Rooney Left Off 2026 Olympic Roster After Two Games on Hockey’s Biggest Stage
Maddie Rooney playing for Team USA. Photo credits: BDZ Sports.
Written By Gina Anton
Maddie Rooney has already done what most hockey players only dream of.
She won Olympic gold in 2018, helped the United States earn silver in 2022, and established herself as one of the most recognizable goaltenders in U.S. women’s hockey. Yet when USA Hockey announced its roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, Rooney’s name was missing.
The omission wasn’t due to injury or retirement. Instead, it reflects the depth of the U.S. goaltending pool and a shift toward newer faces, marking one of the most notable roster decisions of this Olympic cycle.
Rooney burst onto the international scene at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, where she delivered one of the most impressive goaltending performances in tournament history. As a teenager, she posted elite numbers, started the gold-medal game, and made clutch saves in the shootout win over Canada, ending a 20-year Olympic gold drought for Team USA.
“Winning in the Olympics was an indescribable moment and everything that came after with the media tour and seeing all the support around me was humbling and inspiring.” said Rooney.
She returned in 2022 in Beijing, again serving as part of the American goaltending rotation on a team that reached the gold-medal game and finished with silver.
By the end of those two Olympics, Rooney had become synonymous with poise on the biggest stage which was a reputation that made her absence in 2026 especially striking.
For Milan-Cortina, USA Hockey selected Aerin Frankel, Gwyneth Philips, and Ava McNaughton as its three goaltenders.
Frankel has emerged as the clear No. 1 in recent years, anchoring multiple World Championship runs and consistently posting top save percentages against international competition. Philips and McNaughton represent the next generation, both rewarded for strong recent performances and long-term upside.
Olympic rosters allow only three goaltenders, and this cycle the coaching staff leaned toward recent international form and future trajectory, rather than past Olympic experience.
Leaving off a two-time Olympian, and a former gold-medal starter, underscores just how competitive U.S. women’s hockey has become. There has been an increasing emphasis on year-to-year evaluation rather than legacy status.
How Her Career Is Going Now
Despite missing out on a third Olympics, Rooney’s career remains firmly on track.
She is a key goaltender for the Minnesota Frost of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), where she continues to post strong numbers, record shutouts, and play a major role for one of the league’s top teams. She is under a multi-year contract and remains a centerpiece of the franchise.
At 27, Rooney is still in her prime and widely respected as a leader, both on the ice and within the broader women’s hockey community.
Rooney’s Olympic résumé is already complete by most standards: gold, silver, and a legacy moment that changed U.S. women’s hockey history. Missing the 2026 Games doesn’t erase that, it highlights how much the game has evolved.
While Milan-Cortina will feature new faces in net for Team USA, Rooney’s influence remains impossible to ignore. Whether through continued success in the PWHL, future international opportunities, or her long-term impact on the sport, her story is far from over.
