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NEW YORK – The recent national tension between the US and Canada is not just spilling over into hockey. It affects women’s hockey.
Several stars on the U.S. women’s national hockey team said they are prepared for hand-to-hand combat with Canadian opponents at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina.
After Canadian fans booed “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off last February, U.S. women’s hockey star Caroline Harvey is ready to hear it again ahead of her team’s games against Canada this coming February in Italy.
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“It’s expected, especially playing Canada,” Harvey told Pakinomist Digital of potential anthem boos at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s media summit. “They don’t care about us that much. So it’s more motivating than anything, and personally it fuels the fire and makes us want to, you know, beat them more than ever.”
And “beaten” may not be simply in terms of the end result either.
Jamie Rattray #47 of Canada battles Abbey Murphy #37 of the United States in the 2021 IIHF Women’s World Championship Group A match played at WinSport Arena on August 26, 2021 in Calgary, Canada. (Derek Leung/Getty Images)
“I don’t like them either. They’re a respectable competitor, they’re so good, and always give us such a tough game, it’s so back and forth. But when we get into the heat of the moment, we just always struggle and don’t like them,” she added.
“It gets personal at times.”
The first hockey game Harvey, 23, has ever been in came against Canada and veteran Brianne Jenner. Harvey claims it took place ahead of the 2022 Beijing Olympics and was just “a scrap”.
“I don’t remember what was said, but it was like a fight. It was the first fight I’ve been in,” Harvey said. “Our helmets didn’t come off, but it was like a fight.”
Jenner was previously at the center of one of the most iconic fights in women’s hockey history during a 2013 pre-Olympic exhibition game in Vermont. A line brawl broke out with players from both teams battling each other to the ice, trying their best to get hits to helmet heads. A total of 10 battling majors were handed out with the penalty boxes at capacity until the final seconds of the game.
Harvey was only 11 years old when that fight took place, but her teammate and Team USA manager Hilary Knight was there and involved in the brawl.
Alex Carpenter Hilary Knight #21 Britta Curl #17 Caroline Harvey #4 and Abbey Murphy #37 of the USA stand as the USA flag is raised after their victory over the Czech Republic during the 2024 IIHF Women’s World Championship at the Adirondack Bank Center on April 5, 2024 in Utica, New York. (Troy Parla/Getty Images)
Now Knight, 36, is ready to renew her fighting spirit against her northern neighbors in Italy and, like Harvey, is ready to hear her national anthem blared.
“Definitely, I think you have to be prepared for anything,” Knight told Pakinomist Digital when asked if she was prepared for a game and anthem boo when it came time to play Canada. “We’ll see what happens.”
But Knight is more vocal about his thoughts on his rivals than his younger teammate.
“I don’t want to give any poster material, I know better, because I would post it in ours,” Knight said.
When told of Harvey’s comments, Knight taunted her younger teammate for letting her phone fall out of her pocket while on the ice during a Women’s World Cup game in April.
“Does she keep her cell phone?” Knight teased.
Still, Knight shared the emotional rush that comes with Canada.
“When the puck drops, your heart is pounding out of your chest, you think, am I human?” she said about game vs Canada.
Knight previously said, “I think the U.S.-Canada rivalry will always be there, and no matter how many other countries are dueling in the final game, that U.S.-Canada thing will always be special,” later adding, “We bring out the best in each other because there’s just so much pride, and I don’t know if it’s just generations and generations of that kind of clash on the world stage or what it is.”
The rivalry is even enough to push fellow American women’s hockey veteran Kendall Coyne Schofield, mother of a young child and self-described “lover, not a fighter,” to prepare for potential battle against her Canadian rivals.
Coyne Shofield recalled that the “spiciest” moment in the rivalry was the 2013 brawl in Vermont. But unlike Knight, who was in the middle of the action, Coyne Shofield says she sat on the bench and watched from a distance.
“I was just like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m so thankful I’m not on the ice.’ Of course you want to help your teammate, but I wouldn’t have been much help in that scenario,” Coyne Shofield said. “I’m a lover, not a fighter.”
But this time, Coyne Shofield says she’s willing and ready to jump into a fight against Canada if it gets to that point in Milan Cortina.
“If I have to, I have to,” she said. “And I’m not going to say that I’m not a fighter in the sense that I’ve fought for a lot of things in life. But I’m just going to say in general that fighting is not a strength of my game. But if I’m out there and I have to, you know, help my teammates out, I will. But you’re not going to find me starting the fight, I can tell you that.”
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The ice hockey rivalry between the two countries erupted in the men’s game earlier this year during the 4 Nations Face-Off incident as tension between the two countries was heightened after President Donald Trump imposed sweeping new tariffs on Canada, starting a trade war.
Now, with the Winter Olympics less than 100 days away, the hockey rivalry between the teams is set to reach an all-time high, with tensions between the countries burning even hotter.
Trump recently cut off trade talks with Canada – after Canada tried to use former President Ronald Reagan’s words on tariffs as a swipe at Trump’s tariff policy, and after Canada has championed some protectionist policies of its own.
The government of the Canadian province of Ontario released a campaign ad on October 14 that quoted a radio speech Reagan gave in April 1987, saying, “In the long run, such trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer.”
Meanwhile, Canada has supported more protectionist policies for decades and in recent years. These policies attempt to restrict international trade to create less competition for domestic industries through the use of tariffs or import quotas.
Emily Clark #26, Sarah Fillier #10 and Renata Fast #14 of Canada battle Megan Keller #5 of the United States in the 2021 IIHF Women’s World Championship Group A match played at WinSport Arena on August 26, 2021 in Calgary, Canada. (Derek Leung/Getty Images)
The ad did not receive a warm welcome in the U.S. In response, Trump criticized Canada for releasing the ad and cut off trade talks with Canada after meeting with Canada’s prime minister Mark Carney Oct. 7
“CANADA SLIPPED AND GOT CAUGHT!!! They fraudulently took a big buy ad saying Ronald Reagan didn’t like tariffs when in fact he LOVED TARIFFS FOR OUR COUNTRY AND ITS NATIONAL SECURITY,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
Meanwhile, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, a nonprofit seeking to continue his legacy released a statement Thursday claiming the ad campaign used “selective audio” that “misrepresented” Reagan’s address.
Carney has already channeled the tensions into sports trash talk, accusing Trump of being “afraid” to bet on the World Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers.
“I think he’s afraid to make a bet,” Carney said to the Associated Press last week. “He doesn’t like to lose. He hasn’t called. He hasn’t returned my call yet on the bet, so I’m ready. We’re ready to make a bet with the USA”
