It is, without a doubt, the greatest rivalry in hockey.
Every time Canada and the United States face off on the ice is special. But this tournament, at this time, feels particularly significant. Over the past four years, the women suiting up in Beijing this month suffered the loss of a league with the CWHL shutting its doors in 2019 and turned it into a movement with the introduction of the PWHPA shortly after. Many of these women have showcased their talents across the continent, starred on the All-Star stage, and while the COVID-19 pandemic halted competition, these women continued to drive change in and around the game as players and coaches, advocates and scouts.
And now, they’re back on Olympic ice. And we’re ready for more fireworks.
Four years ago, it was the U.S. that stood atop the hockey world, claiming gold for the first time since the inaugural Olympic tournament in 1998 and halting Canada’s run of four straight. As their dominant golden streak at the women’s world championship finally translated to Olympic ice, we anointed a new nation the best in the game.
Six months ago, we watched as Canada topped their American foes in the long-awaited women’s world championship, giving us a preview of what could be in store between these powerhouse nations in Beijing.
Canada and the U.S. have medalled in all six Olympic tournaments since women’s hockey was first played at the Nagano Games and are the only nations to claim gold in the sport.
There’s never been more elite talent across the globe in the women’s game than right now, and we’re about to see that unfold over the course of this Olympic tournament.
Let the Games begin.
Groups and schedules at the Games
The tournament’s 10 Olympic teams (up from eight four years ago) are split into two groups based on international ranking, with the top teams in Group A. All five Group A teams will automatically advance to the medal round, their round-robin play determining their seeding. The top three teams in Group B will advance.
Group A: Canada, United States, Finland, Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), Switzerland
Group B: People’s Republic of China, Japan, Sweden, *Denmark, *Czechia
*Denmark and Czechia are making their national team Olympic debuts in 2022.
Canada's Preliminary Round schedule:
Wednesday, Feb. 2 @ 11:10 p.m. ET: vs. Switzerland
Friday, Feb. 4 @ 11:10 p.m. ET: vs. Finland
Sunday, Feb. 6 @ 11:10 p.m. ET: vs. Russian Olympic Committee
Monday, Feb. 7 @ 11:10 p.m. ET: vs. USA
Medal Round schedule:
Quarterfinals: Thursday, Feb. 10 through Saturday, Feb. 12
Semifinals: Sunday, Feb. 13 & Monday, Feb. 14
Bronze medal game: Wednesday, Feb. 16 @ 6:30 a.m. ET
Gold medal game: Wednesday, Feb. 16 @ 11:10 p.m. ET
Old rivalry, new faces
While we’ll see several familiar faces hit the ice for Canada in Beijing with returning Olympians and leaders like captain Marie-Philip Poulin, Sarah Nurse, Melodie Daoust and Natalie Spooner suiting up in 2022, there’s been a fair amount of roster turnover since the 2018 Olympic Games.
The team’s back end, in particular, brings the most change. Among the 10 Olympic rookies are five defenders: Ashton Bell, Ella Shelton, Claire Thompson, Micah Zandee-Hart, and Erin Ambrose. Zandee-Hart and Ambrose, both of whom have been named to multiple World Championship and Rivalry Series squads, were late cuts to the 2018 Olympic roster and now get their shot while veterans Renata Fast and Jocelyne Larocque are the lone returning Olympians on this year’s blue line.
Goalies Kristen Campbell and Emerance Maschmeyer join 2018 Olympian Ann-Renée Desbiens in net, while youngsters Sarah Fillier and Emma Maltais join Jamie Lee Rattray in filling out the experienced forward group.
Of Canada’s Olympic rookies, Fillier is a name you should expect to hear a lot of during these Games. Those who watched her Canada-USA Rivalry Series debut last year or followed Canada’s remarkable run to claim gold at the 2021 World Championship are already well-versed in her greatness. So too are college hockey fans who saw her win ECAC Rookie of the Year in 2018-19 and land on the list of Patty Kazmaier Award finalists as a freshman and sophomore thanks to back-to-back 57-point seasons with Princeton. Fillier, 21, is the youngest player on Team Canada and is set to return to the Tigers for the 2022-23 season after two years away from the team (Princeton’s 2020-21 season was cancelled due to COVID, and she’s spent this year training as part of Hockey Canada’s Centralized roster). Fillier has already been widely heralded as Canada’s next leader on the ice following in the footsteps of Poulin. As we saw during the Worlds, her game is one of speed, skill and a strong finish, making her an ideal linemate for the physical Spooner and the playmaking Daoust.
Team USA, too, has several new faces joining the usual suspects of veterans that includes Hilary Knight, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Brianna Decker, and Lee Stecklein. The addition of dynamic young forwards like Abby Roque and Grace Zumwinkle bring additional depth to an already powerful team, while you can expect to see young rearguards Caroline Harvey and Jincy Dunne quickly make their marks on the tournament.
Without Räty in net, how will Finland fare?
Sitting third behind those North American hockey powerhouses in the all-time medals standings is Finland, with three bronze finishes (1998, 2010, 2018). Aside from Canada and the U.S., the Finns are the only national team to compete in every single Women's World Championship and have medalled in 14 of 20 tournaments (13 bronze, one silver). While Finland’s roster doesn’t boast the kind of depth we see on Teams Canada and USA, it does feature some of hockey’s all-time greats. Most notable among them is the team’s captain, defender Jenni Hiirikoski. Over the course of her two-decade career on the international stage, Hiirikoski has continuously raised the bar when it comes to being the best on the blue line.
Offensive stars like Petra Nieminen and Michelle Karvinen add to Finland’s medal hopes, but one of the most significant storylines for Finland heading into the Games is centred around who’s not hitting the ice in Beijing: goaltending great Noora Räty.
Räty, 32, has backstopped Finland through four Olympics, winning two bronze medals, and is a bona fide star on the international stage with immense influence on the game’s growth in Finland.
According to reports, Räty’s decision not to take part in the (rescheduled) women’s worlds in August – her hockey school was set to run in Minnesota during that time – prompted a bit of a public clash with the team’s coach, Pasi Mustonen and, ultimately, her exclusion from the Olympic team.
There are multiple factors at play here – Mustonen is navigating quite the youth movement in Finland, with 13 players making their Olympic debuts in Beijing, and that applies to the net as well. Anni Keisala, 24, put on a breakout performance during August’s worlds, earning Best Goalie honours at the tournament and posting an impressive 1.43 goals against average, .948 save percentage, and two shutouts.
Even so, Räty’s absence is a bit of a stunner. With a team as young as this one, it’s worth asking whether the calming presence of a winning veteran netminder will be missed on the game’s biggest stage.
More Müller, please
Perhaps one of the most interesting teams to watch is Switzerland. The Swiss have medaled at just one Olympic tournament – bronze in 2014 – and their place among Group A’s powerhouses makes it tough to emerge from the preliminary round with many wins in hand.
But a few not-so-secret weapons suiting up is what makes this Swiss team particularly fun to watch. First and foremost is Alina Müller, who at 23 years old is already embarking on her third trip to the Games since making her debut as a 15-year-old in Sochi.
Four years after helping Switzerland claim its first Olympic women's hockey medal in 2014, Müller was an absolute force at the 2018 Games. There, she led all players in goals (seven) and points (10) and was named the tournament's best forward in addition to earning an All-Star nod.
Away from the Olympics, she has twice been named Swiss Hockey's Woman of the Year and was also a Patty Kazmaier Award finalist in back-to-back seasons in 2019 and 2020 while putting up really strong numbers with top-ranked Northeastern University.
Müller was set to star once again with the Swiss during August’s women’s worlds, but an ankle injury suffered early in the tournament forced her to watch from the sidelines – a major loss not just for the Swiss but for hockey fans hoping to see one of the world’s top talents hit the ice after a long hiatus for women’s international hockey.
While Müller is must-watch, she’s far from the only one capable of propelling Switzerland to success. Goaltending should be a major story at these games, and considering the performances of Andrea Brändli at the 2021 worlds, it could be good one. Brändli’s stat line from that tournament is a little deceiving, considering the Swiss suffered a string of losses including some pretty lopsided ones against Canada and the USA. However, while suiting up against those powerhouse clubs, Brändli faced a whopping 121 shots in two games – 58 against the Americans and 63 versus Canada – and stopped 113. She’ll be one to watch on the Olympic stage in Beijing.
