Olympic hockey schedule: Team USA times set, Sidney Crosby headlines Canada at Milano Cortina 2026

Olympic hockey is split into two tight windows at Milano Cortina 2026, with the women’s tournament already underway in Milan and the men’s tournament set to begin mid-February. The headline for U.S. fans: Team USA’s women play Finland on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 10:40 a.m. ET, and the men open Feb. 12 at 3:10 p.m. ET.

Russia is not competing as a country at these Games, and there is no Russian national team in Olympic hockey.

The big picture schedule in Milan

The Olympic hockey calendar is structured like this (all times listed in ET for U.S. viewers):

• Women’s tournament: Feb. 5–19, 2026 (group stage through medal games)

• Men’s tournament: Feb. 11–22, 2026 (group stage through medal games)

Both tournaments are staged in Milan across two primary arenas, with most puck drops for North American audiences landing in the morning to mid-afternoon ET.

Team USA hockey schedule: the next six games

Here are the next scheduled U.S. games for the women and men, with ET start times:

Women’s tournament: U.S. group path and medal round cadence

The U.S. women are in Group A with Canada, Finland, Czechia, and Switzerland, a setup that makes early games meaningful even before the bracket begins. The U.S. opened with a win over Czechia and now face a quick turnaround into a key stretch: Finland, Switzerland, then Canada.

The women’s knockout schedule is built to keep the event moving fast:

• Quarterfinals: Friday, Feb. 13

• Semifinals: Monday, Feb. 16

• Medal games: Thursday, Feb. 19 (bronze in the morning ET, gold later that day)

The main tactical question for the U.S. is how aggressively to rotate lines through the group stage while keeping their best combinations sharp for the medal rounds.

Men’s tournament: how the bracket works for Team USA

The men’s tournament begins Wednesday, Feb. 11, with group play running straight into a compressed playoff format. Team USA is in Group C with Germany, Latvia, and Denmark.

The format puts a premium on finishing position:

• The top team in each group plus the next best team overall earn a bye to the quarterfinals.

• The remaining teams move into a playoff round to fill the final quarterfinal spots.

For the U.S., that means the three preliminary games (Latvia, Denmark, Germany) are not “warm-ups.” A strong start can reduce the number of elimination games they must survive on the way to the medals.

Sidney Crosby and the Canada storyline

Sidney Crosby is part of the Canadian men’s Olympic roster for Milano Cortina 2026, adding instant gravity to the tournament. Even late in his career, Crosby’s value in best-on-best competition is clear: puck protection under pressure, faceoff reliability, and a track record of elevating in single-game stakes.

Canada’s presence also shapes Team USA’s outlook. In modern Olympic hockey, medal paths often run through at least one heavyweight matchup, and Crosby’s inclusion raises the ceiling of Canada’s top lines in a tournament where one hot goalie or one dominant special-teams night can swing everything.

What to watch over the next week

A few schedule-driven inflection points are coming quickly:

• USA vs Finland (women) on Feb. 7: a tone-setter for the U.S. group position.

• USA vs Canada (women) on Feb. 10: a measuring stick game before the bracket.

• Men’s opening week (Feb. 11–15): the standings math starts early because the bye-to-quarters race is real.

If you’re planning your viewing, the most efficient approach is to circle the U.S. group games first, then watch the standings for who’s tracking toward the bye (men) and who’s avoiding the toughest quarterfinal draw (women).

Sources consulted: International Olympic Committee; USA Hockey; Team USA Hockey; National Hockey League