The 1998 Winter Olympic Games introduced the first international women’s ice hockey tournament as well as its leaders on the world stage: Team USA and Team Canada. Since then, these two teams have competed in every single gold medal game, with the exception of the 2006 Olympics, where Team Sweden replaced Team USA. Despite this intense rivalry between Team Canada and Team USA at this year’s gold medal game, many of these women are actually teammates, playing in the PWHL (Professional Women’s Hockey League) on each of the eight teams spread across the United States and Canada.
At the 2026 Olympics in Milan, Team Canada came to defend their title of champions, as they won in the 2022 games as well. However, Team USA brought home the victory, as well as their third gold medal of all time, defeating Team Canada 2-1 (OT).
Leading up to the highly anticipated gold medal game, Team USA was incredibly successful, as they were undefeated in every single game. Aside from allowing Czechia to score one goal in the preliminary round, Team USA shut out every team they played, meaning that they didn’t allow any goals from their opponent. Team USA ranked first in the preliminary round, with Team Canada only 3 points behind in second.
On Thursday, February 19, the eagerly-awaited gold medal game opened with a scoreless first period. Team USA’s goalie, Aerin Frankel, made eight key saves that preserved the 0-0 score. Team USA also killed off two penalties, which was vital to preventing Canada from taking the lead. With twenty seconds remaining in the first, Team USA was given a power play after a hooking penalty on Team Canada, which carried over into the beginning of the second period. Canadian forward Kristin O’Neill opened up the scoreboard with a shorthanded breakaway while Team USA’s power play was running out, giving Canada the 1-0 lead. This score remained throughout the rest of the second period and almost the entirety of the third period. With 2:04 remaining in the third period, American forward Hilary Knight scored after deflecting a shot from American defenseman Laila Edwards, tying the game and forcing it into a sudden-death overtime. Less than five minutes into the three-on-three overtime, Megan Keller scored the golden goal, earning Team USA the victory.
Three days later, after the U.S. Men’s Olympic Ice Hockey team also brought home the gold medal against Team Canada, FBI Director Kash Patel was celebrating in the locker room with the team when he gave President Trump a phone call. After congratulating them, Trump invited the team to the White House and to the State of the Union address. He then joked that he would also have to invite the women’s ice hockey team as well, or else he’d “probably be impeached,” (Hilary Knight responds to Trump’s comment on women’s team – ESPN). The team laughed after Trump’s joke, and many people who have seen a leaked video of this interaction are criticizing the apparent misogyny that occurred inside the locker room that day. Although it is not clear whether or not the team was laughing at this joke or simply enjoying the opportunity to speak with the President after winning an Olympic gold medal, Trump’s words were definitely hurtful to some of the players on the U.S. women’s team. This can be seen through a statement they released expressing their gratitude for his invitation, but declining it in the end, as a result of “previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games,” (Hilary Knight responds to Trump’s comment on women’s team – ESPN).
Being a female athlete in a male-dominated sport definitely comes with its struggles. Junior Natalie Cammarata, who has played ice hockey for about nine years now, expresses her struggles as a female ice hockey player in our area. “In New Jersey, there’s like, three programs for girls’ hockey that are good…and the men have so many teams in New Jersey…so basically every weekend, we’re traveling to Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, New York, Long Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut to play one or two games,” she explained. Since boys’ leagues are more common, they do not have to travel as far to play games, but unless the girls want to play against the same few teams every game, they must travel long distances. If a female hockey player isn’t able to afford these travel costs, they will not be given the same opportunity as a male in the same situation. Up until she was fourteen, Natalie played as the only girl on her team, as boys are allowed to start having physical contact during games at this age. This created a heavy sense of divisiveness between her and her teammates, as she joined an all-girls team when she turned fourteen.
Despite these challenges that female hockey players continue to face, they still maintain the ability to push past them and become successful. Team USA’s victory in the 2026 Olympic Games serves as a powerful reminder of how far ice hockey has come, as well as what is possible for younger girls who love the sport. In spite of the misogyny still present in ice hockey, Team USA’s success shows how female athletes continue to rise in a sport that has been male-dominated since its inception, proving that the future of women’s ice hockey is more promising than ever.
