The Canadian women have won gold at five of the last six Winter Olympics, but USA has all the momentum heading into the 2026 Milano Cortina Games.

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.

History was made on Thursday as Northeast Ohio's Laila Edwards became the first Black woman to play for Team USA in an Olympic women's ice hockey tournament game. The Cleveland Heights native and the United States women's hockey team opened play at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics with a 5-1 win over Czechia in a preliminary-round matchup at the Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena.

The puck has dropped on the first game at the Milan Cortina Olympics in the newly built hockey arena that needed a rush to the eleventh hour to finish.

MILAN — Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio watched the United States’ women’s hockey team take on Czechia on Thursday, the first stop in a trip planned to include a visit to the Olympics’ Opening Ceremony on Friday night.

Follow NBC News live updates for the latest on the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, where hockey and snowboarding events will open ahead of the opening ceremony.

The United States men's and women's hockey teams are expected to go deep into the 2026 Winter Olympics tournaments.

Finland women’s hockey team’s preliminary round-opening game against Canada on Thursday has been postponed due to a stomach virus depleting Finland’s roster.

Channel the Olympic spirit with these can't-put-down, gold medal reads, from ice skating dramas and hockey romances to sports histories and athlete memoirs.