{"id":452561,"date":"2026-02-09T21:21:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T21:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/452561\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T21:21:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T21:21:24","slug":"u-s-canada-women-set-to-renew-hockey-rivalry-at-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/452561\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S., Canada women set to renew hockey rivalry at Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"

MILAN (AP) \u2014 Kelly Pannek couldn\u2019t stop laughing, watching on TV when all heck broke loose during the U.S.-Canada game at the NHL\u2019s 4 Nations Face-Off<\/a> a year ago.<\/p>\n

Three fights breaking out in the opening seconds led the U.S. national women\u2019s team forward to reflect on how intense the border hockey rivalry has always been.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, I was cracking up,\u201d Pannek said. \u201cIt was so funny, because you\u2019re like, \u2018Yep, welcome, world, to what this looks like.\u2018\u201d<\/p>\n

Though the men\u2019s side has had its moments, the tensions and animosity \u2014 and level of respect \u2014 have been far more evident in the women\u2019s game in what stands as one of the fiercest and most long-running feuds in all of sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So get ready for the next installment Tuesday when defending Olympic champion Canada faces off against the United States in the preliminary round of the Milan Cortina Games<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s gold or bust,\u201d U.S. forward Kendall Coyne Schofield said. \u201cThat\u2019s the stake. That\u2019s the bar that we\u2019ve set as a program. Anything less than a gold medal is a failure.\u201d<\/p>\n

The same holds true up north.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so much pride that comes with representing Team Canada that I don\u2019t think you fully understand until you\u2019re wearing that jersey on the bench and you\u2019re ready to go,\u201d Canadian forward Blayre Turnbull said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially against Team USA, our biggest rivals. So it\u2019s,\u201d Turnbull said, before a long pause, \u201cit\u2019s fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fun is one way of putting it.<\/p>\n

Fights have broken out on various occasions. Many tears have been shed \u2014 joyous ones for the winners and heartbreak for the losers. It\u2019s a feud that dates to the U.S. beating Canada to win gold at the 1998 Nagano Games, the first to feature women\u2019s hockey.<\/p>\n

Over that span, the nations have met a combined 48 times on the international stage, including world championship competition. Canada holds the edge with five Olympic and 13 world titles, to the Americans\u2019 two and 11.<\/p>\n

A better indication of how tight the series has been is Canada\u2019s 25-23 record, and having outscored the Americans by a combined margin of 135-133.<\/p>\n

The Americans enter as tournament favorites<\/a>. They\u2019re the defending world champions after beating Canada 4-3<\/a> in overtime in April. And the U.S. has won six straight meetings, including a four-game sweep in the nations\u2019 exhibition Rivalry Series in November and December.<\/p>\n

Though series results aren\u2019t generally an indicator of how the two global powers fare once a gold medal is on the line, the results raised eyebrows over a potential shift in power favoring the Americans.<\/p>\n

The U.S. outscored Canada 24-7, including a 10-4 win<\/a> which marked the most goals the Canadian women have ever allowed in international play.<\/p>\n

The U.S. features a skilled and speedy team with a veteran leadership core, led by captain Hilary Knight, and collection of talented youth, with seven players still in college.<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s roster is more experienced, returning 16 players from the team that dominated the 2022 Beijing Games<\/a> by winning all seven games and outscoring its opposition 57-10.<\/p>\n

The Canadians are fine with not being favored.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything bad about being an underdog and proving yourself,\u201d forward Natalie Spooner said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019re thinking too much about those Rivalry Series and the outcome,\u201d she added. \u201cBut I do think, obviously, when it comes down to a gold medal you\u2019re going to play with a chip on your shoulder either way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Americans are not buying into the hype.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, it\u2019s not something our team talks about,\u201d defender Megan Keller said. \u201cThe goal for us is to bring home a gold medal, and it doesn\u2019t matter who\u2019s in our way.\u201d<\/p>\n

One twist this year is the U.S.-Canada matchup not being the preliminary round-closing game for both teams, as has traditionally happened in past international play.<\/p>\n

The U.S., which is 2-0 entering its game against Switzerland on Monday, will complete its four-game schedule against Canada.<\/p>\n

The Canadians are a game behind after their tournament opener against Finland was postponed<\/a> after the Finns roster was depleted by a stomach virus. Canada opened with a 4-0 win<\/a> over Switzerland and plays Czechia on Monday, with their game against Finland set for Thursday, a day before the quarterfinals open.<\/p>\n

No big deal, Canadian defender Renata Fast said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Olympics is all about just going with the flow, adjusting to things,\u201d Fast said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always hiccups here and there. And I think the team that\u2019s willing to be adaptable to changes, has success,\u201d she added. \u201cEvery game\u2019s important. And that U.S. game is always circled on our calendar. But we\u2019ll take it day by day.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno contributed.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP Winter Olympic: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MILAN (AP) \u2014 Kelly Pannek couldn\u2019t stop laughing, watching on TV when all heck broke loose during the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":452562,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[377],"tags":[46305,3189,19,4151,3137,5,54879,54880,42973,5966,15262,12659,52363,43,6711,1581],"class_list":{"0":"post-452561","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hockey","8":"tag-2026-milan-cortina-olympic-games","9":"tag-2026-winter-olympics","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-finland","12":"tag-hilary-knight","13":"tag-hockey","14":"tag-kelly-pannek","15":"tag-megan-keller","16":"tag-natalie-spooner","17":"tag-olympic-games","18":"tag-olympic-hockey","19":"tag-renata-fast","20":"tag-send-to-apple-news","21":"tag-sports","22":"tag-switzerland","23":"tag-womens-hockey"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116042772655547212","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}