Next chapter in bitter Canada-U.S. women's hockey rivalry begins Tuesday

ace of the c. H. Best rivalries in all of feature testament use up centre stage at Milano Cortina 2026 on Tuesday: Canada and the United States in women’s hockey.

It’s a battle that’s gone back and forth over nearly four decades, when the Canadians won the first world championship in 1990.

The Americans pushed back at the first Olympics to feature women’s hockey in 1998, winning a tournament where the Canadians were heavily favoured.

And so it’s gone since then, with the Americans capturing 11 world championships to Canada’s 13.

At the Olympics, the Canadians have stood atop the podium five times — most recently in 2022, when a dominant Canadian team broke records on the way to gold.

“It's why we play hockey, to get to play in these games,” Canadian forward Kristin O’Neill said before the Games began. “Just the opportunity to get to play them again this season is really honestly cool and exciting to me.”

This time around, many see the Canadians as underdogs to a younger American team that has tons of skill and speed. The Americans are ranked number one in the world by the International Ice Hockey Federation. The Canadians are ranked second.

Things were close at last year’s world championship, where the Americans edged the Canadians 4-3 in overtime in the final.

It wasn't nearly as close at the Rivalry Series, where the Americans swept the Canadians. They were outscored 24-7 over those four games.

"We could embrace that underdog mentality,” Spooner said a few days ago. “There's nothing bad about being an underdog and proving yourself. As players, we've had to prove ourselves over and over again.”

The biggest question mark for Canada heading into the game is the status of captain Marie-Philip Poulin, who left Monday's 5-1 win over Czechia with an injury.

The American team was rebuilt after a series of losses to the Canadians: at the Olympics in 2022, and three of four world championships between 2021 and 2024.

Over the last four years, they’ve brought along younger players like Laila Edwards, Tessa Janecke, and Haley Winn, a defender who’s logged more average time on ice than anyone else in the PWHL this season. 

“I think our staff has done a good job of gaining that exposure for different players and having this very delicate balancing act of veteran core and infusing new sort of youthful energy, while preparing everyone at the same time to be ready for the world’s biggest stage,” Knight said.

Players like defender Caroline Harvey and forward Abbey Murphy, who will be top picks in the next PWHL draft, have taken on bigger roles.

Canada downs Czechia but loses Poulin to injury

So has Taylor Heise, who’s earned two world championships and two Walter Cups over the last four years, but will be making her Olympic debut.

"They have a special group of young talent coming up,” Canadian head coach Troy Ryan said about the Americans. “It's as good as I've ever seen in my time.”

The net now belongs to the Boston Fleet’s Aerin Frankel, who wasn’t even on the last Olympic roster. She’s allowed fewer than two goals per game in her PWHL career, and is one of the best two goaltenders in the world right now.

That’s in addition to veterans like Alex Carpenter, Hilary Knight, Lee Stecklein, Kelly Pannek, Megan Keller and Kendall Coyne Schofield, the Minnesota Frost captain who’s having her best PWHL season yet.

The Americans have blown past the rest of the competition in the preliminary round. They outscored the Czechs, Finns and Swiss by a combined score of 15-1.

Canada will be the biggest test.

"I never consider us as number-one contenders,” said Knight, who is competing in her fifth Olympics. “I always consider us as sort of the underdog. Maybe that's because of fighting for more visibility for the sport in the United States and pushing through barriers that way.”

The Canadians, meanwhile, are banking on the experience that comes with having 16 returning players from Beijing.

No one, male or female, has scored in more Olympic finals than Poulin over five tournaments.

Canada also has Ann-Renée Desbiens, who joins Frankel at the top of the goaltending stratosphere. No one has more wins, a better save percentage or lower goals against average than the reigning PWHL goaltender of the year. She’s also never lost a game at the Olympics.

Ottawa Charge captain Brianne Jenner is in the midst of a career year in the PWHL, and few players will be relied on more than speedy Renata Fast on the blue line.

Canada isn’t bereft of young talent, either. Sophie Jaques (25) was a finalist for the PWHL’s defender of the year. Daryl Watts (26) and Sarah Fillier (25) are two of the most electric talents in the game. Julia Gosling (24) leads the Canadian team in scoring, with three power play goals in two games.

There’s no denying that the Americans have looked dominant this season. Ryan described his team’s play in the Rivalry Series as “very sloppy” and “very uncharacteristic.” The Canadians were caved in on special teams, too.

So far this tournament, the Canadians have outscored their opponents 9-1 in back-to-back wins over Switzerland and Czechia.

Perhaps more importantly, they haven't let setbacks get to them, not the postponement of their first game against Finland, nor the injury to their captain.

All five teams in Group A, which includes Canada, the United States, Finland, Czechia and Switzerland, will move on to the quarterfinals later this week.

In the grand scheme of things, Tuesday's game only counts for placement in the quarterfinals.

But it’s always about more than that when it’s Canada and the United States.

"At the end of the day, we're going to wake up [on Tuesday] and focus on ourselves," Canadian forward Laura Stacey said. "That's what we're here for. If we show up as the best version of ourselves, then we're going to be setting ourselves up for a really great game."

It’s about respect, pride and also a little bit of hatred, even though many of these players are teammates in the PWHL now. Things change when you put on your country's colours.

"Obviously, the stakes are higher, the intensity is higher, but we've just got to remind ourselves it's still hockey, and we do pretty good at hockey," Edwards, the American defender, said. "I think when we just stick to our brand, we're intimidating.”

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