Winter Olympics Preview: US, Canada should finish 1-2 in women’s ice hockey
Tuesday, February 7th, 2006
For a sure bet at the upcoming Winter Olympics, there is the Canada-vs.-United States gold- medal matchup in women’s ice hockey on Day 10. The odds that any other nation is ready to sidetrack this rivalry are virtually non-existent.
When women’s hockey was introduced to the Olympics at the 1998 Nagano Games, the Americans – then 6-14, all-time, against their friendly neighbors to the North – shocked Canada, 3-1, for the title. In their 2002 rematch in Salt Lake City, the Canadians produced a 3-2 payback.
The way the sport is, there is a built-in excellence for women’s teams from North America based on Canada’s overall passion for hockey and the sociology of encouraging women to play traditionally male sports in this part of the world. Since a U.S. national team was first formed in 1992, the Americans never have lost an international game to any country besides Canada.
The Yanks are 9-26-1 against Canada and 57-0-2 against the rest of the world. Both ties came against Finland, which has lost its other 19 games to the Americans.
Ironically, the same boost for American women’s teams. Title IX actually is developing players that could come back to haunt them through U.S. college scholarships for foreign athletes. But ultimately, that’s good for the sport of ice hockey.
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