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As if NHL hockey in Utah wasn’t cool enough, Salt Lake City is hosting a game in the Rivalry Series, a best-on-best women’s international tournament between Team USA and Team Canada.
One of these two teams has walked away from the Olympics with the gold medal every year since women’s hockey was added in 1998. The two teams have also combined for all but one silver medal, and neither team has ever come away empty-handed at the Olympics.
What does that mean? It means these are the best women’s hockey teams in the world — and they’re playing in Salt Lake City on Friday. It also means that these teams are fierce rivals (hence the name Rivalry Series).
The game will be played at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, starting at 7 p.m. MST. It’s the second game in the five-game series, with the first happening in San Jose, California, on Wednesday. They’ll go on to play in Boise, Idaho, Halifax, Nova Scotia and Summerside, Prince Edward Island.
“It’s kind of like a mini taste of the Olympics,” Hilary Knight, one of the most decorated players in USA hockey history, told the Deseret News.
Ticketmaster has tickets starting at $25 for the game.
The Rivalry Series is categorized as an exhibition tournament, but don’t think that means it’s not important. It’s a competitive series with a trophy for the winners. Any time there’s national pride on the line, it’s bound to be entertaining.
The Rivalry series varies in length depending on the year. It’s five games this year.
Both last year and the year before, Team USA went up 3-0 in the seven-game series, but Team Canada pulled off the reverse sweep to capture 4-3 series victories. Team USA looks to get its revenge now.
“There’s a lot of pride on the line, especially when you’re playing for your country,” Knight said. “You always want to win — specifically when you’re in front of your home fans.”
Knight especially looks forward to facing Team Canada.
“The USA-Canada rivalry is the best rivalry in sports, so it should be a hot ticket,” she said.
Knight, a native of Sun Valley, Idaho, who spends her summers training in Salt Lake City, is excited to play two games near her friends and family. She says the texts she received, asking for tickets were “extensive.”
“It’s pretty exciting to be able to go back and play and compete,” Knight said. “Never did I think we were going to be able to do this mountain tour, so to be able to hit Idaho and Utah, it’s super exciting.”
“I think it’s really exciting to be able to get in front of a new fanbase that hasn’t seen this team and get to see the level of skill and competitiveness,” she said.
Abbey Murphy and Kirsten Simms tied for the NCAA lead in goals last year with 33 apiece. Simms finished first in points, while Murphy came in third in that category. Both players have 16 points through 12 games so far this year.
The two will surely be staples of USA Hockey for years to come.
Team Canada boasts the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s top three scorers from last year: Natalie Spooner, Sarah Nurse and Marie-Philip Poulin.
The PWHL is set to begin its second season. Knight’s Boston Fleet take on the Toronto Sceptres in the first game on Nov. 30.
To keep travel costs low, the PWHL only has teams in the eastern parts of the United States and Canada, but the league has announced that it will begin the expansion process to add two new teams and has not placed geographical boundaries on where those teams might go, according to The Associated Press.
Every PWHL game can be streamed for free on the league’s YouTube channel.
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