The Canada-USA men’s hockey rivalry made a triumphant return at the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament in February. Against a backdrop of growing political tension between the two countries, both games between the two rivals were heated, with three fights in nine seconds, booing of both national anthems and a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory for Canada in the championship game.
Amid an ongoing trade war, the political tension has only escalated over the last two months. Now Canada and the U.S. are set to face off again — this time in women’s hockey.
The 2025 Women’s World World Championship begins Wednesday in České Budějovice, Czechia. Canada and the U.S. will face off on Sunday in the preliminary round, and will most likely see each other again in the championship game. Only once in the tournament’s history has there been a different gold medal match-up.
The frequency with which these teams face off for gold medals has made the women’s rivalry between the U.S. and Canada more heated than the men’s rivalry. Could we see even more intensity in these games?
In women’s hockey, elite international competition never left the spotlight the way it did in the men’s game, so there isn’t the same pent-up desire to see best-on-best hockey as there was on the men’s…
