Team USA's Speedy Children Delivered A Beatdown Of Canada | Defector

"If every instinct the U.S. women's hockey team had at the 2022 Olympics was wrong, then the opposite would have to be right. On Tuesday, in their round-robin meeting at the Olympics, the Americans celebrated a 5-0 win over Canada, the sort of thorough beatdown atypical of their meetings in international play. The rivalry is usually characterized by nervy overtime periods and tense shootouts, so no surprise that this was the largest margin of victory in any U.S.-Canada game at the Olympics."

"Chalk some of it up to the absence of team captain Marie-Philip Poulin-she's out with a lower-body injury and poised to return later in the tournament-but a more honest accounting of this game would say the result has been long in the making. After being swept in their exhibition Rivalry Series and dropping both meetings at last year's world championships in Czechia, Canada has now lost seventh consecutive games to Team USA."

"If you remember the vibe around these teams at the 2022 Olympics, you'd be right to see a kind of role reversal taking shape in this rivalry. Where college players brought to Beijing saw limited ice time under head coach Joel Johnson, they've been unleashed by new head coach John Wroblewski. Twenty-three-year-old Wisconsin defender Caroline Harvey, the smoothest skater in the sport, now often leads the U.S. in ice time in international competition."

Team USA routed Canada 5-0 in a round-robin Olympic meeting, the largest margin in U.S.-Canada Olympic history and the first Olympic shutout for Canada. Captain Marie-Philip Poulin was sidelined with a lower-body injury and expected to return later, but the result reflected a broader trend of American dominance. Canada had been swept in the Rivalry Series and lost both meetings at the world championships, marking a seventh consecutive defeat to the United States. The American roster emphasizes youth, speed, and skill, overwhelming a veteran-heavy Canadian squad. Coach John Wroblewski expanded ice time for college players and converted Laila Edwards to defense, while Caroline Harvey now often leads U.S. ice time.

Read at Defector