USA vs. Canada women: Only rivalry that matters

If you got into the U.S.-Canada men's hockey game on Sunday, the women's gold-medal matchup Thursday night between the same two countries should hold even more intrigue.

This one is for supremacy in a sport that's dominated by the North American neighbors. And, unlike the men's game, this is the biggest stage for the elite women's players to play.

"This is our Stanley Cup final, our Super Bowl, our Final Four all rolled into 60 minutes on the ice," said U.S. defenseman Angela Ruggiero. "This is what we prepare for, what gets us through all those practices and all those months away from our families and friends and careers. It's probably the best rivalry in women's sports for the people who know about it."

The U.S. is trying for its first Olympic women's hockey gold since the inaugural women's tournament, in Nagano in 1998. Canada has won the last two golds and didn't even have to face the Americans in Turin, where the U.S. was stunned by Sweden in the semifinals in a shootout.

No such letdowns in Vancouver this year. The U.S. crushed Sweden, 9-1, to reach the gold-medal game, and ended up with a 40-2 goal differential in its four wins. Canada's goal spread was 46-2, and the Canadians shut out Finland, 5-0, to reach the gold-medal game.

The two countries played several tuneup games against each other leading up to Vancouver, with Canada winning six straight games after the U.S. won last year's Canada Cup. They are the only rivals for each other on the world stage, with every other country lagging far behind in development and funding. Players like Ruggiero, a four-time Olympian, and Canada's Jennifer Botterill were teammates at Harvard.

"Anybody could have anything up their sleeve, but I'm pretty sure we know and they know everything about each other," Canada coach Melody Davidson said. "There's respect, but also a tremendous rivalry and pride. I think it's one of the best rivalries in sports, male or female."

There has been a little extra interest in the U.S. team thanks to its coach, Mark Johnson, who was part of the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" team. He has properly deflected the attention to his players, and it doesn't really matter who's behind the bench Thursday night.

This is it for both the U.S. and Canada, and both appear to be at the top of their games.

"I think you're probably going to see the best women's hockey game that's ever been played," Canadian forward Jayna Hefford said.