The ice hockey competitions of the 2026 Winter Olympics was played at two venues located in the Milan cluster: the PalaItalia and one of the Fiera Milano pavilions.
The men's tournament had 12 teams competing, and the women's tournament 10. Russia and Belarus were banned from competing in international championships through the International Ice Hockey Federation's (IIHF) 2026 program due to their military aggression in Ukraine. The International Olympic Committee also ruled that Russian and Belarusian players could not compete under the banner of "Individual Neutral Athletes" (AIN) in hockey and other team events.
The United States won gold medals both in the men's and women's tournaments for the first time in the finals against Canada, both in overtime, while Switzerland won bronze in the women's tournament and Finland in the men's tournament.
Ice hockey competitions were scheduled to start one day before the opening ceremony with the following schedule:
The tournament featured twelve countries, eight qualifying through the IIHF World Ranking, the host Italy, and three through qualifying tournaments. The format remained the same as the previous four Olympics; three groups of four competed in three games to determine seeding, each played every other team in their group, followed by four rounds of elimination games. Each group winner received a bye into the second round, along with the highest ranked of the remaining teams. The remaining eight teams played an eliminating qualification game to advance to the quarter-final round. Each quarter-final winner advanced to the semi-finals, with the winners playing for the gold medal and the losers playing for the bronze.
On 2 February 2024, the IIHF announced that an agreement had been reached with the National Hockey League (NHL) for a break in its regular season to allow the league's players to participate in the Olympics for the first time since 2014. The NHL was originally scheduled to compete in 2022 as well but opted out due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Qualification for the men's tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics was determined by the IIHF World Ranking following the 2023 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships. The top eight joined the hosts and three qualifiers.
The groups were established following the 2023 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships. Qualifiers one, two and three are the winners of the final qualification tournaments. Their designation was determined by their qualification seeding.
Ten countries competed in the women's tournament, six qualifying through the IIHF World Ranking, the host Italy, and three through qualifying tournaments.
Qualification for the women's tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics was determined by the IIHF World Ranking following the 2024 Women's Ice Hockey World Championships.
The groups were established following the 2024 Women's Ice Hockey World Championships. Qualifiers one, two, and three were the winners of the final qualification tournaments. Their designation was determined by their qualification seeding.