Scamurra scores 2, and U.S. opens women's Olympic hockey tournament with 5-1 win over Czechia

MILAN (AP) — Of all the elite players making up the U.S. women’s national team’s roster, coach John Wroblewski insisted the one he couldn’t do without at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games was Hayley Scamurra.

It’s a decision Wroblewski made upon taking over the team four years ago. and one immediately validated in the Americans’ 5-1 Olympic tournament-opening win over Czechia.

Scamurra — regarded as the team’s 13th “Jill-of-all-trades” forward — scored twice while logging just 6:45 minutes of ice time over 11 shifts.

“I was adamant with it. We weren’t going to Milan without her at the start of this quad. She carries so much spirit to your team,” Wroblewski said. “I’m not gonna speak for every other federation, but I just can’t image there’s anyone that works harder and wants it more than she does. It’s inspiring, frankly.”

The 31-year-old from Buffalo, New York, is the daughter of former NHL defenseman Peter Scamurra. And though she built a reputation of being a top defensive forward during her four-year college career at Northeastern, Scamurra went mostly overlooked by USA Hockey until making the national team in 2019.

And now she’s doubled her goal total in making her second Olympic appearance after winning silver in 2022.

“I just do my best to bring that energy in every shift that I have. It feels a little extra special to be able to help on the scoreboard and physically, too,” Scamurra said before addressing her journey.

“Honestly I think it just shows it’s never too late to keep chasing your dreams,” she said. “So I think, it just shows with hard work that anything is possible for sure.”

Alex Carpenter had a goal and assist, and captain Hilary Knight and Joy Dunne also scored for the Americans, who improved to 8-0 over the Czechs in international play. Aerin Frankel, making her Olympic debut in net, stopped 13 shots.

Laila Edwards had an assist while becoming the first Black female to represent America in hockey at the Olympics.

Barbora Jurickova scored Czechia’s lone goal. She was set up on a breakaway as she exited the penalty box to cut the Americans lead to 3-1 midway through the second period. Klara Peslarova finished with 37 saves in an outing Czechia was out-shot 31-9 through two periods.

The day’s only other scheduled Group A game between defending Olympic champion Canada and Finland was postponed to Feb. 12. The Finns’ roster was down to eight skaters and two goalies, with the remaining 13 players dealing with a stomach virus that hit the team on Tuesday.

The Americans were greeted a loud cheer and a “U-S-A!” chant began at puck drop.

Among those on hand in a nearly packed 5,000-plus seat Rho Ice Hockey Arena, were U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who arrived about 12 minutes in, and departed with just over six minutes remaining. The large delegation that included USA Hockey officials and a security detail, filled a section of seats directly behind the penalty box and immediately opposite the U.S. bench.

Carpenter opened the scoring with a power-play goal with 4:05 left in the first period. The tournament-favored Americans then blew the game open with three goals in the second period in building a 4-1 lead.

Scamurra’s first goal put the U.S. up 3-1 and came when she dug the puck out of a scrum to the right of the net, and got a low shot off to beat Peslarova through the legs. She then closed the scoring in the third period, by one-timing in a pass from Kelly Pannek.

“Honestly, it’s inspiring,” Knight said of Scamurra. “You can put her anywhere. ... I was hoping she’d get a third to be honest.”

The Czechs are making their second Olympic appearance after debuting in 2022, and have quickly risen to become a power in the four years under coach Carla MacLeod. Czechia has won two bronze medals and finished fourth twice over the past four world championships.

MacLeod called the outing a foundation her players can build on.

“You’re not worried, sort of, about the outcome at this point. You’re just are we generating chances? Are we playing our way? Are believing in what we’re doing?” she said. ” And I saw all that. And for me, that’s a great thing for us, as we continue to build and get better.”

Next up for the U.S. is facing Finland on Saturday, and the uncertainty of how many Finns will be healthy enough to play.

“I hope that they’re OK, let’s just leave it at that. That’s the most important part,” Wroblewski said.

In an earlier Group B game, Lina Ljungblom scored twice in Sweden’s 4-1 comeback win over Germany. The win already puts the Swedes in the driver’s seat to win their pool and secure a better seeding for the quarterfinals.

Host team Italy defeated France 4-1 to post its first victory in making its second Olympic appearance. France is making its Olympic debut. The game was the played at the main rink, the Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena, which faced scrutiny over construction delays.

AP Sports Writer James Ellingworth contributed to this story.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Sweden's Lina Ljungblom, center right, scores her sides opening goal during a preliminary round match of women's ice hockey between Germany and Sweden at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, Pool)

Czechia's Klara Seroiszkova slides into Czechia's Klara Peslarova, right, as United States' Hilary Knight scores her sides fourth goal during a preliminary round match of women's ice hockey between United States and Czechia at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

United States' Grace Zumwinkle, center, celebrates a goal during a preliminary round match of women's ice hockey between United States and Czechia at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (Sun Fei/Pool Photo via AP)

United States' Hilary Knight, right, celebrates with teammates after scoring her sides fourth goal during a preliminary round match of women's ice hockey between United States and Czechia at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

United States' Hayley Scamurra, left, celebrates with teammates after scoring her sides fifth goal during a preliminary round match of women's ice hockey between United States and Czechia at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin said Thursday it regretted the expiration of the last remaining nuclear arms pact between Russia and the United States, while U.S. President Donald Trump declared he was against keeping its limits and wants a better deal.

The pact's termination left no caps on the two largest atomic arsenals for the first time in more than a half-century, fueling fears of an unconstrained nuclear arms race.

Russian President Vladimir Putin last year declared his readiness to stick to the treaty’s limits for another year if Washington followed suit, but Trump has ignored the offer and argued that he wants China to be a part of a new pact — something Beijing has rebuffed.

“Rather than extend ‘NEW START’ (A badly negotiated deal by the United States that, aside from everything else, is being grossly violated), we should have our Nuclear Experts work on a new, improved, and modernized Treaty that can last long into the future,” Trump posted on his Truth Social network.

Putin discussed the pact’s expiration with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday, noting the U.S. failure to respond to his proposal to extend its limits and saying that Russia “will act in a balanced and responsible manner based on thorough analysis of the security situation,” Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow views the treaty's expiration Thursday “negatively” and regrets it. He said Russia will maintain its “responsible, thorough approach to stability when it comes to nuclear weapons,” adding that "of course, it will be guided primarily by its national interests.”

Peskov emphasized that “if we receive constructive responses, we will certainly conduct a dialogue.”

With the end of the treaty, Moscow “remains ready to take decisive military-technical measures to counter potential additional threats to the national security,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Even as New START expires, the U.S. and Russia agreed Thursday to reestablish high-level, military-to-military dialogue following a meeting between senior officials from both sides in Abu Dhabi, the U.S. military command in Europe said. The link was suspended in 2021 as relations between Moscow and Washington grew increasingly strained before Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

New START, signed in 2010 by then-President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, restricted each side to no more than 1,550 nuclear warheads on no more than 700 missiles and bombers — deployed and ready for use. It was originally supposed to expire in 2021 but was extended for five more years.

The pact envisioned sweeping on-site inspections to verify compliance, although they stopped in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and never resumed.

In February 2023, Putin suspended Moscow’s participation, saying Russia couldn’t allow U.S. inspections of its nuclear sites at a time when Washington and its NATO allies have openly declared Moscow’s defeat in Ukraine as their goal. At the same time, the Kremlin emphasized it wasn’t withdrawing from the pact altogether, pledging to respect its caps on nuclear weapons.

In offering in September to abide by New START’s limits for a year to buy time for both sides to negotiate a successor agreement, Putin said the treaty's expiration would be destabilizing and could fuel nuclear proliferation.

New START was the last remaining pact in a long series of agreements between Moscow and Washington to limit their nuclear arsenals, starting with the SALT I in 1972.

Trump has indicated he would like to keep limits on nuclear weapons but wants to involve China in a potential new treaty.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that Trump has made clear “in order to have true arms control in the 21st century, it’s impossible to do something that doesn’t include China because of their vast and rapidly growing stockpile.”

In his first term, Trump tried and failed to push for a three-way nuclear pact involving China. Beijing has balked at any restrictions on its smaller but growing nuclear arsenal, while urging the U.S. to resume nuclear talks with Russia.

“China’s nuclear forces are not at all on the same scale as those of the U.S. and Russia, and thus China will not participate in nuclear disarmament negotiations at the current stage,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Thursday.

He said China regrets the expiration of New START and calls on the U.S. to resume nuclear dialogue with Russia soon. Beijing, he said, urges the U.S, to respond positively to Moscow’s suggestion that the two sides continue observing the core limits of the treaty for now.

Peskov reaffirmed Thursday that Moscow respects Beijing's position. He and other Russian officials have repeatedly argued that any attempt to negotiate a broader nuclear pact instead of a U.S.-Russian deal should also involve nuclear arsenals of NATO members France and the U.K.

Arms control advocates bemoaned the end of New START and warned of the imminent threat of a new arms race.

“If the Trump administration continues to stiff-arm nuclear arms control diplomacy with Russia and decides to increase the number of nuclear weapons in the U.S. deployed strategic arsenal, it will only lead Russia to follow suit and encourage China to accelerate its ongoing strategic buildup in an attempt to maintain a strategic nuclear retaliatory strike capability vis-a-vis the United States,” said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association in Washington. “Such a scenario could lead to a years-long, dangerous three-way nuclear arms buildup.”

This version of the story corrects that Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Beijing calls on the U.S. to respond positively to Moscow’s proposal to keep adhering to the treaty, not that China views it positively.

Associated Press writers Ken Moritsugu in Beijing and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.

The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Additional AP coverage: https://apnews.com/projects/the-new-nuclear-landscape/

FILE - This photo released by the U.S. Air Force shows a B-52H Stratofortress approaching a KC-10 Extender for refueling over the Middle East, Sept. 4, 2022. (U.S. Air Force/Staff Sgt. Shannon Bowman, via AP, File)

FILE - U.S. President Barack Obama, left, and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev, right, shake hands at a news conference at the Prague Castle in Prague, Czech Republic,, April 8, 2010, after signing the New START treaty reducing long-range nuclear weapons. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel, File)

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