The Women’s Ice Hockey Tournament at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 will conclude on Thursday with 39 PWHL players competing for gold and six PWHL players in the bronze medal game.
THURSDAY’S FINAL PREVIEW
GOLD MEDAL GAME, 1:10 P.M. ET: UNITED STATES VS. CANADA
For the seventh time in Olympic women’s ice hockey history, the gold medal will be decided in a battle between Canada and the United States in another chapter showcasing one of the greatest rivalries in all of sport. The Americans are unbeaten with six wins in Italy, including a 5-0 victory over Canada during preliminary round play last Tuesday, and have won seven straight against their Canadian counterparts dating back to four Rivalry Series games and two matchups at the 2025 Women’s Worlds where the U.S. won gold. Canada holds the upper hand on the Olympic stage, winning five of the seven previous head-to-head gold medal finals. Canadian captain Marie-Philip Poulin of Montréal and American captain Hilary Knight of Seattle are both competing for their fifth Olympic medals and headline the list of 39 PWHL players going for gold. Toronto’s Daryl Watts leads all PWHL players in tournament scoring with eight points and fellow Canadian Sarah Fillier of New York is second on the team with six points. Torrent forward Hannah Bilka and Boston captain Megan Keller both have seven points each for a U.S. team that has scored five or more goals in every game thus far. The top two goaltenders of the 2025-26 PWHL season have continued to perform on the global stage, most notably Aerin Frankel of the Fleet who has posted four wins and a record three shutouts as the U.S. surrendered just one goal against in six games. Victoire netminder Ann-Renée Desbiens has won three of her four starts with one shutout and was between the pipes the last time Canada won Olympic gold in Beijing.
BRONZE MEDAL GAME, 8:40 A.M. ET: SWITZERLAND VS. SWEDE
The first and only other time that Sweden and Switzerland met with an Olympic bronze medal on the line was back in Sochi 2014 when a 15-year-old Alina Müller, now an alternate captain with Boston, scored the winning goal to lead the Swiss to a 4-3 victory, becoming the youngest player in women’s ice hockey history to win an Olympic medal. Müller has continued her ascent to stardom on the Olympic stage by scoring three of the team’s six goals in Italy, and, alongside New York defender Nicole Vallario, has led Switzerland back to the bronze medal game for the second straight Olympic tournament after losing by just one goal to Canada in the semifinals. The Swedes have not played for an Olympic medal since 2014, also finishing fourth in 2010 after claiming silver in 2006 and bronze in 2002, and have not medaled at the Women’s Worlds since taking home bronze in 2007. While it didn’t translate on the scoresheet, Sweden’s 23 shots on goal in the semifinals were the most conceded by the U.S. in the tournament to date. Toronto’s Sara Hjalmarsson has been an integral part of this team’s offense with five points in five games, with support from Montréal’s Lina Ljungblom with three points. Defenders Maja Nylén Persson of New York and captain Anna Kjellbin of the Sceptres have also chipped in with three and two assists, respectively. The most recent meeting between these two countries in major international competition came last April at the 2025 Women’s Worlds, with Switzerland skating to a 3-2 victory to secure a fifth-place finish.
TRIPLE GOLD CLUB
The PWHL’s version of the prestigious Triple Gold Club consists of players who have won an Olympic gold medal, a World Championship gold medal, and the Walter Cup.
Six players hold the distinction, including a trio of current Team USA members in Minnesota captain Kendall Coyne Schofield, alternate captains Kelly Pannek and Lee Stecklein, one member of Team Canada in Vancouver’s Claire Thompson, plus Frost goaltenders Nicole Hensley and Maddie Rooney.
The list will grow to nine if the U.S. win gold on Thursday, adding Minnesota forwards Britta Curl-Salemme, Taylor Heise and Grace Zumwinkle. A U.S. win would also give Coyne Schofield, Pannek and Stecklein the impressive Double Triple Gold distinction.
In men’s hockey, there are 30 members of the Triple Gold Club, which includes a Stanley Cup title, and only three can stake claim to Double Triple Gold.
RECORDS AND MILESTONES
- Knight (1 Gold, 3 Silver) and Poulin (3 Gold, 1 Silver) will become just the third and fourth players in hockey history to earn a fifth Olympic medal, joining Jayna Hefford, PWHL Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations, and Hayley Wickenheiser, who each won four gold and one silver.
- Poulin is the only player in Olympic hockey history to score in four gold medal games and score three gold medal-winning goals. In total, six of her record 20 career Olympic goals and eight of her 39 career points have been produced across four gold medal games. She will play in her 27th career Olympic game, surpassing both Hefford and Wickenheiser for the most all-time by a Canadian woman.
- Knight will play in her 29th career Olympic game, tied for the most in Olympic women’s hockey history with Nicole Bullo of Switzerland and Michelle Karvinen (VAN) of Finland. Her 14 goals and 32 career Olympic points are both tied for U.S. records and includes two goals and one assist in her four previous gold medal games.
- Desbiens is one win shy of tying the all-time Olympic record of 10 held by Finland’s Noora Räty.
- Frankel is one win shy of tying the Olympic single tournament record of five set in 2022 by Desbiens.
- Keller enters the game with 13 career Olympic points and needs just one to move into a tie for third in all-time scoring by a defender, a category led by Canadian Claire Thompson (VAN) with 17.
- Alex Carpenter (SEA) of the U.S., and Canada’s Brianne Jenner (OTT) and Sarah Nurse (VAN) have each scored one goal and one assist in previous gold medal games, while Thompson, Jocelyne Larocque (OTT) and Blayre Turnbull (TOR) of Canada, and American Kelly Pannek (MIN) each have one assist.
- Müller will play in her 26th career Olympic game, which will be tied for sixth all-time, while she is currently tied for seventh all-time with 28 career points (15G, 13A), and tied for fourth all-time in goals. She has a goal and an assist in two career bronze medal games.
- Nylén Persson needs just one point and Hjalmarsson needs two to reach 10 for their Olympic careers which would rank fifth in Swedish women’s hockey history.
