Despite struggles against U.S., Canadian women remain confident of Olympic gold repeat
CBC
The United States heaved on the rope in 2025 in its women's hockey tug of war with Canada.
Their rivalry is constant, but the stakes rise in the year preceding the Winter Olympics.
Canada has only won one of eight meetings against its nemesis in 2025.
The U.S. beat Canada twice in April's world championship, including a 4-3 overtime win in the final. The Americans swept the four-game Rivalry Series in November and December by a combined score of 24-7.
The two countries split the conclusion of last season's Rivalry Series before the U.S. won six straight. They've met in every Olympic final but one in 2006, when Sweden upset the U.S. in the semifinal.
Canadian forward Brianne Jenner, an Olympic veteran of three tense finals against the U.S., says she and her teammates remain confident they'll have a team that can defend the gold medal in February's Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina, Italy.
"We trust each other, love each other, believe in each other," Jenner stated.
Canada's captain Marie-Philip Poulin, who was voted the International Ice Hockey Federation's female player of the year in 2025, was also undaunted.
"We know there's work to be done," Poulin said.
The Professional Women's Hockey League, starting its third season in November, completely changed how both countries prepare for the Olympics.
Canada's reliance on its team game, previously forged through six months of training and playing 20 to 30 games together, was no longer possible.
"It's just the new changing landscape of women's hockey, and we get to be a bit of the guinea pig here for the first go-round with the PWHL and the national team," said Canada's head coach Troy Ryan. "Even in a COVID year in 2022, we probably had more games as a group."
Of the 30 women invited to Canada's three two-week camps in September, October and November before the PWHL's regular season began, and also played in the Rivalry Series, all but two were PWHL players.
The United States carries 21 PWHL players in its pool of 30, and nine from the NCAA.
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