U.S. Wins Hockey World Championships
The United States and Canada took the top two spots at the championship.
© David W Cerny/Reuters
Renata Fast of Canada (left) and Kendall Coyne (right) of the United States battle for the puck at the 2025 Women’s Hockey World Championship.
Which women’s ice hockey team will take the gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics? If the results of the 2025 Women’s Hockey World Championship are anything to go by, it will be a tight contest between the United States and Canada. The U.S. won the championship on April 20, defeating the Canadians 4–3.
Tess Janecke scored the winning goal for the U.S. with less than three minutes remaining in overtime. As cheers erupted, Janecke threw her stick into the air and hugged one of her teammates.
“Just shows how strong we are as a group and how much we can persevere through anything. I wouldn’t want to do it with any other group,” Janecke later told The Sports Network (TSN).
It was a nailbiter of a match. The U.S. scored the first two goals in the second period for a 2–0 lead, but Canada tied the game quickly with two goals of their own. The U.S. secured another goal in the third period, only to be matched by Canada for a score of 3–3. With a tie at the end of the third period, the match was forced into overtime.
© David W Cerny/Reuters
The U.S. team celebrates after winning the 2025 Women’s World Hockey Championship.
“The margins for error are so small,” Canadian head coach Troy Ryan told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. “Multiple times in that overtime or even in the third, either [team] could have won it.”
The United States and Canada have dominated the Women’s Hockey World Championship for 35 years. Each year, with one exception, the two nations have taken the top two spots in the standings. So far, Canada has 13 gold medals and the U.S. has 11.
Similarly, the two nations have battled it out for hockey gold at the Winter Olympics ever since women’s icy hockey became an Olympic event in 1998. Canada has won gold five times, while the U.S. has taken gold twice. Canada, the reigning Olympic champion, will defend its gold medal in 2026.
