{"id":444554,"date":"2026-02-04T04:37:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T04:37:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/444554\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T04:37:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T04:37:13","slug":"everything-you-need-to-know-about-team-usas-olympic-hockey-teams-deseret-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/444554\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything you need to know about Team USA’s Olympic hockey teams \u2013 Deseret News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The United States has won the most medals at seven of the last eight Summer Olympics, but they haven\u2019t led the Winter Games since 1932.<\/p>\n

When it comes to hockey, their record is nothing special, either. Remember the movie \u201cMiracle,\u201d which recounts the 1980 team\u2019s underdog victory? That\u2019s still the men\u2019s team\u2019s most recent gold medal.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve done a little better on the women\u2019s side, with two golds, four silvers and a bronze \u2014 but having lost to Canada in 2022, they\u2019ve got some work to do, too.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s everything you need to know to support the stars and stripes in Olympic hockey this year.<\/p>\n

USA Olympic hockey schedule<\/p>\n

Team USA\u2019s preliminary games are as follows, with all times listed in MST:<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s teamFeb. 5: USA vs. Czechia, 8:40 a.m.Feb. 7: USA vs. Finland, 8:40 a.m.Feb. 9: USA vs. Switzerland, 12:40 p.m.Feb. 10: USA vs. Canada, 12:10 p.m.Men\u2019s teamFeb. 12: USA vs. Latvia, 1:10 p.m.Feb. 14: USA vs. Denmark<\/a>, 1:10 p.m.Feb. 15: USA vs. Germany, 1:10 p.m.Players to watchHilary Knight<\/p>\n

Patrick Kane just broke the record for most NHL points by an American-born player, but Hilary Knight from Sun Valley, Idaho, is probably the most legendary American to ever lace up a pair of hockey skates.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Knight\u2019s fifth Olympic Games, the most by any American hockey player \u2014 ever. Her trophy room includes a gold and three silvers from the Olympics, as well as 10 golds and five silvers from the World Championship \u2014 in addition to a pair of NCAA championships.<\/p>\n

She has been the captain of the program since the 2023 World Championship, meaning this will be her first Olympics with the \u201cC.\u201d Having announced that this will be her final trip to the Games, she\u2019s hoping for the best possible sendoff.<\/p>\n

Knight spends much of her time in the off-season training in Utah, where she owns a home. She\u2019s a champion of the girls\u2019 hockey programs<\/a> in the state.<\/p>\n

\"UnitedUnited States forward Hilary Knight (21) celebrates her goal against Canada during the first period of a rivalry series women’s hockey game Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023, in Tempe, Ariz. | AP Kendall Coyne Schofield<\/p>\n

Speaking of American legends, Kendall Coyne Schofield is making her fourth Olympic appearance. The 33-year-old is tied for the Professional Women\u2019s Hockey League lead in points this season, and she\u2019s second all-time in the same category.<\/p>\n

She has won the PWHL title, the Walter Cup, both years of the league\u2019s existence, and her list of international accomplishments is almost as long as Knight\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Taylor Heise<\/p>\n

The next generation of American women\u2019s hockey is in the hands of Taylor Heise, among a few others. She was the PWHL\u2019s first-ever draft pick, going first-overall to the Minnesota Frost, who would win the league\u2019s first two championships with her on the team.<\/p>\n

This is her first time at the Olympics, and it likely won\u2019t be her last.<\/p>\n

Quinn Hughes<\/p>\n

You\u2019d be hard-pressed to find a knowledgeable hockey fan who believes Quinn Hughes is any lower than the second-best defenseman in the world \u2014 and there are many who classify him as number one.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s one of three Hughes brothers in the NHL. Jack, a forward, joins him on Team USA\u2019s roster, while Luke, a fellow defenseman (and a teammate of Jack\u2019s with the New Jersey Devils), is still working to achieve his full potential.<\/p>\n

In 25 games since being traded to the Minnesota Wild earlier this season, Hughes has scored points in all but seven. At the time of writing, his point streak is at nine games. That\u2019s the type of offense he\u2019s expected to bring to the Olympic team \u2014 as well as his best-in-class defensive play.<\/p>\n

Jack Eichel<\/p>\n

As the 11th-highest scorer in the NHL and the highest-scoring American, the expectations of Jack Eichel are enormous. But it wasn\u2019t always that way.<\/p>\n

Being drafted one spot behind Connor McDavid in 2015, Eichel was supposed to save the Buffalo Sabres. After six seasons of failing to make the playoffs, he and the team\u2019s medical staff had such a big disagreement on what kind of surgery he should get, he ended up getting stripped of the captaincy.<\/p>\n

He forced a trade, landing with the always excellent Vegas Golden Knights. But as soon as he arrived, they missed the playoffs for the first time ever.<\/p>\n

Something changed in 2022\u201323. He made the playoffs and went on to win the Stanley Cup. He\u2019s been more than a point-per-game player every season since then, in addition to playing a significant defensive role.<\/p>\n

American hockey fans can expect strong two-way play from Eichel, as well as an ability to elevate his game in the big moments.<\/p>\n

Clayton Keller<\/p>\n

Utah Mammoth fans are more than familiar with their captain, Clayton Keller. After being snubbed from the 4 Nations Face-Off team last year, he was pleased to make the squad this time around.<\/p>\n

Keller is among the league\u2019s best playmakers, but because he has played in small markets his entire career, he doesn\u2019t get as much credit as his peers. He plays with the type of fire that you always want to see from your top players and has developed a reputation for scoring clutch goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cClayton Clutch\u201d is what they\u2019re calling him these days.<\/p>\n

\"\"Utah Mammoth right wing Clayton Keller (9) shoots the puck during the first period of an NHL game against the Seattle Kraken at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The United States has won the most medals at seven of the last eight Summer Olympics, but they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":444555,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[377],"tags":[5,1442],"class_list":{"0":"post-444554","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hockey","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-news-feed-national"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116010513666765809","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=444554"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444554\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/444555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=444554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=444554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=444554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}