US women eye ice hockey revenge against rival Canada at Milano-Cortina

NEW YORK, Jan 2 : The United States are ravenous for revenge at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympics, where one of the Winter Games' greatest rivalries renews on the ice rink as the women in red, white and blue embark on a collision course with Canada.

Hilary Knight, Kendall Coyne Schofield and Lee Stecklein were among the 23 players named on Friday to lead the U.S. women's Olympic hockey team, four years after the Americans settled for silver against their perennial arch-rival.

Canada and the United States are the only countries to win gold since the women's tournament was introduced to the Olympic program ‌in 1998, as Canada took the top of the podium five times and Team USA ‌twice. 

"I call it the most beautiful rivalry in sport because it is so spicy out on the ice and we're really pushing the envelope for skill, physicality, and speed," said Knight, a forward who will compete in her fifth Olympics. "We just bring out the best level of competition in one another."

The two sides have provided some of the most memorable moments of the Olympics, from Canada's dramatic overtime win in the 2014 championship match to the nerve-racking U.S. shootout triumph for gold in 2018.

"There's no letup, just the whole 60 minutes back ‍and forth, it's physical, it's fast, it is relentless," said 23-year-old defenseman Caroline Harvey, the youngest player on the U.S. team at the Beijing Games who will return with the 2026 squad.

"It's always till the final buzzer, overtime, shootout - whatever deems the final winner - it crazy all the way up until the end," she added.   

US TURNS A CORNER

The U.S. gold medal hopes took a hit almost immediately four years ago in Beijing, when ​assistant captain Brianna Decker suffered a gruesome lower-body ‌injury