What to expect in the women's hockey tournament at the Beijing Olympics

The women's hockey tournament at the Beijing Olympics will begin Wednesday night. Here's what you need to know about the event.

Defending champion: The United States. In 2018 in South Korea, the U.S. defeated Canada 3-2 in a shootout for the Americans' first Olympic gold medal since 1998. Canada had won the previous four Olympics. The U.S. has played Canada in the final of five of the six Olympic tournaments. The hockey powers have also met in the final of 19 of 20 world championships.

Format: The 2022 event is the first Olympic women's ice hockey tournament with 10 teams, up from eight. The teams are split into two groups of five. Group A is the U.S., Canada, Finland, Switzerland and Russian Olympic Committee. Group B is China, Denmark, Sweden, Czech Republic and Japan. The five teams from Group A and the top three teams from Group B advance to the quarterfinals after round-robin group play.

Olympic debuts: Denmark and the Czech Republic are making their first Winter Games' appearances.

Recent history: Canada is the reigning world champion, beating the U.S. 3-2 in overtime on Marie-Philip Poulin's goal in August and ending the American's run of five consecutive titles. Canada also went 4-1-1 against the U.S. on the My Why Tour in the fall, which was shortened from nine games because of COVID-19 cases among the Canadians. Four games were decided by one goal, and three went into overtime.

Possible spoiler: Finland. The Finns have racked up 16 bronze medals in Olympics and world championships over the years, including at the most recent worlds in August and the 2018 Olympics. At the 2019 world championships, Finland upset Canada in the semifinals before losing to the U.S. in overtime in the final to claim a silver. Finland is without star goalie Noora Raty, a former Gopher, who was left off the team and replaced by Anni Keisala, after her strong showing in the world championships.

Minnesota connections: There are nine players with Minnesota ties on the U.S. team, and 19 players connected to Minnesota colleges and high schools on other squads, led by four with Switzerland, Sweden and China. Minnesota Duluth has 10 current or former players on Olympic rosters, which also include athletes from the Gophers, Minnesota State Mankato, St. Cloud State and St. Thomas.

A first: Abby Roque, 24, of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., is the first Indigenous player on the U.S. Olympic women's hockey team. A star at Wisconsin in college, Roque, whose father is Wahnapitae First Nation, played for the Minnesota team of the PWHPA during the 2020-21 season.

A fourth: The U.S. and Canada have players in their fourth Olympics. Hilary Knight, 32, joins Jenny Potter, Angela Ruggiero and Julie Chu as the only American women to accomplish that feat. Canada's four-timers are 30-year-old Marie-Philip Poulin and 32-year-old Rebecca Johnston.

A notable absence?: Swiss star Alina Muller has been delayed in her arrival to Beijing after a positive COVID test in late January. She was the leading scorer at the 2018 Games, when she was 19. She set Olympic records with four goals in one game and six points in one game.

All games will be streamed live on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.

Feb. 2
Group A, Canada vs. Switzerland, 10:10 p.m., USA Network
Group B, Czech Republic vs. China, 10:10 p.m.

Feb. 3
Group B, Sweden vs. Japan, 2:40 a.m.
Group A, Finland vs. United States, 7:10 a.m., USA
Group A, Russian Olympic Committee vs. Switzerland, 10:10 p.m., USA
Group B, Denmark vs. China, 10:10 p.m.

Feb. 4
Group A, Canada vs. Finland, 10:10 p.m., USA

Feb. 5
Group B, Japan vs. Denmark, 2:40 a.m.
Group B, Czech Republic vs. Sweden, 2:40 a.m.
Group A, United States vs. Russian Olympic Committee, 7:10 a.m.. USA

Feb. 6
Group B, China vs. Japan, 2:40 a.m.
Group A, Switzerland vs. United States, 7:10 a.m., USA
Group A, Russian Olympic Committee vs. Canada, 10:10 p.m., USA

Feb. 7
Group B, Denmark vs. Czech Republic, 2:40 a.m.
Group A, Switzerland vs. Finland, 7:10 a.m.
Group B, China vs. Sweden, 7:10 a.m.
Group A, United States vs. Canada, 10:10 p.m., USA

Feb. 8
Group B, Japan vs. Czech Republic, 2:40 a.m.
Group A, Finland vs. Republic of China, 7:10 a.m.
Group B, Sweden vs. Denmark, 7:10 a.m.

Feb. 10
Quarterfinal 1, 10:10 p.m., USA

Feb. 11
Quarterfinal 2, 7:10 a.m., USA
Quarterfinal 3, 10:10 p.m., CNBC

Feb. 12
Quarterfinal 4, 2:40 a.m.

Feb. 13
Semifinal 1, 10:10 p.m., USA

Feb. 14
Semifinal 2, 7:10 a.m., USA

Feb. 16
Bronze medal game, 5:30 a.m.
Gold medal game, 10:10 p.m., Ch. 11

The Associated Press contributed to this report.