Here’s a look at the teams.
Men’s Team USA hockey roster
FORWARDS
Matt BoldyKyle ConnorJack EichelJake GuentzelClayton KellerJack HughesDylan LarkinAuston MatthewsJ.T. MillerBrock NelsonTage ThompsonBrady TkachukMatthew TkachukVincent Trocheck
DEFENSEMEN
Brock FaberNoah HanifinQuinn HughesSeth JonesCharlie McAvoyJake SandersonJaccob SlavinZach Werenski
GOALTENDERS
Connor HellebuyckJake OettingerJeremy Swayman
Women’s Team USA hockey roster
FORWARDS
Kirsten SimmsKelly PannekGrace ZumwinkleHayley ScamurraBritta Curl-SalemmeHilary KnightTessa JaneckeHannah BilkaJoy DunneAlex CarpenterKendall Coyne SchofieldTaylor HeiseAbbey Murphy
DEFENDERS
Laila EdwardsLee SteckleinCayla BarnesCaroline HarveyMegan KellerRory GuildayHaley Winn
GOALTENDERS
Ava McNaughtonAerin FrankelGwyneth Philips
Team USA Olympic hockey roster: Instant reaction
Kendall Coyne Schofield celebrates a milestone
Kendall Coyne Schofield, the former Northeastern star and one of the pioneers of professional women’s hockey in the US, will be back for her fourth Olympics.
Get Starting Point
A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.
It’s her first as a mom.
It’s an absolute privilege representing Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
These will be my fourth Olympic Games, and my first as a mom.
It’s been more than 12 years since I learned I would compete in my first Olympics in 2014, and the feeling today is just as powerful. pic.twitter.com/16PQSY99O1
— Kendall Coyne Schofield (@KendallCoyne) January 2, 2026
A family affair for Brock Nelson
Brock Nelson is a third-generation Olympian.
His uncle, former Bruins forward Dave Christian, played on the 1980 Miracle on Ice team. His grandfather, Bill Christian, and great uncle, Roger Christian, were on the 1960 US gold medal team. Another great uncle, Gordon Christian, won silver for the US at the 1956 Games.
Fleet’s Tapani tapped for Finland
On the women’s side, Fleet forward Susanna Tapani made her fourth Olympic roster with Team Finland, with whom she won bronze medals in PyeongChang in 2018 and Beijing in 2022. Tapani has two goals and three assists through eight games with Boston this season.
Bruins snubbed from foreign rosters
Team Finland and Team Sweden also announced their rosters. On the men’s side, Bruins defenseman Henri Jokiharju will play for the Finns. Goaltender Joonas Korpisalo was not picked.
The Swedes selected Bruins forward Elias Lindholm, but did not take Viktor Arvidsson or defenseman Hampus Lindholm, the latter of whom is a surprising omission. He was on the Four Nations roster and has had a strong season in NHL play.
What to make of the women’s roster
Team USA will look a lot like the team that won gold at the most recent world championship in Czechia and swept Canada — with a 24-7 goal differential — in the 2025 Rivalry Series.
▪ No surprises on which Fleet players will represent Team USA: Goaltender Aerin Frankel (Northeastern), plus defenders Haley Winn and Megan Keller (Boston College). Frankel’s .963 save percentage and 0.99 GAA lead the league through seven games, and the rookie/veteran pairing of Winn and Keller has been a consistent strength for Boston.
Hilary Knight returns for her fifth Olympics.Ken McGagh for The Boston Globe
▪ Naming Hilary Knight to the roster was something of a formality, as the former Fleet captain was all but guaranteed a spot in her fifth and final Olympics. She’ll be the first American hockey player to compete in five Games, and her four Olympic medals (gold in 2018, silver in 2010, 2014, and 2022) are tied for the most by an American woman.
▪ Team USA will lean on a wealth of experience up and down the roster; Hayley Scamurra (Northeastern), Alex Carpenter (BC), and Kendall Coyne Schofield (Northeastern) are among the Olympic alums and have a combined six Olympic medals (three for Coyne Schofield, two for Carpenter, and one for Scamurra).
▪ Ottawa’s Gwyneth Philips, who backed up Frankel at Northeastern for three years before a breakout senior season, is a solid second option in net. Philips, who finished out the gold-medal game in last year’s World Championship after Frankel exited with an injury, has a .930 save percentage and 2.36 GAA with Ottawa through eight games this season. University of Wisconsin starter Ava McNaughton will round out the group.
▪ Seattle teammates Hannah Bilka and Cayla Barnes each played four seasons at BC before transferring to Ohio State, where they won the 2024 NCAA championship. Milan will be Bilka’s first Games and Barnes’s third; the defender was the youngest player on Team USA when the Americans won gold in 2018, and she returned to the roster in 2022.
▪ Rory Guilday, who’s off to a hot start during her rookie season in Ottawa (1-5–6 in nine games) was the No. 7 defender at the Rivalry Series and made her first Olympic roster. Other Olympic first-timers in addition to her and Bilka: Winn, Ava McNaughton, Laila Edwards, Kirsten Simms, Britta Curl-Salemme, Tessa Janecke, Bilka, Joy Dunne, and Taylor Heise.
▪ Edwards, who made the switch from forward to defense, will be the first Black woman to represent the US women’s hockey team at the Olympics.
Who was the biggest snub on the women’s team?
Jesse Compher, Lacey Eden, Anna Wilgren, and Savannah Harmon were all left off the Olympic roster after being part of the gold-medal team at the world championships in April. Compher (Boston University) won silver with Team USA in Beijing in 2022 and is arguably the biggest snub of the bunch.
Who was the biggest snub on the men’s team?
Call it controversial, call it a mistake. Call it whatever you want, but not calling on Adam Fox was probably the toughest call Team USA decided to make.
Team USA’s roster, unveiled Friday morning, didn’t include Fox, the New York Rangers star who played at Harvard. There was also no room, apparently, for the top American scorer this season — Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson.
The omission of Fox, who has arguably been the Rangers’ best player this year, is no doubt connected to his struggles in the most recent best-on-best tournament, last February’s Four Nations Face-Off.
Fox had a poor showing by his standard, and his defensive shortcomings showed as he was caught in no-man’s land as Connor McDavid scored the overtime winner in the championship game against Canada.
Surely there was an uncomfortable conversation between Fox and Rangers coach Mike Sullivan, who will lead Team USA in Milan.
However, the US roster will include Quinn Hughes, who was injured during the Four Nations. Fox’s elite gifts as a puck-mover and power-play quarterback would have been muted by Hughes, whose skills in those areas make him the best American defenseman.
Meanwhile, Sullivan’s captain with the Rangers, J.T. Miller, is one of the veteran forwards the Americans opted to take over younger, more offensively capable options. Miller, Brock Nelson and Vincent Trocheck will likely be the checking-and-penalty-kill trenchmen.
Foot speed and defensive ability may have been why Team USA felt Robertson – who leads American skaters in points, with 48 in 41 games, and his 24 goals are one behind Matt Boldy – wouldn’t be as effective in what is expected to be a tight-checking environment. Wingers Cole Caufield (20 goals) and Alex DeBrincat (21), fleet afoot but small by NHL standards, will also stay home.
The local connections on the men’s roster
Norwood’s Noah Hanifin, who was Fox’s defensive partner on that decisive Four Nations shift, did make the Olympic roster. Hanifin, who played at Boston College, is one of three Massachusetts players on the team, including forwards Matt Boldy, of Millis and BC, and Jack Eichel, of North Chelmsford and Boston University.
There are lots of local college hockey connections: Forwards Clayton Keller and Brady Tkachuk, defenseman Charlie McAvoy (of the Bruins) and goaltender Jake Oettinger played at BU. Goaltender Jeremy Swayman (also of the Bruins) was a star at the University of Maine. Netminder Connor Hellebuyck is a UMass-Lowell product. Forward Tage Thompson spent some of his youth in Orange, Conn. and played at UConn.
The Tkachuk brothers, Brady and Matthew, grew up in St. Louis but have roots in Melrose via their father, former NHL power forward Keith Tkachuk.
“We’ve got a group of young and hungry Americans who haven’t played in the Olympics before,” Jack Hughes said before the reveal. “Guys are really pumped up.”
After the NHL skipped the last two Winter Olympic cycles (2018 and 2022), getting back to the Games means “everything,” Hughes said. “If you’re a hockey player in the US, you grew up watching the Miracle on Ice. Every hockey player wants to play in the NHL, but the biggest dream is the Olympics.”
Hockey East connections on the women’s roster
A look at the women’s players who played at Hockey East schools: Goaltenders Aerin Frankel (Northeastern) and Gwyneth Phillips (Northeastern) … Defensewomen Cayla Barnes (BC) and Megan Keller (BC) … and forwards Kendall Coyne Schofield (Northeastern), Alex Carpenter (BC), and Hannah Bilka (BC). — Andrew Mahoney
Hockey East well represented on men’s roster
A look at the men’s players who played at Hockey East schools: Goaltenders Connor Hellebuyck (UMass Lowell), Jake Oettinger (BU), and Jeremy Swayman (Maine) … Defenseman include Noah Hanifin (BC, Norwood native) and Charlie McAvoy (BU) … and for forwards: Matt Boldy (BC, Millis native), Jack Eichel (BU, Chelmsford native), Clayton Keller (BU), Tage Thompson (UConn), and Brady Tkachuk (BU). — Andrew Mahoney
Bill Guerin, a Wilbraham native and the president of hockey operations for the Minnesota Wild, is general manager of the men’s team
“We’re excited about our team and congratulate everyone named today,” he said in a release. “It was incredibly difficult for our management group to get to the final roster and that’s a credit to so many in our country, including all those at the grassroots level who help make our sport so strong. There’s nothing like the Olympics and I know our players and staff will represent our country well and work hard to achieve our ultimate goal.”
Katie Million is GM of the women’s team.
“Our staff has spent the past few months evaluating our incredible player pool and while the depth of the group makes these decisions incredibly hard, we are so excited for this team to compete in Milan,” she said. “This team brings excitement, passion and pride, and will represent the United States proudly as they look to win gold come February.”
Stay tuned for more reaction.
Matt Porter can be reached at matthew.porter@globe.com. Follow him @mattyports. Katie McInerney can be reached at katie.mcinerney@globe.com. Follow her on Instagram at @katiemac.sports. Emma Healy can be reached at emma.healy@globe.com or on X @ByEmmaHealy.