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NEW YORK – The recent national tension between the United States and Canada doesn’t just impact hockey. This has an impact on women’s hockey.
Several stars of the United States women’s national hockey team said they are ready to face Canadian opponents at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina.
After Canadian fans booed “The Star-Spangled Banner” during the NHL’s 4 Nations showdown last February, American women’s hockey star Caroline Harvey is ready to hear it again before her team’s games against Canada next February in Italy.
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“It’s expected, especially against Canada,” Harvey told PK Press Club Digital of potential booing of the anthem at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee media summit. “They don’t like us that much. So it’s more motivating than anything else and, personally, it fuels the fire and makes us want to, you know, beat them more than ever.”
And the “beating” may not just be about the final score.
Jamie Rattray #47 of Canada battles Abbey Murphy #37 of the United States during the Group A match of the 2021 IIHF Women’s World Championship played at WinSport Arena on August 26, 2021 in Calgary, Canada. (Derek Leung/Getty Images)
“I don’t like them either. They’re respectable competitors, they’re so good and they always give us such a tough match, it’s so back and forth. But when we’re in the heat of battle, we always fight and don’t like them,” she added.
“It gets personal sometimes.”
The first hockey match the 23-year-old Harvey ever played in was against Canada and veteran Brianne Jenner. Harvey says this took place before the 2022 Beijing Olympics and was just a “bit”.
“I don’t remember what was said, but it sounded like it was a fight. It was the first fight I’d ever 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. An online brawl broke out with players from both teams squaring off on the ice and doing their best to land punches on helmeted heads. In total, 10 major fights were dealt out with penalty boxes filled to capacity for the final seconds of the match.
Harvey was only 11 years old when this fight took place, but his teammate and Team USA leader, Hilary Knight, was there and involved in the fight.
Alex Carpenter Hilary Knight #21 Britta Curl #17 Caroline Harvey #4 and Abbey Murphy #37 of the United States stand as the United States flag is raised following their victory over Czechia in 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 Italian neighbors and, like Harvey, she is ready to hear her national anthem booed.
“Definitely, I think you have to be ready for anything,” Knight told PK Press Club Digital when asked if she was ready to fight and boo the anthem when it came time to play Canada. “We’ll see what happens.”
But Knight keeps her thoughts on her rivals more discreet than on her younger teammate.
“I don’t want to give away billboard material, I know better, because I would post it in ours,” Knight said.
When informed of Harvey’s comments, Knight mocked her younger teammate for letting her phone fall out of her pocket while she was on the ice during a Women’s World Cup game in April.
“Does she keep her cell phone?” » Knight teased.
Nonetheless, Knight shared the emotion that comes with Canada.
“When the puck drops, your heart is racing, you wonder, am I human?” she said of the games against Canada.
Knight said earlier, “I think the rivalry between the United States and Canada will always be there and no matter how many other countries compete in the final match, the relationship between the United States and Canada will always be special,” and he later added, “We bring out the best in each other, because there’s so much pride, and I don’t know if it’s just generations and generations of this kind of clash on the world stage or what it is.”
The rivalry is even enough to push fellow U.S. women’s hockey veteran Kendall Coyne Schofield, a mother of a toddler who describes herself as “a lover, not a fighter,” to prepare for a potential fight against her Canadian rivals.
Coyne Shofield recalled that the “spiciest” moment of the rivalry was the 2013 brawl in Vermont. But unlike Knight, who was in the thick of the action, Coyne Shofield says she was on the bench watching from afar.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m so grateful 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 around, Coyne Shofield says she’s willing and ready to get into a fight with Canada if it comes to that point in Milan Cortina.
“If I have to, I have to,” she said. “And I wouldn’t say that I’m not a fighter in the sense that I’ve fought for a lot of things in life. But I would just say that in general, fighting is not a strength in my game. But if I’m out there and I have to, you know, help my teammates, I will. But you won’t find me starting the fight, I can tell you that.”
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The hockey rivalry between the two countries erupted in the men’s side earlier this year during the 4 Nations clash incident as tension between the two countries intensified following the arrival of the president Donald Trump imposed sweeping new tariffs on Canada, sparking a trade war.
Now, with the Winter Olympics less than 100 days away, the hockey rivalry between the teams is poised to reach an all-time high, with tensions between the countries running even higher.
Trump recently canceled trade talks with Canada – after Canada tried to use the former president The words of Ronald Reagan on tariffs as an attack on Trump’s tariff policies, and after Canada defended its own protectionist policies.
The government of the Canadian province of Ontario released an advertisement on October 14 citing a radio speech by Reagan in April 1987 in which he said: “In the long run, such trade barriers harm all American workers and consumers.” »
Meanwhile, Canada has supported multiple protectionist policies for decades and in recent years. These policies attempt to limit international trade in order 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 fight Megan Keller #5 of the United States during the Group A match of the 2021 IIHF Women’s World Championship played at WinSport Arena on August 26, 2021 in Calgary, Canada. (Derek Leung/Getty Images)
The ad did not receive a warm reception in the United States. In response, Trump criticized Canada for releasing the ad and ended trade negotiations with Canada after meeting with Canada’s prime minister. Marc Carney October 7.
“Canada cheated and got caught!!! They fraudulently agreed to a big ad saying Ronald Reagan didn’t like tariffs, when in reality he liked tariffs for our country and its national security,” Trump said in a Truth Social article.
Meanwhile, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, a nonprofit organization that seeks to continue his legacy, released a statement Thursday saying the ad campaign used “selective audio” that “distorts” Reagan’s speech.
Carney has previously channeled tensions into trash talk about sports, accusing Trump of being “scared” of betting 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 called me back on the bet yet, so I’m ready. We’re ready to bet with the United States.”
