The Puck Has Officially Dropped

The puck has officially dropped for the 2026 Milano-Cortina Games, and if Day 1 was any showing of what’s to come you don’t want to miss the rest of the action. 

The day kicked off with Sweden and Germany where Nina Jobst-Smith from the Vancouver Goldeneyes scored the opening goal of the 2026 tournament, in her debut for Germany’s lone goal. Followed by 2 from Lina Ljungblom from the Montreal Victoire with Mira Jungaker and Thea Johansson rounding out the scoring for Sweden’s 4-1 win. 

Jobst-Smith appeared on Jocks in Jills earlier this week, discussing her journey to the German National Team, having been born in the UK and growing up in Vancouver. Saying it was something she wanted to do and “you play a year to be eligible to play for your country, so I decided to do that before I went to college and kind of open those doors rather than perhaps just now being able to play in Germany. I’ve been able to have five years of experience with the team, which I really cherish, and has been really just an amazing experience.”

Up next was Italy and France in an international border battle that saw the host take a 4-1 win. It was their first women’s hockey Olympic win. After the big win Laura Fortino said, “Today was very emotional in every single way possible, from the start to the finish. Even at the end there, shedding a few tears, skating around the ring. For me, it just hits you in the heart. It’s very special.” 

And rounding out the day was the United States vs Czechia in a much anticipated matchup with big stars on both sides. It was the US that struck first late in the first on the power-play with Alex Carpenter tipping in the shot from Megan Keller. The US brought that momentum into the third with Joy Dunne finding the net early with the assist from Tessa Janecke. Just over a minute later it was again Janecke setting up teammate Hayley Scamurra to take a 3-0 lead. 

Breaking through for Czechia was Barbara Jurickova, coming out of the penalty box for a break-away. But the US found an answer quickly with Captain Hilary Knight rounding out the game was Hayley Scamurra for her second of the game early in the third off a pass from Kelly Pannek. With the win the US remains undefeated in Olympic opening games, now 8-0. The win also marked Aerin Frankel's first Olympic win, recording 13 saves on 14 shots.

The Finland vs Canada game was postponed to February 12th due to illness spreading through the Finnish team. Canada will see their first action this Saturday as they take on Switzerland.