The first weekend of the women's Olympic hockey tournament features six electric matchups, including the U.S. and Finland tilt on Saturday.

Follow NBC News live updates for the latest on the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, where hockey and snowboarding events will open ahead of the opening ceremony.

Here's what to know about Thursday's slate of women's ice hockey games at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, including how to watch information.

A crew from Nate's Ice is set to carve a custom desk out of ice live on the NBC Chicago morning show starting at 6 a.m. CT. The crew will be joined by the Horner Park Jazz Band to play some Olympic fanfare and family and friends of Chicago-area Olympic speedskaters Ethan Cepuran and Emery Lehman will be on hand to cheer them on.

Then begins the race for most medals at the world event in Italy. While the United States has the most medals in the Summer Olympics, the same can't be said for the Winter Olympics. The Americans have had their fair share of success but have the second-most medals all-time since the inaugural Winter Olympics in 1924.