MILAN, Feb 4 - Canada, the reigning Olympic women's ice hockey champions, head into the Milano Cortina tournament with one clear objective: to temper the recent acclaim surrounding their American rivals. The United States ended 2025 by sweeping Canada in four Rivalry Series games, following an earlier win over the Canadians at the World Championship. Even so, Canada - carrying a roster heavy with Olympic veterans and built on a familiar Olympic approach - has shown no hesitation about renewing one of the Winter Games' most intense rivalries.
Head coach Troy Ryan, who led the team to Olympic gold in 2022, said the squad is not burdened by anxiety tied to past results. "I don’t think there’s any percentage of stress in them based on previous anything," he said. At the same time, Ryan cautioned against overconfidence given recent achievements by both sides. "But I also don’t think there’s this crazy amount of confidence because they’ve won two world championships (in 2022 and 2024) and won the last Olympics. I just don’t think they get caught in the positive of the negative in that."
Though the players have moved on from the Rivalry Series, memories of the heavy losses linger among supporters. Across the November and December matchups that comprised the Rivalry Series, Canada was defeated by margins of three goals or more in each of the four games. Ryan characterized those performances as uncharacteristic and sloppy, and downplayed their longer-term significance by pointing to the quadrennial record. "But in the quad we won three Rivalry Series. We lost one. So it isn’t that stressful when you’re looking at the quad," he said, adding a measure of levity: "I was joking with our team, I said: 'No one put a parade together for the first three Rivalry Series wins so I’m not going to hang ourself on the Rivalry Series loss.'"
On the ice, the matchup taking shape promises to be a test of experience versus youth. Canada selected 23 players, all of whom compete professionally in the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL). Sixteen athletes from the gold-medal winning 2022 Olympic team returned to the roster, ensuring a deep well of Olympic experience and continuity in systems and preparation.
The United States, by contrast, incorporated several young collegiate players into its lineup as it prepares for the demands of the Olympics. Ryan acknowledged the strength of this emerging American talent, noting that if similar players were available to Canada they might be under consideration. "They have a special group of young talent coming up," he said. "When you look at some of the young talent that America has, if it were available to us, there would be some consideration for some of the young talent. We just don’t have some of that."
Among Canada’s veterans is Natalie Spooner, making her fourth Olympic appearance. Spooner highlighted the distinct character of Olympic competition compared with other international series, arguing that preparation is the differentiator when a gold medal is on the line. "The Rivalry Series is something totally different than the Olympics and we’ve seen that year after year, that the Olympics - when it comes down to that game - it’s going to be who’s better prepared," she said. "When it comes down to a gold medal, you’re going to play with a chip on your shoulder either way."
The two teams are scheduled to meet in the group stage on February 10. For Canada, the Games offer an opportunity to convert Olympic experience into results and to quiet the momentum the United States built in the lead-up to the tournament. For the United States, the youthful infusion aims to sustain the form that produced the Rivalry Series sweep and a World Championship victory earlier in the cycle.
Contextual note: The match-up is framed in the immediate facts of recent results, roster composition, and the distinct pressures of Olympic play as described by the Canadian coach and players. No outcomes are being forecast beyond those facts.