Olympic Women's Hockey

Though the USA and Canada seemed destined to collide with gold on the line at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, few could have predicted the amazing chapter that was about to be written in this epic rivalry.

The road to the final game was anything but easy. In the semi-final Canada would face the tenacious Swiss team who battled hard, but ultimately would fall 3‐1. The USA would take on Sweden in their semi‐final match up, conjuring memories of the upset in 2006 when Sweden prevailed in a shootout. The USA would succeed this time however and the stage was set for another showdown with the Canadians.

The teams battled hard in a scoreless, but penalty‐filled first period of the gold medal game. It was the Americans who would strike first, with Meghan Duggan scoring midway through the second frame. The USA would extend their lead early in the third period when Alex Carpenter found the back of the net. It appeared as though the Americans were gold medal bound until Canada's Brianne Jenner cut the lead to one with three and half minutes to play. The goal seemed to breathe new life into the Canadian team and with their net empty and just seconds on the clock Marie‐Philip Poulin would tie the game at two.

Team Canada

Team USA

Team Switzerland

It would take extra time to decide the 2014 Women's Olympic Hockey champion. A Canadian penalty was followed quickly by two American infractions, resulting in a four on three power play for the Canadians. The Canadians moved the puck with expert precision on the power play and when Marie‐Philip Poulin scored her second goal of the game, the result was the fourth consecutive gold medal for Canada.

Swiss goaltender Florence Schelling along with Finnish forward Michelle Karvinen and defender Jenni Hiirikoski were named the tournament's best players as selected by the directorate.

Unlike in 2006, when Sweden and Finland challenged for the tournament's top spots, Canada and USA dominated throughout their round robin and semi final matches. The 2010 event began in record fashion. Defending champion Canada set a new Olympic standard by scoring 18 goals against Slovakia. By the time their gold‐medal showdown took place, Canada and USA had outscored their opponents 46‐2 and 40‐2 respectively.

The Americans were led by veteran forward Jenny Potter who posted team highs in goals (6) and points (11) while 23 year‐old Meghan Agosta emerged as Canada's new scoring sensation, finishing the tournament with 9 goals and 15 points.

Perhaps the most surprising story of the women's tournament came not from the Canadian or American teams however, but from the Swiss team when forward Stefanie Marty matched Agosta's record total of 9 goals in a single tournament.

Team Canada

Team USA

Team Finland

The final proved to be a classic. In a rematch of the 2002 gold medal game, Canada again prevailed and earned their third straight Olympic championship in a tightly contested 2‐0 victory. The two stars of the game were rookie netminder Shannon Szabados who earned the shutout and 18 year‐old Marie‐Philip Poulin who scored both of Canada's goals despite being the team's youngest player.

The tournament all‐star team was made up of Szabados in net, American defenders Angela Ruggiero and Molly Engstrom and forwards Agosta, Poulin and Potter, with Agosta claiming the MVP honour.

The Women's Olympic ice hockey event took place for the third time in its history in Turin. As usual, the perennial favorites were the Canadians and the Americans ‐ destined to meet in the final. Each had one Olympic title to date, the US winning the inaugural in 1998 in Nagano followed by the Canadians at the 2002 Salt Lake City event. Finland and Sweden were ready to assume their regular roles as spoilers, with no positive results prior to this event.

The Preliminary Round featured overpowering performances from the favorites and certainly no surprises. The aforementioned elite four easily advanced to the semi‐finals as expected with defending Olympic champions Canada shutting down the Finns to reach the final. However, the other semi‐final match produced the greatest upset in the history of women's ice hockey to date. Sweden defeated the favoured Americans by a score of 3‐2 in a shoot‐out. Goaltender Kim Martin did not surrender a goal in the shoot‐out while Pernilla Winberg and Maria Rooth tallied to ensure victory.

Team Canada

Team Sweden

Team USA

While the Swedes would eventually lose to a dominant Team Canada in the Gold Medal Game, capturing the silver medal was a huge boost not only for the women's program back in Sweden but added some extra interest on a competitive level with the fact the one of the two “top dogs” had finally been beaten. A disappointed Team USA did however, go on to claim the bronze medal with Angela Ruggerio anchoring the defense and taking home Best Defenseman honours. Kim Martin's heroics earned her the Top Goaltender Award and Canada's Hayley Wickenheiser solidified her status as the best female player en route to receiving both the Best Forward and Tournament MVP awards after racking up 17 points during the event.

USA went seeking defend their Olympic title they earned back in Nagano in 1998. Leading up to the tournament, they dominated all opposition, not losing a game all season, including eight straight over Canada. Perenial rival Canada came into the tournament with a perfect IIHF Women's World Championship record intact, defeating USA in every final for a total of seven titles. Most everybody expected these two powerhouses in clash once again for Olympic glory and in the end that is how it played out. Before that during the Preliminary Round, things went mostly according to the script, save for Sweden edging Russia, coming off their first medal, a bronze during the 2001 Women's World Championship.

The competition really heated up during the Playoff Round. Finland was quite familiar with third place finishes, having claimed bronze during the last Olympics and in all but one World Championship. They lined up against Canada in one semi‐final. Finland was prepared for this match ‐ more than prepared since they held a 3‐2 lead after two periods. Canada held their composure, and potted five third period goals to advance to the final. Sweden, played USA tough in the other semi‐final, in the end bowing to the hosts by a score of 4‐0. Backed by sensational goaltending by 15 year‐old Kim Martin, Sweden completed a strong tournament by edging their Nordic neighbors 2‐1 and skated away with the bronze medal.

Team Canada

Team USA

Team Sweden

That left the two women's superpowers to battle for Olympic glory. Team USA had not lost all season but in this one game winner‐take‐all setup, Canada seemed to have the most confidence and escaped Salt Lake City with a 3‐2 nail‐biting victory along with their first Olympic title. This high‐energy affair proved once again to be an excellent showcase for the women's game. Individual stars included USA's Angela Ruggiero named Best Defender while Canada's Kim St-Pierre earned Best Goaltender honours. Kim's teammate Hayley Wickenheiser not only received the Best Forward Award, she also was voted the tournament MVP by the media.

Women's hockey made its debut at the Olympics Games in Nagano in 1998 with a six‐team field comprising Canada, the United States, Finland, Sweden, China and Japan. As winners of every previous Women's World Championship (1990, 1992, 1994 and 1997) Canada was expected to bring home the first women's Olympic gold medal, but the tide was clearly turning in the months leading up to the tournament. A 15‐game pre‐Olympic series between Canada and the U.S., saw the Americans post an 8‐7‐0 record. The United States also defeated Canada handily at the Three Nations Cup in Lake Placid prior to Christmas 1997.

Having won all of the medals available at the previous World Championships, Canada, the United States and Finland were clearly the class of the Women's Olympic tournament and proved it in their opening games as Canada beat Japan 13‐0, the U.S. beat China 5‐0 and Finland beat Sweden 6‐0. Canada, however, struggled through its next three games, managing only a 2‐0 win over China, a 5‐3 win over Sweden and a 4‐2 win over Finland while the Americans ran up victories of 7‐1, 4‐2 and 10‐0 over Sweden, Finland, and Japan. Leslie Reddon was struggling in goal for the Canadians, though Manon Rheaume was solid. However, the two were not providing the type of clutch goaltending the Americans were receiving from their duo of Sarah Tueting and Sara Decosta. This point was made clear when the Canadians and American met to close out the preliminary round. Reddon allowed the U.S. to score six goals in a span of 11:53 late in the third period as the Americans turned a 4‐1 deficit into a 7‐4 victory and finished with a perfect 5‐0 record. Canada was 4‐1, but would have its chance for revenge in the gold medal game.

Team USA

Team Canada

Team Finland

Meanwhile, Finland had proven to be the best of the rest, finishing the preliminary round with a record of 3‐2. China, who had defeated Japan and Sweden by scores of 6‐1 and 3‐1, provided the opposition for Finland in the bronze medal. The Finns were 4‐1 winners behind a goal and an assist from Rikka Nieminen, who led the tournament in scoring with 12 points on seven goals and five assists. Sarah Tueting and Manon Rheaume provided solid goaltending for their respective countries in the gold medal clash between the United States and Canada, but Tueting proved just a little bit better as the Americans carried a 2‐0 lead into the game's final minutes. Danielle Goyette (who was the tournament's leading goal‐scorer with nine goals despite the death of her father shortly before the Olympics) got Canada on the scoreboard at 15:59 of the third period, but an empty‐net goal at 19:52 sealed Canada's fate. While American captain Cammi Granato led her teammates in celebration, the Canadian women could not conceal their disappointment in taking home a silver medal from the most important tournament of their lives.