Along with Canada, Team USA is one of just two countries that have won gold in women's ice hockey since the event was added to the Olympics in 1998. The Americans won that inaugural year in Nagano, then endured four straight Canadian victories until 2018, when Team USA struck back with a dramatic overtime win to capture gold in Pyeongchang.

The preliminary Olympics matchup between Finland and Canada was been postponed due to a norovirus outbreak among the Finnish team.

Here's what to know about Thursday's slate of women's ice hockey games at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, including how to watch information.

MILAN (AP) — All the worries, strife and scrutiny that lingered around the construction of the main hockey arena for the Milan Cortina Olympics dissipated as the first game there into a celebration for the host country.

The Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony is Friday, along with mixed doubles curling, figure skating and training for Alpine skiing, luge and ski jumping.

The 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics ice hockey events will take place at the Milano Rho and Milano Santagiulia ice hockey arenas, kicking off with preliminary round matches on Thursday, Feb. 5, running through to the men's gold medal match on Sunday, Feb. 22. A full schedule of the ice hockey events can be found down below.