Cardinal rules
UW has huge influence in USA-Canada women’s hockey game
GANGNEUNG, South Korea - There’s red in the red, white and blue. There’s red in the Canadian flag. And when Team USA and Team Canada faced off in a women’s hockey preliminary game Thursday at the Pyeongchang Olympics, they were seeing red.
Or, if you want to be picky about it, cardinal.
That’s the vivid shade of red associated with the University of Wisconsin, represented on the two heavyweight hockey teams by nine players — four on Team USA, five on Team Canada. That means nearly 20% of the players on the combined rosters are products of UW’s women’s hockey program, led by coach Mark Johnson. For Team USA, forwards Hilary Knight, Meghan Duggan and Brianna Decker and goaltender Alex Rigsby played at Wisconsin. All were first-team All-Americans
and Duggan and Decker were Patty Kazmaier Award winners. Decker (Dousman) and Rigsby (Delafield) also are Wisconsin natives.
For Team Canada, forwards Emily Clark, Sarah Nurse and Blayre Turnbull, defenseman Meaghan Mikkelson and goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens are UW products. Mikkelson and Desbiens were first-team All-Americans and Desbiens won the Patty Kazmaier
Award in 2017.
That’s a whole lot of
Bucky.
“It’s incredible,” Rigsby said. “I think it speaks a lot for the program and the coaching staff that they have in place and the resources that they provide us. When you go in there you have high expectations and they really prepare us for this next level.”
Both teams are 2-0 heading into their showdown at the Kwandong Hockey Centre, which – barring a gigantic upset later in the tournament – will be a preview of the gold medal game on Feb. 21.
A little history: Since the introduction of the IIHF Women’s World Championship in 1990, Canada and the United States have played for gold at every major tournament except the 2006 Olympics, when the U.S. was upset by Sweden in the semifinals.
The Americans have won seven of the last eight World Championship titles, but who knew?
It’s the Olympic Games that matter to the casual fan, and it’s there that the Canadians have dominated, with four consecutive gold medals and a 22-game winning streak dating to the final in Nagano in ’98, when Team USA won its only Olympic gold in the inaugural tournament.
The intense rivalry makes for an unusual dynamic: players who wear the Badgers sweater bond as teammates in Madison but then go to their respective national teams and become the enemy. UW has sent 15 players – six Canadians and nine Americans – to the last four Winter Games.
“The rivalry is one of a kind and I embrace it every time we get to play them,” Decker said. “The UW connection is something we share and will cherish for a lifetime, but once the sweaters are on and the results are in, you don’t think about the Wisconsin connection too much.”
Ben Smith, who coached the U.S. women’s team to gold in ’98 and also coached the 2002 (silver) and 2006 (bronze) teams, said it helps that the women wear helmets and that the names are on the backs of their jerseys, not the fronts.
“All the lines are drawn pretty clearly once the game starts,” he said. “I think these players are pretty driven and pretty understanding of what their jobs are. I know after the game there’s a lot of B.S. going on as to who’s buying the beer or whatever. But during the game, I don’t think it has much of an effect on them.”
You’d think there might be some chitchatty exchanges before the puck drops. You know, good to see you, how’s the family, we’re going to skate circles around you. Something. Anything. You’d be wrong.
“I don’t talk to them at all,” Decker said. “Just after, I say, ‘Nice game.’ ”
It doesn’t take long for the younger players to be indoctrinated into the rivalry. Clark, 22, is the only current U.S. collegiate player on Team Canada and is projected to return to Wisconsin for her senior season in 2018-’19. Nurse and Desbiens are 23 and Rigsby, a first-time Olympian, is 26.
“I keep my mouth shut and I focus on what I’m supposed to do,” Rigsby said.
It’s the Olympic Games that matter to the casual fan, and it’s there that the Canadians have dominated, with four consecutive gold medals and a 22-game winning streak dating to the final in Nagano in ’98, when Team USA won its only Olympic gold in the inaugural tournament.
Familiarity breeds contempt, but perhaps because of the many friendships and shared collegiate experiences, the U.S.-Canada rivalry has been intense without crossing the line into something darker. The players go at each other’s throats without malice, if that makes sense.
Katey Stone was head coach of the women’s Olympic team in 2014, when the Canadians rallied from a 2-1 deficit late in the gold medal game and won in overtime.
Of the bitter Olympic defeats, that one was the worst because of the way the Americans melted down in the final minutes.
“Our team is really open and honest about our loss,” said Duggan, the U.S. team captain. “We’re definitely stronger now. We’ve looked ourselves in the mirror. We’ve asked ourselves questions as to who we are, what we’re made of, what we want to accomplish and why we want to accomplish it.”
She didn’t need to elaborate on the what-we-want-to-accomplish part.
“They’re out here representing Team USA,” Nurse said. “We’re out here representing Team Canada. At the end of the day, one of the countries is going to win the gold medal.”
Badgers gonna celebrate. Badgers gonna cry.