Glory on the Line as the Biggest Rivalry Reignites

From a new royal couple to the biggest rivalry in women’s hockey, the excitement around the Finals could not be bigger. 

The New Royal Couple 

If you missed it, Hilary Knight proposed to speedskater girlfriend Brittany Bowe. The couple first met at the Olympic Games in Beijing, so it was only fitting to bring the journey full circle and add another ring to the Olympics. 

Bronze Medal Preview 

In the Bronze Medal Game, we have Switzerland taking on Sweden. Switzerland has struggled throughout the tournament to put goals on the board, but it’s gotten them here. In the Quarterfinals, Switzerland got through by the skin of their teeth with a 1-0 over Czechia to secure their spot in the Semi-Finals against Canada. In the game against Canada Switzerland made a late push closing the 2-0 gap, making it a one goal game, but Canada locked down their backend to advance to the gold medal game. Well for Sweden, they have dominated the path up to the Semi-Finals, but couldn’t find their way past the USA. 

For Switzerland it’s been Alina Müeller leading the way, with three goals in the tournament, including the lone goal in the Quarterfinals. Well for Sweden it's Minnesota Duluth senior, Thea Johansson who has four goals in her Olympic debut. 

The key for Switzerland is going to be finding some depth, so far in the tournament they have 7 goals, split among only 4 players. Well, for Sweden they need to continue locking down their backend and leverage their depth with 12 different goal scorers. 

Gold Medal Preview 

In the Gold Medal Game, we have the biggest rivalry in the sport, as the USA takes on Canada. On the road to Milan the nations met in the Rivalry Series, where the US took a full series sweep for the first time in Rivalry Series history. 

The US roster has been infused with lots of youth featuring 7 college athletes stemming from the WCHA and Penn State. This alongside seasoned veterans like Hilary Knight and Kendall Coyne-Schofield has proven to be the winning formula. Well on the Canadian side they have a vet filled roster, though there are still some Olympic debuts, Canada decided to leave out the youth in this year’s tournament, with the youngest player being Sarah Fillier who is in her second season in the PWHL. This decision has stirred up some debate online about the coaching decisions that went into building this year’s roster. 

Looking at this year's tournament, the USA has continued to dominate the competition scoring 31 goals well only allowing one against. On the other end, Canada has continued to be a big force in the tournament, falling only to the US. 

For the USA the standout has been Aerin Frankel in net, who now has 3 shutouts, which is the most-ever in a single tournament. Beyond that the USA now holds the longest shutout streak in Olympic ice hockey history now sitting at 331 minutes and 23 seconds, with all three goaltenders Aerin Frankel, Gwyneth Philips and Ava McNaughton contributing to the shutout streak. 

On the other side Marie-Philip Poulin was the standout coming out of the Semi-Final game, scoring both of Canada’s goals, well making history as the all-time leading goal scorer for Canada, with 20 goals throughout her Olympic career. The previous record was set by Hayley Wickenheiser, who had 18. 

One things for sure this a tournament day you don’t want to miss as the biggest stars battle for glory representing their countries, on the biggest stage. 

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