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by: Brianna Hollis
Posted: Dec 10, 2025 / 01:52 PM EST
Updated: Dec 11, 2025 / 08:16 AM EST
(NEXSTAR) — The 2026 Winter Olympics will kick off early February in Milan, and the U.S. women’s hocket team is eying its third gold medal.
Women’s hockey played its first official Olympic matches in 1998, and Team USA took home the gold that inaugural season. Every Winter Games – with the exception of 2006 – included a finals matchup between the U.S. and Canada.
The 2026 Winter Olympics will kick off early February in Milan, and the U.S. women’s hocket team is eying its third gold medal. (Nexstar image/Brianna Hollis)
At the 2006 Olympics in Turn, Italy, Team USA fell to Sweden in the semifinals. So America came home with a bronze medal that year, while Sweden earned a silver, and Canada rounded out the podium with a gold.
In total, the U.S. has two women’s hockey gold medals compared to Canada’s five.
However, on the World Championship circuit, the medal count is much closer. This league began in 1990, and Canada has 13 medals to U.S.A’s 11. The U.S. has also won seven out of the last 10.
Similarly to the Olympics, there was only one final World Championship matchup that did not involve the U.S. and Canada. That happened in 2019. Finland instead found itself making it through to the final match, before falling to the U.S., and walking away with a silver medal. Canada took home the bronze.
Team U.S.A clinched the title this year.
Hilary Knight, currently the longest-standing player on the Team U.S.A roster, said winning gold at the 2018 PyeongChang Games is her favorite hockey memory to date.
“We, you know, came so close so many times and it hadn’t been done for 20 years and to bring and capture gold again and bring that back to the united states was just so monumental for us,” she said. “Especially all of the challenges we had off the ice, everything came together at the right moment for us, and that’s something we’re looking to do here for 2026.”
The final women’s hockey roster for Milan Cortina 2026 is set to be announced early January.
Original:
https://www.wbtw.com/sports/usa-canada-have-faced-off-in-nearly-every-olympics-womens-hockey-final
