This year’s women’s tournament is one of the most highly anticipated events in recent memory. Not only because of the excitement of the United States taking on Canada, but also because of the introduction of the Professional Women’s Hockey League, players from all around the globe are showing their talents nightly.

Day 3 of the 2026 Winter Olympics has been a busy one, with five gold medals handed out. The first gold went to Switzerland's Mathilde Gremaud in the women's freeski slopestyle as she defended her title.

Day 3 of the 2026 Winter Olympics has come to a bittersweet end for Team Canada as injury blunted the women's hockey win after a bronze medal was earned early on the slopes.

After a 12-year hiatus, NHL players are back for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. Here's how the 12 countries participating stack up.

MILAN -- The Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 men’s hockey tournament begins Wednesday when the 12 nations compete in three groups. Group A consists of Canada, Czechia, France and Switzerland. Finland, Italy, Sweden and Slovakia will play in Group B. Group C features Denmark, Germany, Latvia and the United States.

A less-dominant-than-expected victory over Switzerland improves the U.S. to 3-0 entering its most anticipated game of group play.

Who are the favorites and underdogs heading into the men's and women's 2026 Olympic ice hockey tournaments?

Team Canada is loaded

After a 2022 Olympic performance that saw a high total medal count but a 30-year low in gold finishes, Team Canada is looking to put more athletes on the podium at the Milano-Cortina Winter Games.

The NHL players are back in the Winter Olympics for the first time since the 2014 games in Sochi, Russia, and Canada is once again entering the tournament as one of the top favorites to win Gold.

However, when it comes to the total number of medals won by Canada at any past edition of the Winter Games, the country's best performance came at PyeongChang 2018, where Canadian athletes brought home 29 medals — 14 gold, 8 silver and 10 bronze — again, finishing third in the overall standings.