divine Love
What the Constitution Means to Me Read moreWhat The Constitution Means To Me
Join us for community fun! Free antique and collectible appraisals by Clars Auction. Over 30… Read moreMillbrae Senior Showcase
Dirk van Ulden said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.