photo: © International Ice Hockey Federation / Andre Ringuette
The game schedules for the Men’s and Women’s tournaments at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 have been released, another milestone on the road to glory that begins in less than eight months.
The men will feature 12 teams playing 30 games, while the women will have ten entries playing 28 games. Games will be played at two venues, both NHL-size sheets of ice. The men’s tournament runs 11-22 February while the women play 5-19 February.
Click here for the full game schedules: Men / Women
Olympic Winter Games with NHL players after 12 years
On the men’s side, the preliminary round will consist of three groups of four teams. Group A includes Canada, Czechia, France, and Switzerland. Canada, which won three of the last four NHL-Olympics events, has to be considered pre-tournament favourites, but they have two tricky matches two start. Their opening game is against Czechia on 12 February, the team that stunned them in the semi-finals in 1998. A day later, they play the Swiss, the team that beat them 2-0 in 2006. France, which will host the 2030 Olympics, hasn’t played in the Games since 2002. They last played Canada in 1994 and the Czechs in 1992. Against the Swiss, they have a 1-1-1 record all time. The Czechs haven’t won an Olympic medal since 2006, while the only two medals the Swiss have won have been at home many decades ago—bronze in 1948 and 1928, both in St. Moritz.
Group B features Finland, Italy, Slovakia, and Sweden. The hosts have not qualified for the Olympics since Torino in 2006 and are definite underdogs in this group. The Finns are defending champions, and four years ago they were also in the same group as the Slovaks and Swedes, defeating the former, 6-2, and the latter, 4-3, in overtime. In the 2022 semi-finals, they eliminated the Slovaks with another win, 2-0. The Swedes last won a medal in 2014 after losing in the gold-medal game to Canada, and, of course, they won gold in Torino in 2006. Slovakia is coming off their best Olympics ever. They beat Sweden, 4-0, in the bronze-medal game in Beijing in 2022. These two teams will meet on 14 February.
Finally, Group C has in it Denmark, Germany, Latvia, and United States. Denmark is just coming off its greatest hockey season ever, which included a fourth-place finish at the World Championship last month. They are playing in their second straight Olympics after never having qualified previously. The Germans won silver in 2018. They have never played the Danes at the Games and will do so for the first time on 12 February. They have faced Latvia only once, a 4-1 win in 2002. The Americans, coming off their stunning gold at the World Championship, also have to be considered one of the favourites in Italy. They have a history with Germany that goes back to Lake Placid in 1932 and have won 12 of 15 games over the decades. They’ll meet again in Milano on 15 February.
No teams will be eliminated after the preliminary round. All 12 teams will be ranked and the group winners and the second-place team with the best record will qualify for the quarter-finals directly while the other eight teams play a qualification round. From there, it will be elimination playoffs, with the medal games being played on 21 (bronze) and 22 (gold) February.
Women’s tournament starts on 5 February
As in 2022, the women’s tournament will start with two groups of five teams which have been ordered vertically. All Group A teams will qualify for the quarter-finals along with the top three teams from Group B.
If the most recent Women’s Worlds is any indication, the overwhelming favourites to play for gold are, once again, Canada and United States. They have won all gold and silver in Olympic competition since 1998, except 2006 when Sweden took silver to Canada’s gold.
The two North American teams will finish the round robin with a game on 10 February, clearly the most anticipated of the opening round. But that is not the only matchup to watch. The Czechs, Finns, and Swiss have created heated rivalries in the last four years. In 2025 and 2024, Suomi beat the Czechs to take bronze each time. But in 2023 and 2022, the Czechs beat the Swiss to win their first ever WW bronze medals. In Milano, Finland and Czechia will play on 8 February while the Swiss and Czechs will face off on 6 February.
In Group B, the hosts Italy will be in a difficult position. Their only other Olympic appearance was in 2006 as hosts, and they lost all five games with a goal differential of 3-48. To the good, however, they played at the Women’s Worlds in Division I-B in Dumfries, Great Britain, this past year and won all five games to earn promotion to I-A for the coming season.
France, Germany, Japan, and Sweden are also in Group B. The Swedes earned back-to-back medals in 2002 and 2006 (bronze, silver) but have been held off the podium ever since. They finished sixth at the Women’s Worlds this past April. None of France, Germany, and Japan have ever won an Olympic medal. The French women are competing for the first time at the Olympics, while the Japanese are making their fourth straight appearance. Germany has earned a place in Milano for the first time since 2014 by winning their qualification group this past February.
Germany faces Japan on 7 February while Sweden and Germany play on 5 February, the first game of the Olympics for the women. Lastly, the Sweden-Japan game on 10 February, the final day of the preliminary round, might well decide who moves on to the playoff round.
The women’s medal games will both be played on 19 February, the bronze at 14:40 local time and the gold at 19:10.
Information about tickets to the hockey games is available at https://tickets.milanocortina2026.org/en. For information on official merchandise, hospitality packages, volunteer opportunities, the Olympic torch relay, and more, see https://milanocortina2026.olympics.com/en.
The men will feature 12 teams playing 30 games, while the women will have ten entries playing 28 games. Games will be played at two venues, both NHL-size sheets of ice. The men’s tournament runs 11-22 February while the women play 5-19 February.
Click here for the full game schedules: Men / Women
Olympic Winter Games with NHL players after 12 years
On the men’s side, the preliminary round will consist of three groups of four teams. Group A includes Canada, Czechia, France, and Switzerland. Canada, which won three of the last four NHL-Olympics events, has to be considered pre-tournament favourites, but they have two tricky matches two start. Their opening game is against Czechia on 12 February, the team that stunned them in the semi-finals in 1998. A day later, they play the Swiss, the team that beat them 2-0 in 2006. France, which will host the 2030 Olympics, hasn’t played in the Games since 2002. They last played Canada in 1994 and the Czechs in 1992. Against the Swiss, they have a 1-1-1 record all time. The Czechs haven’t won an Olympic medal since 2006, while the only two medals the Swiss have won have been at home many decades ago—bronze in 1948 and 1928, both in St. Moritz.
Group B features Finland, Italy, Slovakia, and Sweden. The hosts have not qualified for the Olympics since Torino in 2006 and are definite underdogs in this group. The Finns are defending champions, and four years ago they were also in the same group as the Slovaks and Swedes, defeating the former, 6-2, and the latter, 4-3, in overtime. In the 2022 semi-finals, they eliminated the Slovaks with another win, 2-0. The Swedes last won a medal in 2014 after losing in the gold-medal game to Canada, and, of course, they won gold in Torino in 2006. Slovakia is coming off their best Olympics ever. They beat Sweden, 4-0, in the bronze-medal game in Beijing in 2022. These two teams will meet on 14 February.
Finally, Group C has in it Denmark, Germany, Latvia, and United States. Denmark is just coming off its greatest hockey season ever, which included a fourth-place finish at the World Championship last month. They are playing in their second straight Olympics after never having qualified previously. The Germans won silver in 2018. They have never played the Danes at the Games and will do so for the first time on 12 February. They have faced Latvia only once, a 4-1 win in 2002. The Americans, coming off their stunning gold at the World Championship, also have to be considered one of the favourites in Italy. They have a history with Germany that goes back to Lake Placid in 1932 and have won 12 of 15 games over the decades. They’ll meet again in Milano on 15 February.
No teams will be eliminated after the preliminary round. All 12 teams will be ranked and the group winners and the second-place team with the best record will qualify for the quarter-finals directly while the other eight teams play a qualification round. From there, it will be elimination playoffs, with the medal games being played on 21 (bronze) and 22 (gold) February.
Women’s tournament starts on 5 February
As in 2022, the women’s tournament will start with two groups of five teams which have been ordered vertically. All Group A teams will qualify for the quarter-finals along with the top three teams from Group B.
If the most recent Women’s Worlds is any indication, the overwhelming favourites to play for gold are, once again, Canada and United States. They have won all gold and silver in Olympic competition since 1998, except 2006 when Sweden took silver to Canada’s gold.
The two North American teams will finish the round robin with a game on 10 February, clearly the most anticipated of the opening round. But that is not the only matchup to watch. The Czechs, Finns, and Swiss have created heated rivalries in the last four years. In 2025 and 2024, Suomi beat the Czechs to take bronze each time. But in 2023 and 2022, the Czechs beat the Swiss to win their first ever WW bronze medals. In Milano, Finland and Czechia will play on 8 February while the Swiss and Czechs will face off on 6 February.
In Group B, the hosts Italy will be in a difficult position. Their only other Olympic appearance was in 2006 as hosts, and they lost all five games with a goal differential of 3-48. To the good, however, they played at the Women’s Worlds in Division I-B in Dumfries, Great Britain, this past year and won all five games to earn promotion to I-A for the coming season.
France, Germany, Japan, and Sweden are also in Group B. The Swedes earned back-to-back medals in 2002 and 2006 (bronze, silver) but have been held off the podium ever since. They finished sixth at the Women’s Worlds this past April. None of France, Germany, and Japan have ever won an Olympic medal. The French women are competing for the first time at the Olympics, while the Japanese are making their fourth straight appearance. Germany has earned a place in Milano for the first time since 2014 by winning their qualification group this past February.
Germany faces Japan on 7 February while Sweden and Germany play on 5 February, the first game of the Olympics for the women. Lastly, the Sweden-Japan game on 10 February, the final day of the preliminary round, might well decide who moves on to the playoff round.
The women’s medal games will both be played on 19 February, the bronze at 14:40 local time and the gold at 19:10.
Information about tickets to the hockey games is available at https://tickets.milanocortina2026.org/en. For information on official merchandise, hospitality packages, volunteer opportunities, the Olympic torch relay, and more, see https://milanocortina2026.olympics.com/en.