Oh Canada, the US women won hockey gold, but you won hearts
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Mark Sappenfield Senior global correspondent
| Milan
With one last flash of skill, the United States won gold on Thursday in the women鈥檚 hockey final at the 2026 Winter Games. But the Canadians put in a performance that surely won hearts.
On balance, the gold medal might have gone to the better team 鈥� the team that had, after all, won the previous five games against Canada by a combined total of 29-7. But on this night in Milan, the gold medalists were mostly second best to their greatest rivals.
Canadian pride in hockey is not something to be trifled with. And certainly not the pride of a Canadian team like this, brimming with gold medalists and world champions.
Why We Wrote This
In the Olympic women鈥檚 ice hockey final, Canada鈥檚 team, stacked with gold medalists and world champions, took on a younger, faster American team. Although the U.S. took home the gold, the game showed Canadian pride.
For the past five games, they had been hounded around the ice by a younger and faster American team. The question hung over Canada like a silver cloud: Had they brought the old gang back for one Olympics too many?
But for 57 minutes and 56 seconds of Thursday鈥檚 final, the answer was an emphatic no. Veteran savvy made America鈥檚 talent look toothless. The U.S. offense rarely consisted of more than endlessly circling the perimeter and firing speculative shots that had only the slightest chance of going in.
Sure, Canada seemed to be saying, skate around as much as you like. But they turned the danger areas in front of Canadian goaltender Ann-Ren茅e Desbiens into the Bermuda Triangle. American forwards entered and were never heard from again.
It was not hockey to set the heart racing, perhaps. But it was devastatingly effective. The youngsters were getting punked. Again and again, they ran into an unbreakable wall of Canadian will.
To be honest, the Americans never looked like they were going to score. The Canadians鈥� shorthanded goal early in the second period looked like the gold-medal winner. It wasn鈥檛 until the United States pulled their goaltender that one of their speculative flips goalward found more than Canadian red.
It was Hilary Knight who tipped the point shot past a helpless Ms. Desbiens, because if anyone was going to drag the U.S. back into a game it didn鈥檛 truly deserve to win, it would be America鈥檚 own veteran. Ms. Knight is the greatest player in the history of the program. She is America鈥檚 all-time leading Olympic goal scorer (with 15), and the all-time Olympic points leader (with 33).
Heading into sudden-death overtime with a 1-1 score was harsh on the Canadians. The rules of Olympic overtime pit three against three (as opposed to the usual five), which leaves more open ice 鈥� and more space for the American speed and skill to exploit.
So it proved. When American Megan Keller beat a Canadian defender with a beautiful deke that pulled her opponent out of position, she found herself alone, with no one between her and Ms. Desbiens. She made no mistake.
In this rivalry, silver often means nothing but heartbreak and disappointment. The Canadian women surely felt that way as the end-of-game horns blared and Americans celebrated.
But sometimes, a silver is more than second place. Canadian coach Troy Ryan, for one, still carried Canadian pride. 鈥淔or those that doubt and question this group, I hope once again they鈥檝e shown why they deserve a lot of the credit that they鈥檝e earned over many, many years of playing together,鈥� he said.
