U.S. women, Canada ready for showdown

Battle for hockey gold on Thursday

BEIJING — Hilary Knight could think of no better way to close the Beijing Games women’s hockey tournament than a rematch between the United States and — who else? — Canada with the gold medal on the line.

During an Olympic tournament criticized for lacking parity because of too many lopsided scores — and big on predictability with the U.S. and Canada once again dominating — the title fittingly will be settled between the world’s two major powers on Thursday. It will mark the next chapter in a fierce rivalry that dates to the Americans defeating Canada at the 1998 Nagano Games, the first to feature women’s hockey.

“You know, I think it’s wonderful hockey. It’s the most beautiful rivalry in sports,” Knight said after scoring a goal and adding an assist in the United States’ 4-1 semifinal victory over Finland on Monday. “It gets the best and the worst out of both of us at the same time. And it’s just a wonderful game.”

Canada advanced earlier in the day when it erupted for five first-period goals over an Olympic record span of 3:24 in a 10-3 victory over Switzerland.

The matchup will mark the sixth time out of seven Olympics in which the U.S. and Canada have met for gold. The lone exception was the 2006 Turin Games, when Canada defeated Sweden after the Swedes eliminated the Americans in the semifinals.

While the Americans are the defending Olympic champions following a 3-2 shootout victory at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, Canada is considered the favorite in Beijing. The Canadians have steamrolled through the tournament with a 6-0 record, in which they’ve outscored opponents 54-8, including a 4-2 victory over the U.S. in the preliminary round finale last week.

Canada captain Marie-Philip Poulin, who scored two goals against the Swiss, said it makes no difference who her team faces in the final.

“We worked for these moments. We’ve been working for four years,” Poulin said. “I think we deserve it.”

Canadian player Sarah Nurse, however, was looking forward to renewing the rivalry one more time.

“Obviously, playing the U.S. it’s always an exciting game, always an exciting rivalry,” said Nurse. “Our biggest focus is we get to play another game at the Olympics. We came here to play seven games. We wanted the last one to be the gold-medal game.”

The Americans will be there waiting to meet them.