itstargetnews
Follow the Winter Olympic sportsPersonalize your feed
It’s hard to describe the Americans’ performance in this season’s Rivalry Series as anything other than dominant.
The team outscored the Canadians 24-7 in four games, including 10-4 in the third game.
Seattle Torrent captain Hilary Knight and University of Minnesota forward Abbey Murphy each scored five goals. Together they produced more than the entire Canadian roster.
The Americans’ starting goaltender, Aerin Frankel (Boston Fleet), finished with a whopping 1.00 goals-against average in the two games she started. Meanwhile, Canada’s starter, Ann-Renée Desbiens (Montreal Victoire), allowed more than five goals on average in two games.
The Americans have now beaten the Canadians in six straight games and head into the Olympic women’s hockey tournament as the top-ranked team in the International Ice Hockey Federation.
They were fueled by a mix of veterans staying at the top of their game and young stars ready to shake up the PWHL.
Knight will lead this team in his fifth and final Olympics and is looking to bring home his second Olympic gold medal.
The US captain reflects on her greatest achievements on and off the ice ahead of her final Olympics in Milano Cortina.
“We have a crazy amount of creativity and skills that we’ve been able to develop over the last few years,” she said.
Data provided to CBC Sports by Shoreview Sports Analytics gives the Americans a 77.4 percent chance of winning Olympic gold.
One lopsided Rivalry Series aside, history shows that things are always much closer between the Canadians and the Americans, with the top prizes often decided by a single goal.
Canadians have won two world championships in the last four years, just like the Americans. And, of course, it was the Canadians who were in the finals of the 2022 Olympics.
That’s why Americans don’t take anything for granted going to the Olympics.
“I don’t want to say that those (Rivalry Series) games aren’t important, but what’s in front of us is the most important thing, I think, that we’ve been thinking about for the last four years,” said defenseman Megan Keller (Boston Fleet).
“So I think as a group we’re just taking the confidence that we’ve built together over the past four years. We have a lot of faith in each other and trust each other. We’re ready for this moment and we want to show it to the world.”
Changing of the guard
Twelve U.S. players will make their Olympic debuts in Milan Cortina in 2026, including all three goalkeepers on the team.
Frankel and backup Gwyneth Philips (Ottawa Charge), who also shared goaltending duties at Northeastern University, hardly feel like starters.
Frankel has faced more pucks than usual in the PWHL since it launched in 2024, and trails only Canada’s Ann-Renée Desbiens in save percentage, with Philips third.
The pressure doesn’t seem to be getting to Philips. She took over for an injured Frankel in the middle of last spring’s world title game, just before leading the Charge to the Walter Cup final, where she was named playoff MVP.
“Anytime you have a good relationship with your goaltending partner like that, it helps the team and makes you better,” Frankel said.
That’s a significant change from the team that competed in Beijing 2022. Even some players who were on that roster, like Murphy and University of Wisconsin defender Caroline Harvey, were slated to play much bigger roles this time around.
The emphasis over the past four years has been to get the younger players more experience and take the time to prepare them for the Olympics, Knight said.
Players like Penn State forward Tessa Janecka and Wisconsin defender Laila Edwards have been integrated into the team over the last few major tournaments.
“I think our staff has done a good job of getting that exposure for different players and in this very delicate act of balancing a veteran core and infusing a new kind of youthful energy while at the same time preparing everyone to be ready for the biggest stage in the world,” Knight said.
Murphy, Harvey, Edwards, Janecke and Wisconsin forward Kirsten Simms should all be top picks in next year’s PWHL draft, if they declare.
Murphy was arguably the best player for the Americans in the Rivalry Series. Not only can he get under the skin of opposing players, but he has the skill to back it up.
“There’s no one like her in women’s hockey,” Murphy’s coach at the University of Minnesota, Brad Frost, said earlier this season. “You look at the guys side and you have those agitators who have some skills and are respected and those are the people (you) want on your team.”
The 23-year-old had her best collegiate season to date, posting an astounding 61 points in 26 games.
“Her game has taken so many steps lately,” Knight said. “I’m scared for the pro league. She’s got quite a fire in her and she can really get under people’s skin, but she can back it up with her level of play and she can continue to push the pace.”
The best PWHL prospects on display
Harvey trails Murphy in the NCAA scoring race and projects to be a generational defenseman for the team that selects her in the PWHL. She spent much of the last Olympic tournament on the bench, but her hockey IQ quickly moved her up the U.S. depth chart.
Edwards plays forward for Wisconsin, but made the transition to defense with the national team. It’s a transition that has worked well, and the six-foot-one Edwards remains a shooting threat from the blue line and deeper in the offensive zone.
She was the MVP of the 2024 World Championships and will be the first black woman to play on the US women’s Olympic hockey team.
Minnesota Frost forward Taylor Heise feels like one of the veterans on this American team, but she will also be making her Olympic debut in Milan, Italy.
At her best, Heise is one of the most dynamic centers in the world, something everyone saw when she won playoff MVP and her first of two Walter Cups in 2024. Her chemistry with Murphy only continued to flourish in the Rivalry Series, where Heise led all players with nine points.
On the back end, Haley Winn (Boston Fleet) and Rory Guilday (Ottawa Charge) are headed to their first Olympics after strong starts to their debut PWHL campaigns.
USA Hockey could take advantage of what has been the best defense pairing in the PWHL by putting Winn alongside Keller. After the first half of the season, Winn has logged more average ice time than any other player in the league, with Keller right behind her.
The rookie admitted that the PWHL helped her prepare for her first Olympics.
“Every day you get to practice with some of the best in the world, obviously shooting (Frankel), having (Keller) as my D partner, and all the great players we have on our team,” Winn said.
“Great mix”
Behind the American youth movement is a solid core of veterans who have won with this team, including Keller, Knight, Kendall Coyne Schofield (Minnesota Frost), Lee Stecklein (Minnesota Frost), Kelly Pannek (Minnesota Frost) and Alex Carpenter (Seattle Torrent).
Knight is the all-time leading scorer at the Women’s World Cup and led the PWHL in scoring last season, earning her an MVP nomination. There is nothing she would love more than to end her Olympic career with another gold medal.
“To be able to go to the Olympics, to be part of Team USA, to represent my country, I mean, what an incredible honor,” Knight said. “What an amazing opportunity. To have the chance to do it five times, I’m really grateful.”
This season in Seattle, Knight is paired with American teammates Hannah Bilka and Carpenter, which could be an easy combination to plug in and play for American head coach John Wroblewski.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota duo of Coyne Schofield and Pannek are ranked in the top five in the PWHL.
“We have such a great combination and we’ve come together so well over these four years,” Keller said. “(We just) can’t wait to show it on the world stage.”
The Americans open their tournament against the Czech Republic on Feb. 5 at 10:40 a.m. ET.
Preliminary round action between the USA and Canada is set for February 10 at 2:10 PM ET, with full coverage available on CBC and CBC Gem.
