USA Hockey is officially off to the races at the 2026 Winter Olympics, hitting the ice in Milan for their initial group-stage matchup against Czechia on Thursday morning ahead of Friday's Opening Ceremony.
The competition's preliminary round features two groups of five teams, with Team USA squaring off against fellow automatic quarterfinalists Czechia, Finland, Switzerland, and Canada in Group A over the next six days to determine seeding for the knockout rounds.
Meanwhile, the countries comprising Group B — Sweden, Germany, France, Italy, and Japan — will concurrently play their round-robin group stage, but with higher stakes: Only the top three finishers from their pool will advance to the knockouts.
"It's a clean slate every time you get to a tournament," Team USA captain Hilary Knight said. "You have to work hard."
The US and Canada enter the eighth edition of the tournament as strong gold-medal favorites, but the rapid rise of the PWHL has produced the deepest field in Olympic history.
Czechia's roster includes eight PWHL players, with a total of 22 PWHL athletes representing six European countries at the Winter Games.
Along with the 16 standouts playing for Team USA and the 23 on Canada's roster, 61 PWHL players — 30% of the entire North American league — are competing on the Olympic ice this month.
"It's only our second Olympics," said Czechia head coach Carla MacLeod, who also helms the PWHL's Ottawa Charge. "But certainly there's a belief in the room that we can go play our best games and see where it takes us."
How to watch USA hockey vs. Czechia at the Winter Olympics
USA Hockey will open their 2026 Winter Olympics against Czechia at 10:40 AM ET on Thursday, with live coverage airing on USA Network.
