Men's and women's hockey schedules for 2026 Milan Olympics released
FILE - The Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena for the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics is seen under construction in Assago, Italy, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)
The International Ice Hockey Federation unveiled the schedule Tuesday for the men's and women's tournaments at the 2026 Olympics in Milan and Cortina.
Women's hockey starts on Feb. 5 with the U.S. against Czechia and Canada versus Finland among the opening games. The U.S. and Canada renew their rivalry in the preliminary round on Feb. 10, and the gold-medal game is set for Feb. 19.
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Men's hockey with the return of NHL players opens the following day with Finland facing Slovakia and host Italy against Sweden. Without Russia in the 12-team field, the U.S. is grouped with Germany, Latvia and Denmark and will play each of them in a round robin.
The U.S. opens Feb. 12 against Latvia, the same day Canada faces Czechia. The NHL's best are participating for the first time since 2014 in Sochi.
'It's great that the NHL players are back in the Olympics,' U.S. general manager Bill Guerin said. 'Obviously it's the biggest sports stage in the world, and we're all happy we're back involved.'
No teams are eliminated from group play on the men's side. The top four advance to the quarterfinals, with the remaining eight taking part in a qualification round.
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Games will take place on NHL-sized rinks at Milano Santagiulia and Milano Rho arenas. The final is scheduled for Feb. 22 as the last event of the Olympics before the closing ceremony.
The schedule release came a day after the federations involved announced the first six players named to their respective rosters. The U.S. picked all skaters: forwards Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, Auston Matthews and Jack Eichel and defensemen Quinn Hughes and Charlie McAvoy.
Finland is the defending Olympic champion from the Beijing bubble in 2022, when the NHL pulled out because of pandemic-related scheduling issues, and the Russians won in 2018. Canada has won the past two involving NHL players, and GM Doug Armstrong hopes for a third.
'I'm excited about our group," Armstrong said. "I know our group wants to go there and wants to put their best foot forward. There's no guarantees in this sport, but I know we're going to go with the right attitude.'
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