What to know for the women's hockey world championship

The women's hockey world championship begins on Friday in Denmark, where Canada and the United States are poised to add a new chapter to one of the most intense rivalries in sports.

While it's extremely likely that the two superpowers will meet in the final once again, there's a bit more intrigue this time. Canada will be without its greatest player, and perhaps another star, while it freshens up its roster after a tough loss to the U.S. in the Olympic final.

Here's some stuff to know for the tournament.

Spoiler alert: It'll be another Canada-U.S. final.

There are few guarantees in life, and even fewer in sports. But Canada and the United States meeting in the final of a big women's hockey tournament is about as close as it gets.

Going back to the inaugural women's world championship in 1990, it's been Canada vs. the U.S. in 23 of the 24 finals. The lone exception came in 2019, when host Finland shocked the Canadians in the semis before losing a controversial final against the States. Canada and the U.S. have also met in seven of the eight Olympic women's hockey finals (in 2006, red-hot Sweden goalie Kim Martin engineered an upset of the U.S. in the semis before losing the gold-medal game to Canada).

One of the reasons this rivalry is so good is that it's exceptionally close. Canada holds an all-time 13-11 lead over the U.S. in world titles and a 5-3 edge in Olympic golds. Over the last 15 years, nine of their 11 world-title-game clashes and all four of their Olympic gold-medal showdowns have been decided by one goal — including 10 in overtime or a shootout.

Right now, though, the Americans are the undisputed champions of women's hockey. They took the world title away from the Canadians in 2025 with an overtime victory