Kaia Anderson, staff writer

Anna Kjelbin and Ronja Savolainen are two professional hockey players who are currently playing in the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) and are about to compete at the Olympics. Kjelbin is a Swedish hockey player who is currently playing for the Toronto Scepters and will be competing for Team Sweden, while Savolainen plays for the Ottawa Charge and will be competing for Team Finland at the Olympics. These two players are determined to take home gold, no matter who is standing in their way—including their fiancée. 

On Oct. 26, 2024, Kjelbin and Saolainen announced their engagement on Instagram. They had been previously dating for five years and met while playing in the Swedish Women’s Hockey League. Despite their relationship, they are very competitive on the ice and have, unfortunately, not had the opportunity to play on the same team recently. While the two will not be facing each other in the first couple of rounds of the competition, there is a chance that they will be facing off in the final round. 

The 2026 Winter Games are set to take place in two of Italy’s biggest cities: Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, which has led to the nickname Milano Cortina. There will be ten teams competing in the hockey event: Team USA, Canada, Finland, Switzerland, Czechia, Japan, Sweden, Germany, France and Italy. There will be 20 preliminary matches that will determine which eight teams will move on to the quarter finals, which is where they enter the sudden-death phase of the tournament. 

Women’s hockey was introduced during the 1998 Winter Games in Japan. While Canada was set up as the favorite to win, in the final round, Team USA swiftly beat Canada 3-1. In 1990, women’s hockey was added as a permanent event in the Winter Olympic lineup. This year marks 28 years since the puck dropped at the Aqua Wing Arena in Japan. 

In North America, there have also been several attempts at creating a professional women’s hockey league between America and Canada. The Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) ran from 2007 to 2018, while the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) ran from 2015 to 2023. Both teams ran for several years, but neither was fully able to kick off. The CWHL closed due to a lack of revenue. The PHF was bought in June 2023 by the Mark Walter Group, who reopened the league in January 2024, this time with a new name. The PWHL has six teams from Minnesota, Boston, New York, Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto. 

Currently, Canada holds the record for most wins for women’s hockey with five Olympic gold medals. The only other team to hold a gold medal for this event is the US, which currently holds two gold medals. Sweden and Switzerland both hold silver and bronze, and Finland holds four bronze medals.

The 2026 Winter Games are set to take place in two of Italy’s biggest cities: Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, which has led to the nickname Milano Cortina. There will be ten teams competing in the hockey event: Canada, Czechia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland and Team USA. There will be 20 preliminary matches that will determine which eight teams will move on to the quarter finals, which is where they enter the sudden-death phase of the tournament. 

Women’s hockey was introduced during the 1998 Winter Games in Japan. While Canada was set up as the favorite to win, in the final round, Team USA swiftly beat Canada 3-1. In 1990, women’s hockey was added as a permanent event in the Winter Olympic lineup. This year marks 28 years since the puck dropped at the Aqua Wing Arena in Japan. 

In North America, there have also been several attempts at creating a professional women’s hockey league between America and Canada. The Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) ran from 2007 to 2018, while the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) ran from 2015 to 2023. Both teams ran for several years, but neither was fully able to kick off. The CWHL closed due to a lack of revenue. The PHF was bought in June 2023 by the Mark Walter Group, who reopened the league in January 2024, this time with a new name. The PWHL has six teams from Boston, Minnesota,  Montreal, New York, Ottawa, and Toronto. 

Currently, Canada holds the record for most wins for women’s hockey with five Olympic gold medals. The only other team to hold a gold medal for this event is the US, which currently holds two gold medals. Sweden and Switzerland both hold silver and bronze, and Finland holds four bronze medals.