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NEW YORK – The recent national tension between the United States and Canada isn’t just extending to hockey. It’s spreading to women’s hockey.
Several stars of the U.S. women’s national hockey team said they are prepared for hand-to-hand combat with Canadian opponents at the upcoming Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
After Canadian fans booed “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the NHL’s 4 Nations showdown last February, American women’s hockey star Caroline Harvey is prepared to hear it again before her team’s games against Canada next February in Italy.
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“It’s something to be expected, especially playing against Canada,” Harvey told Pak Gazette Digital of potential anthem boos at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee media summit. “They don’t like us very 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 simply refer to the end result either.
Jamie Rattray, number 47 of Canada, fights against Abbey Murphy, number 37 of the United States, in the Group A match of the 2021 IIHF Women’s World Championship at WinSport Arena on August 26, 2021, in Calgary, Canada. (Derek Leung/Getty Images)
“I don’t like them either. They are respectable competitors, they are very good and they always give us a very tough game, there is a lot of back and forth. But when we get to the heat of the moment, we always fight and we don’t like them,” he added.
“Sometimes it gets personal.”
The first hockey fight Harvey, 23, has been in was against Canada and veteran Brianne Jenner. Harvey claims it took place before the 2022 Beijing Olympics and was just “a piece of junk.”
“I don’t remember what was said, but it was like a fight. It was the first fight I was ever 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 fight broke out with players from both teams fighting each other on the ice and doing their best to land blows on helmeted heads. A total of 10 older fighters were dealt with penalty boxes filled for the final seconds of the game.
Harvey was only 11 years old when that fight occurred, but her teammate and Team USA leader Hilary Knight was there and participated in the fight.
Alex Carpenter, no. 25, Hilary Knight, no. 2024, in Utica, New York. (Troy Parla/Getty Images)
Now, Knight, 36, is ready to renew the fighting spirit against Italy’s northern neighbors and, like Harvey, is prepared to hear boos of her national anthem.
“I definitely think you have to be prepared for everything,” Knight told Pak Gazette Digital when asked if she was prepared for a fight and boos when it came time to play Canada. “We’ll see what happens.”
But Knight keeps her thoughts about her rivals more reserved than her younger teammate.
“I don’t want to give away any card stock, I know better, because I would post it on ours,” Knight said.
When told about Harvey’s comments, Knight mocked her younger teammate for dropping her phone from her pocket while on the ice during a Women’s World Cup game in April.
“Do you keep your cell phone?” Knight joked.
Still, Knight shared the excitement that comes with Canada.
“When the puck drops, your heart beats out of your chest and you’re like, am I human?” he said about the games against Canada.
Knight previously said, “I think the rivalry between the United States and Canada will always be there and no matter how many other countries face each other in the final game, that matchup between the United States and Canada will always be special,” later adding, “We bring out the best in each other, because there’s a lot of pride, and I don’t know if it’s just generations and generations of that kind of clash on the world stage or what that is.”
The rivalry is even enough to push American women’s hockey veteran Kendall Coyne Schofield, a mother of a young child and a self-described “lover, not a fighter,” to prepare for a potential bout against her Canadian rivals.
Coyne Shofield recalled that the “spiciest” moment of the rivalry was the 2013 fight in Vermont. But unlike Knight, who was in the center of the action, Coyne Shofield says she was on the sidelines and watching from a distance.
“I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, 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 case,” Coyne Shofield said. “I am a lover, not a fighter.”
But this time, Coyne Shofield says she is willing and ready to jump into a fight against Canada if it gets to that point in Milan Cortina.
“If I have to do it, I have to do it,” he said. “And I wouldn’t say 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 of 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 game earlier this year during the 4 Nations Showdown incident when tension between the two countries increased after President donald trump imposed sweeping new tariffs on Canada, starting a trade war.
Now, with less than 100 days until the Winter Olympics, the hockey rivalry between the teams will reach a high point in its history, with tensions between the countries burning even higher.
Trump recently canceled trade negotiations with Canada, after Canada tried to use the former president The words of Ronald Reagan on tariffs as a blow against Trump’s tariff policies, and after Canada has defended some protectionist policies of its own.
The government of the Canadian province of Ontario published a campaign ad on October 14 citing a radio speech Reagan gave in April 1987, when he said: “In the long run, such trade barriers harm all American workers and consumers.”
Meanwhile, Canada has supported multiple protectionist policies over decades and in recent years. These policies attempt to limit international trade to create less competition for domestic industries through the use of tariffs or import quotas.
Emily Clark, No. 26, Sarah Fillier, No. 10, and Renata Fast, No. 14 of Canada, battle Megan Keller, No. 5 of the United States, in the Group A match of the 2021 IIHF Women’s World Championship at WinSport Arena on August 26, 2021 in Calgary, Canada. (Derek Leung/Getty Images)
The announcement did not receive a warm welcome in the U.S. In response, Trump harshly criticized Canada for publishing the ad and canceled trade talks with Canada after meeting with Canada’s Prime Minister. Marcos Carney October 7.
“CANADA CHEATED AND GOT CAUGHT!!! They fraudulently accepted a big buyout ad saying that Ronald Reagan didn’t like tariffs, when in reality 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 organization seeking to continue his legacy, issued a statement Thursday claiming that the ad campaign used “selective audio” that “misrepresents” Reagan’s speech.
Carney has already channeled 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 paid. He hasn’t paid me back yet, so I’m ready. We’re ready to make a bet with the United States.”
