Hockey peak: U.S. women have climbed past Canada

It's time to admit it: The U.S. women's hockey team is better than Canada's.

Even though an outstanding performance in the Olympics gold medal game gave Canada a good chance, only to lose 2-1 in overtime, the evidence has been strong for about the past year that the U.S. women's program has surpassed our country's.

Based on population and the acceptance that there is strength in numbers, it's no surprise that Canadians can't compete with our neighbours to the south when it comes to major sports such as baseball, football, basketball and golf. But we could always brag about being No. 1 in men's and women's hockey.

We'd joke about having our first pair of skates dangling from the end of the crib, and while we didn't learn to skate before we could walk, saying that we did always made for a good chuckle. As for beating up on the U.S. in hockey, both men's and women's national teams did it regularly.

While U.S. and Canada men's hockey is basically a coin flip when they meet in big tournaments, the women's game has tilted strongly to the south. The Canadian women's national team may have a significant edge over the U.S. through the years in head-to-head competition, but in 2026 at least, Canada is a distant second.