The U.S. women’s ice hockey team has medaled at every Olympic Winter Games since the sport was introduced at the Nagano 1998 Olympic Winter Games, winning one gold (1998), three silvers (2002, 2010, 2014) and one bronze (2006).

The 2018 Olympic Winter Games mark the 20-year anniversary of the sport’s introduction at the Olympics and the gold-medal victory by the United States, setting the stage for a commemorative opportunity to honor the inaugural 1998 team and earn a storybook finish in PyeongChang.

Since falling to Canada, 3-2, in overtime and earning a silver medal at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, the U.S. women’s national team has played its rival in six international tournaments (three International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Championships and three Four Nations Cups), winning five of the six titles and nine of 12 games overall. Prior to the 2018 Olympics, the U.S. will meet Canada seven more times as part of The Time is Now Tour, presented by Toyota, which includes the 2017 Four Nations Cup. 

In Olympic competition, the U.S. has posted a 21-0-2-3-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L-T) overall record. Against opponents qualified for the PyeongChang Games (Canada, Finland, Japan, Korea, Sweden, Switzerland and Russia), the U.S. is 16-0-2-3-0 in past Olympic contests. Team USA is the only squad aside from Canada to have won an Olympic gold medal in women’s ice hockey.

Robb Stauber, who has been involved with the U.S. Women’s National Ice Hockey Team in varying capacities since 2010,  will serve as head coach of the 2018 U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team and the 2017-18 U.S. Women’s National Ice Hockey Team in the build-up to the Games. Stauber was head coach of the 2017 U.S. Women’s National Team where he guided the squad to the gold medal at the 2017 IIHF Women’s World Championship. The Duluth, Minnesota, native, who became the first goaltender ever to win the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as the top NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey player in 1988, was an assistant coach for the 2014 U.S. Olympic Women's Ice Hockey Team in Sochi, Russia.

• Approximately 12 hopefuls for the 2018 U.S. Olympic Team are returning Olympians, including several members of the silver-medal-winning squad in 2014. Among the group of 2014 returnees are Kacey Bellamy, Megan Bozek, Alex Carpenter, Kendall Coyne, Brianna Decker, Meghan Duggan, Amanda Kessel, Hilary Knight, Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson, Monique Lamoureux-Morando, Gigi Marvin and Lee Stecklein. Of that group, six are two-time Olympic silver medalists, having also competed in 2010, including Bellamy, Duggan, Knight, Lamoureux-Davidson, Lamoureux-Morando and Marvin. 
• Team USA will feature a changing of the guard in goal at the Olympics for the first time since 2002. Alex Rigsby, who was in final consideration and the last goalie cut in 2014, has been an integral part of U.S. success in international competition since the last Olympics. Rigsby is joined by a pair of young, emerging goaltenders, including Nicole Hensley, who turned in a stand-out performance at the 2017 IIHF Women’s World Championships, and Maddie Rooney, the team’s youngest player who will be 19 years old at the time of the 2018 Olympics.  Jessie Vetter, Molly Schaus and Brianne McLaughlin, who backstopped the U.S. in the 2010 and 2014 Olympic Winter Games, will not be part of the equation this time around.
• Kendall Coyne (left wing), Brianna Decker (center) and Hilary Knight (right wing) have consistently played as a unit at every event since the 2014 Olympic Winter Games and comprise one of the best lines in women’s hockey.
• The 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games will potentially be the last opportunity for several veterans, who will be over the age of 30 for the following Olympic Winter Games in 2022, to win a gold medal. It’s no certainty that they won’t play into their thirties but a number of the highly talented nucleus of veterans who will be over the age of 30 in 2022 include at least nine Olympians (Kacey Bellamy, Meghan Duggan, Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson, Monique Lamoureux-Morando, Hilary Knight, Gigi Marvin, Megan Bozek, Brianna Decker and Amanda Kessel). 
• Meghan Duggan (2011), Brianna Decker (2012), Amanda Kessel (2013), Alex Carpenter (2015) and Kendall Coyne (2016), have won the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, presented annually to the top player in NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey.
• Twin sisters Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando have represented Team USA in various tournaments since 2006, including the 2010 and 2014 Olympic Winter Games. They look to help lead the U.S. to gold in 2018.
   
• Hannah Brandt hopes to make the trip to PyeongChang where she could have the opportunity play opposite her adopted older sister, Marissa Brandt, who will skate for the host nation South Korea. Marissa, adopted from South Korea at four months old, grew up playing hockey alongside sister Hannah. It will be the first Olympics for both sisters, after Hannah was one of the final cuts to the 2014 U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team.

Brianna Decker (Dousman, Wisconsin) continues to be one of the offensive catalysts and elite players for Team USA and may be the best all-around player in women’s ice hockey. She has earned MVP honors in back-to-back seasons in the National Women’s Hockey League (2015-2016, 2016-2017) and led the league in scoring during this past season, with 14 goals and 31 points in 17 games. She has earned numerous accolades at the University of Wisconsin and for Team USA, including the USA Hockey’s Bob Allen Women’s Player of the Year in both 2015 and 2017, and the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award in 2012 as the best player in NCAA women’s ice hockey. She is a 2014 Olympic silver medalist and five-time world champion (2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017).

Meghan Duggan (Danvers, Massachusetts) joined the U.S. women’s national team in 2007 and has emerged as a prominent leader and team captain for many events, including the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. She was named USA Hockey’s Bob Allen Women’s Player of the Year in 2011, and was also recognized with the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award as the best player in collegiate women’s ice hockey. She is a two-time Olympic silver medalist (2010, 2014) and has helped the U.S. win seven gold medals at the IIHF Women’s World Championships (2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017).

Amanda Kessel (Madison, Wisconsin) missed significant time due to injury after the 2014 Olympic Winter Games and returned to play the final few months of her senior season (2015-16) at the University of Minnesota before turning professional and playing for the New York Riveters (NWHL). After more than two years away from Team USA, she returned to the ice for a pair of exhibition games against Canada in December 2016 and contributed to the gold medal-winning effort of Team USA at the 2017 IIHF Women’s World Championship with six points in five games. Her brother, Phil Kessel, plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL). In 2014, the two became the first brother-sister combo to compete for Team USA in Olympic ice hockey.

Hilary Knight (Sun Valley, Idaho) has earned numerous accolades and was named MVP at both the 2015 and 2016 IIHF Women’s World Championships. She is one of the most dynamic players in women’s ice hockey and has been a member of the U.S. women’s national team since she was 17 years old (2006). She is a two-time Olympic silver medalist (2010, 2014) and has won gold at seven IIHF Women’s World Championships (2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017) and two silvers (2007, 2012). She has also participated in 10 Four Nations Cups, winning five of those events (2008, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016). Knight was also a dominat player in the NCAA for the University of Wisconsin, where she garnered All-America honors and was twice named a top-10 finalist for the Patty

Monique Lamoureux-Morando (Grand Forks, North Dakota) was used at both forward and defense in college (University of North Dakota) but played the majority of her Team USA career as a forward, including at the previous two Olympics. Following the Sochi Games, she transitioned from forward to defense and has become arguably one of the best defenseman in women’s hockey. She has earned multiple awards for her play on defense and was recognized by USA Hockey as the 2016 Bob Allen Women’s Player of the Year. She is a two-time Olympic silver medalist (2010, 2014) and has aided the U.S. to gold medals at six IIHF Women’s World Championships (2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017) and one silver (2012). She has also participated in nine Four Nations Cups, winning four of those events (2011, 2012, 2015, 2016).

Alex Rigsby (Delafield, Wisconsin) was the last goaltender cut for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games and has been striving to be the team's top goaltender ever since. She has helped Team USA win four gold medals (2013, 2015, 2016, 2017) at the IIHF Women's World Championships, and was named one of the top-three U.S. players in the 2016 tournament and U.S. Player of the Game while earning a 1-0 shutout in the gold-medal-overtime win over Canada. While at the University of Wisconsin, Rigsby helped guide the Badgers to the NCAA Division I title in 2010-11, was a top-10 finalist for the 2012 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award and was the first goalie to be named captain at Wisconsin (2013-14). She has played three seasons of professional hockey with the Minnesota Whitecaps (2014-17), and is looking to make her first U.S. Olympic Team in 2018.