It was inevitable. USA versus Canada in the gold medal game on the women’s hockey side. It was the game everyone wanted to see. Two powerhouses facing off with the biggest prize in their sport on the line. There is nothing like this rivalry. We put it up there with the best rivalries in sports. UNC-Duke, Ohio State-Michigan, Yankees-Red Sox, and USA-Canada come with the same level of excitement and vitriol.
On Thursday afternoon, millions of eyes will be on their TV sets as the next era of this rivalry takes place. Both Canada and the U.S. easily rolled through their groups and the tournament to make it here. The USA has gone multiple games without allowing a goal, while Canada has poured it on to every opponent.
This rivalry has everything. Players from each team have been teammates elsewhere, they’ve dated, and of course, like every great sports rivalry, they’ve broken up. It’s bitter to the very end, and we’ve seen dozens of iterations of this rivalry. But there are plenty of other sports where there are two powerhouses, but they don’t feel as big as this. So, where did USA-Canada begin, and how did we get here?
Before we get there, let’s quickly talk about the history of women’s hockey. Like most sports stories, the history of men’s hockey and women’s hockey are perpendicular. See, most of us know the story of the Stanley Cup, how Lord Stanley of Preston donated the Cup to the people of Canada in 1892. What you probably don’t know is that his daughter, Lady Isobel, was the first woman ever photographed playing ice hockey, and she helped popularize the sport in the early 20th century.
There were organized women’s hockey teams as early as the 1920s, with Canadian universities having formal teams. The first women’s hockey team to come to the U.S. was at Brown University, more than four decades later. Eventually, we got to a point where the best of the best were the U.S. and Canada, but it was time to prove that point.
Moment 1: The first international women's hockey tournament, April 1987
In April 1987, the first organized international women’s hockey tournament took place in Toronto. Six countries and one province represented the best of the best. Canada split its team into two entities: Ontario players and the rest of Canada.
Ontario, Canada, and the U.S. dominated the tournament. They played games against Japan, the Netherlands, and Sweden, and they destroyed them. The U.S. beat the Netherlands 20-0 in one of the games. Ontario beat Switzerland 16-0. It was a blood bath on the ice.
Then, we got to the semi-finals. The last four teams standing were Sweden, the U.S., Canada, and Ontario. In a barn burner, Ontario beat the U.S. 5-4 to send them to the bronze medal game. The final standings showed Canada on top, but every time the Americans faced the Canadians, it was a nail-biter. This was the true start of this beautiful rivalry.
Moment 2: The 1998 Winter Olympics, February 1998
More than 10 years after the first international women’s hockey tournament and a few years after the IIHF established their own group of countries to play, the Winter Olympics added women’s hockey to the slate of games. Going into the tournament, everyone expected it to end with the United States and Canada. And it did.
The preliminary matchups went about as well as many would expect. The U.S. beat up on the likes of China and Sweden, while Canada gained victories against Finland and Japan. At the end of the tournament, the two North American countries were left standing with the first gold medal on the line.
The first Olympic meeting between the two was in the round robin, and it was insane. The game was 1-1 after the second intermission, and it finished 7-4. There were eight third-period goals in this game, and the U.S. scored six of them. And they scored them in a row. Canada took a 4-1 lead with 14 minutes to go in the game. The Americans scored six goals in 13 minutes to win the game in dominant fashion.
They would face off again in the gold medal game, and it was a much different game. The U.S. was desperately holding onto a 1-0 lead after scoring in the first period. Shelley Looney scored an insurance goal with nine minutes left in the game, but Danielle Goyette responded five minutes later. Canada was in desperation mode, but Sarah Tueting shut the door in net. Forever, the U.S. will be known as the first-ever women’s gold medal winners.
Moment 3: The Golden Goal, Part 2, February 2014
When looking at the Wikipedia page for this rivalry, the word “gold” comes up 148 times. That’s because the only thing that matters in this rivalry is who comes out with the gold medal. For decades, the U.S. and Canada would trade gold medals at 4 Nations tournaments and at the IIHF World Championships, but the Olympics went one way. Canada won the previous three Olympic gold medals. The Americans were so close to overtaking their rivals that they could smell it.
In the preliminary round, Canada etched out a victory, beating the U.S. 3-2. After Hilary Knight opened the scoring for the U.S., Canada scored three straight to finish off the Americans.
In the gold medal game, Meghan Duggan and Alexandra Carpenter gave the U.S. a 2-0 lead in the third period. With four minutes left, the Americans still had that 2-0 lead. Then, Brianne Jenner broke the ice. She scored with around 3:26 left in the game. It was still bleak, but it wasn’t over. Less than a minute from a gold medal, the U.S. saw it slip away thanks to a goal from the legendary Marie-Philip Poulin.
Then, four years after Sidney Crosby ruined the U.S. men’s dream of the top spot with the “Golden Goal,” Poulin did it again, scoring the women’s version of the “Golden Goal” to give Canada the gold medal eight minutes into overtime. It was, up to this point, the most significant moment in the rivalry. And most heartbreaking for American fans.
Moment 4: The Americans finally get back on the board, February 2018
2018 was looking like the same story, different Olympics. Canada beat the U.S. in the preliminary round 2-1, and for some reason, the results could not flip when it came to the Olympics. This red and white country could not be beaten by the red, white, and blue.
Funny thing about overcoming a rival. It usually comes with some drama. Hilary Knight scored to open the gold medal game, but Canada quickly put two goals on the board in the second period. They held that 2-1 lead well into the third period, but Monique Lamoureux scored with just over six minutes left in the game to tie things up.
The game was tense through the rest of the third period and overtime. Ten minutes after the end of regulation, and we still didn’t have a winner. For the first time, a hockey gold medal game was going to a shootout.
Gisele Marvin scored for the Americans to kick off the shootout, but Meghan Agosta immediately tied things up. It was very intense. Poulin missed, as did Pfalzer Matheson for the U.S. Still tied. Melodie Daoust and Amanda Kessel both scored in the next round. STILL TIED. After the fifth round, teams can repeat shooters. Canada decided to do that with Agosta, but she missed this time. Then, Jocelyne Lamoureux hit the back of the net, and the U.S. had it’s long eluded gold medal back around their necks.
Moment 5: Beginning of the Rivalry Series, November 2018
We could point to the other times the U.S. and Canadian women faced off with Olympic gold on the line, but the Rivalry Series set up as a traveling attraction meant more for women’s hockey than almost anything we’ve seen in recent history. It showed that there was an appetite for women’s hockey outside of the Olympics, as long as we had this intense rooting interest embedded in the game.
This series really began the momentum for an appetite towards long-term women’s hockey. It propelled the popularity of women’s hockey outside of a four-year attraction that has to compete with our interest in curling. This opened the door for yearly matchups that we care about.
Now, we get the Rivalry Series every year. The U.S. and Canada get to renew the rivalry outside of the walls of the Olympics and IIHF. Imagine if the Rangers and Devils just traveled across North America to showcase their rivalry? That doesn’t happen, but the women pull it off, and it’s incredible hockey.
And now the next chapter of this rivalry takes place on Wednesday. The U.S. women are looking to get their first gold medal since that shootout win more than a decade ago. Canada is looking to keep them at bay and win yet another gold. Who is going to the top of the podium?