Team Canada’s hockey heartbreak marks end of an era

The GIST: Hearts shattered across the Great White North yesterday as Team Canada women’s hockey fell 2–1 to Team USA in overtime of the gold medal game. It certainly wasn’t the outcome Canadians wanted, but still a thrilling battle despite the odds. Always proud.

💔 Gritty showing from the underdogs: After suffering a 5–0 rout to the Americans in the group stage — Canada’s seventh straight loss to the U.S. — hockey pundits anticipated more of the same. Instead, a shorthanded goal from forward Kristin O’Neill, a gutty outing from the embattled Marie-Philip Poulin and Claire Thompson, and an aggressive Canadian attack set the tone early.

• It was nearly enough…until American icon Hilary Knight buried the game-tying goal with just two minutes left in regulation to force overtime, where Megan Keller netted the golden goal. Canada’s latest loss to their archnemesis stings, but we’re in awe of their tenacity in the face of doubt.

🥹 The end of an era: The story of this fierce rivalry cannot be told without the aforementioned MPP and Knight. They’ve been the faces of women’s hockey for the better part of two decades. Poulin — Canada’s Captain Clutch — is the Olympics’ all-time leading scorer; Knight has the most points at the world championship level. Together, they’ve transformed the game.

• Sixteen years after the duo made their respective Olympic debuts in Vancouver, their final chapter was written yesterday: Though 34-year-old Poulin hasn’t discussed her Olympic future just yet, this was Knight’s final Games. Forever grateful to two of the GOATs.