U.S. Women Win 2026 Olympic Gold

For the second time in three Olympic Winter Games, the United States has won gold in women's ice hockey.

Megan Keller (Boston College) slipped home a backhander just over four minutes into the 3-on-3 overtime to lift Team USA to a 2-1 victory over Canada in today's women's ice hockey gold medal game in Milan, Italy. The U.S. last won women's hockey gold in 2018 in Pyeongchang, with Canada winning four years ago in Beijing. It is the third gold medal all-time for the American women.

Keller's game-winner came after Team USA tied the game with just over two minutes remaining in regulation on an extra-attacker goal. Team captain Hilary Knight (Wisconsin), playing in her fifth and final Olympics, tipped home a shot by rookie Laila Edwards (Wisconsin) to push the contest into the extra session. For Knight, it was her 15th career Olympic goal, tops among American women all-time. Keller also assisted on Knight's goal, after Kristin O'Neill (Cornell) had put Canada ahead, 1-0, early in the second period on a shorthanded goal.

Aerin Frankel (Northeastern) stopped 30 shots for the Americans, while Ann-Renee Desbiens (Wisconsin) made 31 saves for the Canadians. The two rivals combined to go 0-for-4 on the power play before 11,171 on-lookers at Milano Santagiulia Arena. The U.S. finished the tournament 6-0-0, while Canada's only two loses came to the Americans.  

Team USA's Caroline Harvey was named Olympic MVP and Best Defender after tallying two goals and seven assists for a tournament-high nine points in her second Olympics. She helped the U.S. to a silver medal four years ago as rookie.

Switzerland defeated Sweden, 2-1, in OT in this year's bronze medal game, with Alina Muller  (Northeastern) notching the game-winning goal. It was the first Olympic medal for the Swiss women since they also won bronze in 2014 in Sochi.

U.S. Men Edge Sweden to Reach Semis

Two former Michigan Wolverines made it Team USA's night.

Dylan Larkin (Michigan) scored the first goal of the game in the second period, and Quinn Hughes (Michigan) wristed home a shot early in overtime to lift the United States over Sweden, 2-1, in a men's ice hockey quarterfinal matchup at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy.

Hughes helped set up Larkin's deflection goal midway through regulation to open the scoring. After Sweden tied the contest on an extra attacker goal with less than 90 seconds remaining in regulation, Hughes won it just over three minutes into the 3-on-3 extra session with a shot from the slot after taking a pass from Matt Boldy (Boston College). Connor Hellebuyck (UMass Lowell) finished with 28 saves in the American net.

The U.S. now moves on to face Slovakia in one semifinal on Friday, while Finland will take on Canada in the other one. Canada outlasted Czechia, 4-3, in OT in the quarterfinals thanks to a goal and two assists from Macklin Celebrini (Boston University).

2026 Richter Award Top 10 Announced

A list of the 10 semifinalists for the Mike Richter Award, which is annually awarded to the top goaltender in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey, was released last week, according to collegehockeynews.com:

Trey Augustine, Michigan State (Jr. – South Lyon, Mich.)

Alexis Cournoyer, Cornell (Fr. - Trois-Rivières, Que.)

Emmett Croteau, Dartmouth (Jr. – Bonnyville, Alb.)

Michael Hrabal, Massachusetts (Jr. – Prague, Czechia)

Jack Ivankovic, Michigan (Fr. - Mississauga, Ont.)

Josh Kotai, Augustana (Jr. - Abbotsford, B.C.)

Tyler Muszelik, Connecticut (Sr. - Long Valley, N.J.)

Jan Spunar, North Dakota (Fr. - Olomouc, Czechia)

Alex Tracy, Minnesota State (Sr. - Chicago, Ill.)

Lawton Zacher, Northeastern (Jr. - Buffalo, N.Y.)

Augustine is currently third among Division I men's netminders with 20 victories so far this season, while Ivankovic is fourth with 18 wins, and Tracy is first with five ties. Kotai is second with 1,080 minutes played, while Tracy is fourth with 1,755 minutes. Tracy is fourth with a 1.91 goals-against average, while Augustine is fifth (1.96) and Kotai is 10th (2.06). Kotai and Zacher are tied for the national lead with four shutouts, while Kotai ranks first overall with 890 saves made, and is also tied with Muszelik for second overall with a .935 save percentage.

The 2026 Mike Richter Award winner will be announced on April 10 at the Frozen Four in Las Vegas.

Quinnipiac Tops Princeton, 4-1, for Sweep

Ethan Wyttenbach and Matthew McGroarty each scored one goal and set up another as fifth-ranked Quinnipiac topped host Princeton, 4-1, this afternoon at Hobey Baker Memorial Rink before 2,230 on-lookers. The Bobcats thus completed a two-steep sweep in ECAC Hockey play, having bested the visiting Tigers by the same score on Saturday evening in Hamden, Conn.

McGroarty opened the scoring on Sunday, wristing a shot from the right circle into the far side of the Princeton net just over three minutes into the second period. David Ma responded for Princeton on a power play just under two minutes later, before Quinnipiac's Alex Power put the Bobcats ahead for good less than 90 seconds later off a deflection in front for his first goal of the season.

Antoni Verreault made it a two-goal game with a shot from the right circle on a power play nine minutes into the final frame, before Wyttenbach closed out the scoring on an empty-netter from center ice with just over three minutes remaining in regulation.

Dylan Silverstein finished with 21 saves in goal for Quinnipiac (24-5-3 overall, 15-2-1 ECAC Hockey), while Arthur Smith made 21 stops for Princeton (14-11-1, 10-8-0). The Bobcats outshot the Tigers, 25-22, and also won 40 of 70 faceoffs in all. Both teams finished 1-for-4 on the power play.

Quinnipiac remains in first place in ECAC Hockey, while Princeton falls to fifth. 

Hockey East Stars Shine for USA Men

Hockey East alumni supplied four goals and more than 20 saves as the United States men's hockey team defeated Denmark, 6-3, on Valentine's Day at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, Italy. 

Matt Boldy (Boston College) scored the first goal for Team USA, while Noah Hanifin (Boston College) converted his own rebound for the eventual game-winning goal. Jack Eichel (Boston University) and Brady Tkachuk (Boston University) also tallied for the Red, White and Blue, which got 21 saves in goal from Jeremy Swayman (Maine). Eight different U.S. skaters also notched assists on the day. 

The Americans, who twice battled back from one-goal deficits to defeat the Danes, improved to 2-0-0 in the tournament so far, and will complete the round-robin portion of their schedule with a game against Germany on Sunday.

ADDENDUM: Jake Sanderson (North Dakota) set up two goals and Connor Hellebuyck (UMass Lowell) made 24 stops as Team USA upended Germany, 5-1.

U.S. Men Top Latvia in Olympic Opener

Brock Nelson (North Dakota) scored two goals, including the game winner, as the U.S. men's hockey team opened its 2026 Olympic Winter Games with a 5-1 win over Latvia on Thursday in Milan, Italy.

Jack Eichel (Boston University) and Quinn Hughes (Michigan) set up two goals apiece for the Americans, who also got their opening goal from Brady Tkachuk (Boston University). Connor Hellebuyck (UMass Lowell) made 17 saves in net for Team USA.

In other Olympic men's hockey action, Macklin Celebrini (Boston University) scored a goal off an assist from Cale Makar (UMass), and Canada went on to blank Czechia, 5-0. Canada takes on Switzerland today, while the U.S. will face Denmark on Saturday.

Michigan State Men's Hockey Back to No. 1

Michigan State has regained the top spot in both the USCHO.com and USAHockey.com NCAA Division I men's college hockey polls this week after splitting with archrival Michigan, the former No. 1, last weekend. 

MSU garnered 30 of 50 first-place votes in the Feb. 9 USCHO.com poll, and 18 of 34 first-place votes in the corresponding USA Hockey poll. Rounding out the top five in both rankings were Michigan, North Dakota, Western Michigan and Quinnipiac.

MSU fell, 4-3 in overtime, at Michigan last Friday, but rebounded to earn its third consecutive "Duel in the D" trophy with a 6-2 victory the next night in Detroit. The Spartans (22-6-0 overall) return to Big Ten action this weekend against Notre Dame.