The schedule for the women’s tournament at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, China were released by the IIHF today, kicking off hockey at the Olympics on Thursday, 03 February.

Playing with a ten-team tournament for the first time at the Olympics, the first day sees hosts China open the tournament against one of three qualifiers to be named in November, while defending champs Team USA open the tournament against Finland, while four-time champions Canada open their Olympiad against Switzerland.

The playoff rounds will begin eight days later, with all teams in Group A and the top three teams in Group B advancing to the medal round, where the United States will look to repeat as champions and win their third Olympic title, while Canada will look for revenge following their heartbreaking shootout loss in PyeongChang and win their first Gold since 2014.

The tournament schedule, with the majority of games to be played at Wukesong Sports Centre, renamed from Cadillac Arena for sponsorship purposes (unless denoted otherwise), is as follows:

The IHLC for the tournament will be brought to China likely by the U.S. or Canada (as has been the case at all previous Olympics), as they will be facing each other, as well as potentially other nations, in pre-Olympic exhibition games in the winter months leading up to February 2022. The path to Beijing is now clear, and who brings the IHLC to the Games will soon be very clear!

* Game to be held at National Indoor Stadium

Photo Credit: FIBA – IIHF – HHOF – IOC