NEWYou can now listen to Pakinomist articles!
The US women’s hockey team returned to the United States from their gold medal run at the Winter Olympics to applause and cheers from their fans.
Unlike previous Winter Olympics, most of the women’s team will continue to play hockey professionally.
The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) is in its third season. The league includes four teams from the United States and four from Canada. The PWHL teams were well represented on Team USA, helping to put the league at the forefront of the millions who watched the entire Olympics this month.
“I wanted to take a week off in Mexico, but I understand that’s not possible,” Taylor Heise joked in an interview with Pakinomist Digital. “But yeah, we’re all excited to get back and get going again with the PWHL. It’s definitely a league that’s given us a platform to play in and kind of look back to the WNBA and how they started. It’s a consistent grind and it’s not just you go from here to here in two days.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON Pakinomist
“With our expansions and everything, it’s definitely been a tough process for a lot of people, moving teams and stuff. But I just think, you know, 7.7 million people that showed up for that gold medal game, which is great by the way, I just think it’s pretty special because I think we’ve gained a lot of new fans.
“Whether you’re just a women’s hockey fan or you tuned in to the Olympics and now realize we’re playing in a professional league, it’s pretty special. And I expect we’ll have a few more fans come to our games and decide they want to be PWHL fans in the future.”
There are also a handful of players still playing collegiate hockey. The women’s hockey season is in the midst of their conference playoffs.
Here’s when the gold medalists return to the ice.
Boston Navy
Megan Keller (5) of the United States and Hannah Bilka (23) of the United States celebrate after winning the women’s ice hockey gold medal after defeating Canada during the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the Milan Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 19, 2026. (Amber Searls/Imagn Images)
The Boston Fleet had three players on Team USA this year. Megan Keller, Haley Winn and Aerin Frankel. Keller scored the game-winning goal against Canada in overtime to clinch the gold medal, while Frankel shut down the offense in a goaltending moment. Navy is atop the PWHL with a 10-2-2 record. Boston is back in action Saturday against the Ottawa Charge at 2 p.m. ET.
Minnesota Frost
Taylor Heise #27 of Team United States Laila Edwards #10 of Team USA celebrates after the women’s ice hockey gold medal game between the USA and Canada (2-1 OT) on day thirteen of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics at the Milan Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 20, Milan, Italy. (EyesWideOpen/Getty Images)
Minnesota Frost had a large representation on Team USA with six players. Lee Stecklein, Kelly Pannek, Grace Zumwinkle, Britta Curl-Salemme, Taylor Heise and Kendall Coyne Schofield all take the ice for the Stars and Stripes. Frost have a little more time to prepare for their next game, which takes place on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET vs. Montreal Victoire
Frost is 9-3-3 this season and is behind Navy in the PWHL standings.
Montreal Victory
Hayley Scamurra was the only Montreal Victoire player to compete for Team USA, and the defender brought home the gold medal. Montreal will host the New York Sirens on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET. Victoire is 10-5-0 this season and is in third place in the PWHL standings.
HUGHES BROTHERS’ MOTHER, WHO WORKS FOR TEAM USA WOMEN’S HOCKEY, GIVES CLASSIC ANSWER ON SOTU CONTROVERSY
Ottawa charge
Rory Guilday and Gwyneth Philips represented the Ottawa Charge while on Team USA in the Olympics. The Charge are in the middle of the PWHL standings with a 9-7-0 record. Ottawa returns to the ice on Saturday to take on the Boston Fleet at 2 p.m. ET.
Seattle torrent
Hilary Knight, the captain of Team USA, was among the four Seattle Torrent players on the Olympic roster. Cayla Barnes, Hanna Bilka and Alex Carpenter joined her. Seattle needs a big push in the second half of the season to make the playoffs. Torrent is 5-7-2 so far this season. They start their season again on Friday against the Toronto Scepters at 10 p.m. ET.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE Pakinomist APP
College hockey
Laila Edwards (10) of the United States and Megan Keller (5) of the United States celebrate after winning the women’s ice hockey gold medal after defeating Canada during the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milan Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 19, 2026. (Amber Searls/Imagn Images)
There were a handful of players still in college who played for Team USA. Abbey Murphy (Minnesota), Joy Dunne (Ohio State) and Tessa Janecke (Penn State) were on the team with Wisconsin’s Caroline Harvey, Kristen Sims, Laila Edwards and Ava McNaughton. There was no Olympic break for their respective teams.
Minnesota, Penn State and Wisconsin are all in the Western College Hockey Association playoffs. Each team plays on Friday at 6 p.m. ET. Golden Gophers play St. Cloud State, the Buckeyes will play St. Thomas and the Badgers take on Bemidji State.
The Nittany Lions are in the semifinals of the Atlantic Hockey America playoffs. Penn State returns to the ice Friday at 6:00 PM to take on Syracuse.
Related article
