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The United States is better than Canada at handling the dual challenges of the Rivalry Series: preparing for the Olympics and winning the games.
How to build a team that will win an Olympic gold medal in women's hockey in 2026 within the time constraints of the Women's Professional Hockey League schedule is a new conundrum for both countries to solve.
The U.S. holds the advantage, outscoring Canada 20-6 in three Rivalry Series games.
Canada has a chance to gain some momentum in Saturday's fourth and final game of the series in Edmonton, as well as the last game against the United States before the Milan-Cortina Olympics in February.
The PWHL, which began its third season Nov. 21, did away with the usual Canadian pre-Olympic practice of centralizing players in Calgary for six months and playing regularly as a team against minor men's Triple-A opponents and even Junior A ahead of the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing.
Centralization has largely carried Canadian women to Olympic gold since the turn of the century, with the exception of a penalty shootout loss to the United States in the 2018 final in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Canada and the United States have met in all but one Olympic final in 2006, when Sweden upset the Americans to reach the final in Turin, Italy.
The PWHL could be a double-edged sword for Canadian women. They get the league they've always dreamed of, with a living wage, as they prepare for the Olympics.
The U.S. faces the same dilemma: There are almost as many PWHL players in the Olympic pool, although the Americans have a larger contingent of NCAA players.
The United States defeats Canada 10-4 at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
The U.S. has long had an advantage in the speed and skill of individual players, making their power play deadly, but Canada's superior team play, forged through centralization, largely carried the day when it came to the Olympic final.
“They have a ton of youth, a ton of speed, a ton of skill,” Canada head coach Troy Ryan said. “That doesn’t mean you can’t have success against a group like that, but to do that you have to compete, you have to play with structure.”
Canada is trying to replicate its central cohesion in three two-week pre-season camps in the PWHL and four Rivalry Series games.
A victory in February is more important for the Canadians than in November or December.
Ryan's use of players in the Rivalry Series has shown that Olympic evaluation and experimentation are just as important as winning, given the time constraints he is under. Canada fielded third-string goaltenders in its first two Rivalry Series games.
But a 10-4 loss to the United States in Game 3 of the series on Wednesday, which saw Canada's best scoring tandem ever trail the United States, indicates the Canadians still have a lot of work to do in defending their Olympic gold medal.
“We definitely need a big reset and have a plan,” veteran defender Jocelyne Larocque said. “A big part of it is just competing every shift, and we didn’t do that.”
Canada has little opportunity left to hone its team play. Players will disperse after the Rivalry Series for the PWHL to resume on Tuesday. The league is not interrupted for the Olympic Games until January 28.
Canada's first game is Feb. 5 against Finland in Milan, Italy.
The Americans were the more cohesive group in the first three games of the Rivalry Series, and especially in the third, when they overwhelmed Canada's defense below the faceoff circles.
“I didn't know what to expect from our first orientation camp back in August, and I was kind of going more into the thought process, this is going to be a development camp for our group and kind of easing their way,” said U.S. coach John Wroblewski.
“But after the first day, it became obvious the hunger and thirst that the group wanted not only individually, but also collectively, to raise the tone, to raise the level of the fight.
