Sixteen Gophers in four different events representing four different countries are taking Milan by storm
While the Opening Ceremonies of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games don’t kick off until Friday, multiple current and former Gophers will see their games kick off on Wednesday with the start of the women’s hockey tournament. As you would expect with a winter games, there are plenty of representatives from the University of Minnesota taking part in the games. Sixteen different current and former Gophers will represent four different nations in Milan over the next three weeks—but all on some form of ice. We give a full preview of al of them below and their event schedules so you can easily catch all their action. With Milan being seven hours ahead of CST there will be a lot of morning and early afternoon action—perfect to distract you from your work day!
Women’s Hockey:
There are nine current and former Gophers on four different women’s hockey rosters at this year’s games. The Gophers will be represented on the USA, Finland, Sweden and Czechia in the 2026 games. Here all all of them and the daily schedule for women’s hockey involving the four teams.
United States of America
Lee Stecklein—D
The dean of the Gophers in the Olympics, Stecklein will be playing in her fourth games with Team USA. The 2017 U Of M Grad from Roseville won three National Championships with the Gophers and has been a lock on the USA blue line since 2013. She won gold with the US in 2018 and won silver in both 2014 and 2022. She currently plays with the Minnesota Frost in the PWHL.
Kelly Pannek—F
Pannek is playing in her third Olympics with the US squad. The 2019 U of M Grad from Plymouth has been on the US roster since 2017. She won the National Championship with the Gophers in 2016 and then won gold in 2018 and silver in 2022 with the US Olympic team. She currently plays for the Minnesota Frost in the PWHL.
Grace Zumwinkle—F
Zumwinkle will be playing in her second Olympics with Team USA. The Excelsior native played for the Gophers graduating in 2023. She has been on the Team USA roster since 2020 and won silver with the US at the 2022 Olympics. She currently plays in the PWHL with the Minnesota Frost.
Abbey Murphy—F
The lone current Gopher on the US roster, Murphy is also making her second Olympic games after winning silver in 2022. The Evergreen park, Illinoi native has been the best player in the NCAA this season and leads the country in goals and points and is averaging over 2.3 points per game this season for Minnesota. She will play a huge role on this US team after dominating the Rivalry Series between the US and Canada last fall.
Taylor Heise—F
The lone Gopher making her Team USA Olympic debut, after being the last player cut off of the 2022 squad, Heise finally will represent the US in the Olympics. The 2022 Patty Kazmaier Award winner was a star for the Gophers before playing in the PWHL with the Minnesota Frost the past two seasons. The Lake City native will be one of the US’s best players in these games on the second line with Murphy looking to maintain their chemistry from the fall.
Czechia
Natálie Mlýnková—F
Mlýnková will play in her second Olympic Games after also playing for Czechia in 2022. She started her career at Vermont before transferring to Minnesota for her final season in 2024-205 finishing third on the Gophers in points and second in goals. She now plays for Montreal in the PWHL.
Tereza Plosová —F
Plosová will be making her Olympic Debut for Czechia. A current freshman for the Gophers she has slowly warmed to college hockey and has 17 points on the seasons with eight goals thus far. She played on the last two Czechia World Championship teams.
Finland
Nelli Laitinen—D
The current Gopher senior will be playing in her second Olympic games for Finland. One of the best defenders in the NCAA this season, Laitinen is third in the nation in scoring by defenders and has the third most goals by a defender. She helped Finland win a bronze medal in 2022.
Sweden
Grace Bouveng—F
The current Gopher senior will be playing in her second Olympics as well as she was on the Swedish squad in 2022. Bouveng has been great for the Gophers this season and has an active 25-game point streak for Minnesota this season.
Gophers Olympic Women’s Hockey Schedule:
Thursday February 5th:
Sweden 4 Germany 1
USA vs Czechia 9:40 AM USA Network/ Peacock
Finland vs Canada—PPD (Team Finland has had a norovirus breakout and does not have enough healthy players—the game has been postponed to Feb 12)
Friday February 6th:
Czechia vs Switzerland 7:40 AM Peacock
Saturday February 7th:
Italy vs Sweden 7:40 AM Peacock
Finland vs USA 9:40 AM USA Network/ Peacock
Sunday February 8th:
Sweden vs France 9:40 AM Peacock
Finland vs Czechia 2:10 PM Peacock (Delayed on USA Network @ 5 PM)
Monday February 9th:
USA vs Switzerland 1:40 PM USA Network/ Peacock
Czechia vs Canada 2:10 PM Peacock (Delayed on USA Network @ 5 PM)
Tuesday February 10th:
Sweden vs Japan 5:10 AM Peacock
USA vs Canada 1:10 PM USA Network/ Peacock
Finland vs Switzerland 2:10 PM Peacock
Thursday February 12th:
Canada vs Finland (rescheduled) 7:30 AM Peacock
Friday February 13th:
Quarterfinal #1 9:40 Peacock
Quarterfinal #2 2:10 PM USA Network/ Peacock
Saturday February 14th:
Quarterfinal #3 9:40 CNBC/Peacock
Quarterfinal #4 2:10 PM CNBC/ Peacock
Monday February 16th:
Semifinal #1 9:40 NBC/Peacock
Semifinals #2 2:10 PM Peacock (Delayed on USA Network at 4:15 PM)
Thursday February 19th:
Bronze Medal Game 7:40 Peacock
Gold Medal Game 12:10 PM USA Network/ Peacock
Men’s Hockey
A trio of Gopher alums will be playing in the 2026 Olympics for two different countries. One will be playing in his second games, while the other two will be making their debuts.
United States of America:
Brock Faber—D
Faber will be making his second Olympics after playing for the US in 2022 when he was still a member of the Gophers. Faber is now a member of the Minnesota Wild and has helped Minnesota to one of the best records in the NHL. He will play significant minutes on the blue line likely with his Wild D partner in Quinn Hughes.
Jackson LaCombe—D
LaCombe was an injury replacement for the US squad and will be making his Olympic debut. After graduating from the U in 2023 he has played for the Anaheim Ducks where he has grown into the best defender on the squad and an up and coming defenseman in the NHL. He likely will not see a ton of action on the ice for the US but can be valuable killing penalties and playing a solid defensive role.
Finland:
Eric Haula—F
Haula will be making his Olympic debut for his Finland squad in his 13th season in the NHL. Haula played for the Gophers from 2010-2013 before jumping to the NHL. He had 28 points this season for the Nashville Predators.
Gophers Olympic Men’s Hockey Schedule:
Wednesday February 11th:
Slovakia vs Finland 9:40 AM USA Network/ Peacock
Thursday February 12th:
USA vs Latvia 2:10 PM USA Network/ Peacock
Friday February 13th:
Finland vs Sweden 5:10 AM Peacock (Delayed on USA Network at 7:30 AM)
Saturday February 14th:
Finland vs Italy 9:40 AM USA Network/ Peacock
USA vs Denmark 2:10 PM USA Network/ Peacock
Sunday February 15th:
USA vs Germany 2:10 PM USA Network/ Peacock
Tuesday February 17th:
Qualification Playoffs 5:10 AM (X2), 9:40 AM Peacock
Qualification Playoff 2:10 PM USA Network/ Peacock
Wednesday February 18th:
Quarterfinal #1 5:10 AM Peacock
Quarterfinal #2 9:40 AM USA Network/ Peacock
Quarterfinal #3 11:10 AM Peacock (USA Network at 1:00 PM)
Quarterfinal #4 2:10 PM NBC/ Peacock
Friday February 20th:
Semifinal #1 9:40 AM Peacock (USA Network at 11:50 AM)
Semifinal #2 2:10 PM NBC/ Peacock
Saturday February 21st:
Bronze Medal Game 1:40 PM USA Network/ Peacock
Sunday February 22nd:
Gold Medal Game 7:10 AM NBC/ Peacock
Women’s Curling:
Three of the four members of the US Women’s Curling team are U of M grads. Skip Tabatha Peterson Lovick is in her third Olympic Games. Her sister Tara Peterson is in her second straight games as the second on the team, and lead Taylor Anderson-Heide is in her first games as a member of Team USA.
Team USA Women’s Curling Schedule:
Thursday February 12th:
USA vs Korea 2:05 AM Peacock (Delayed on USA Network at 8:15 AM)
USA vs Sweden 12:05 PM Peacock (Delayed on USA Network at 8:30 PM)
Friday February 13th:
USA vs Canada 7:05 AM Peacock (Delayed on CNBC at 4 PM)
Saturday February 14th:
USA vs Japan 12:05 PM Peacock (Delayed on CNBC at 4:30 PM)
Sunday February 15th:
USA vs China 7:05 AM Peacock (CNBC @ 8:30 AM)
Monday February 16th:
USA vs Italy 12:05 PM Peacock (CNBC @ 4PM)
Tuesday February 17th:
USA vs Denmark 7:05 AM Peacock (CNBC @ 4PM)
Wednesday February 18th:
USA vs Great Britain 2:05 AM Peacock (Delayed USA Network 8:15 AM)
Thursday February 19th:
USA vs Switzerland 7:05 AM Peacock
Friday February 20th:
Semifinals 7:05 AM Peacock
Saturday February 21st:
Bronze Medal Match 7:05 AM Peacock (9:20 AM CNBC)
Sunday February 22nd:
Gold Medal Match 4:05 AM Peacock (7 AM NBC)
Men’s Curling:
Danny Kasper, the skip of the US team that finally ended the reign of the John Schuster led team that had made the previous four Olympics for the USA is a U of M grad. He and the rest of his team will try and medal in Milan.
Team USA Men’s Curling Schedule:
Wednesday February 11th:
USA vs Czechia 12:05 PM Peacock (4 PM CNBC)
Thursday February 12th:
USA vs Switzerland 7:05 AM Peacock (4 PM CNBC)
Friday February 13th:
USA vs Canada 2:05 AM USA Network/ Peacock
Saturday February 14th:
USA vs Germany 7:05 AM Peacock (Delayed on CNBC at 12:00 PM)
Sunday February 15th:
USA vs Sweden 2:05 AM Peacock (CNBC @ 10:00 AM)
USA vs Norway 12:05 PM Peacock (7 PM CNBC)
Tuesday February 17th:
USA vs China 2:05 AM Peacock (USA Network @ 4 AM)
USA vs Italy 12:05 PM Peacock ( 8;30 PM USA Network)
Wednesday February 18th:
USA vs Great Britain 7:05 AM Peacock (Delayed USA Network 8:15 AM)
Thursday February 19th:
Semifinals 12:05 PM Peacock
Friday February 20th:
Bronze Medal Match 12:05 PM Peacock (4 Pm CNBC)
Saturday February 21st:
Gold Medal Match 12:05 Pm CNBC. Peacock
Good luck to the Gophers in Milan!!
Category: General Sports
