Hockey's biggest rivals are cruising, as reigning winner USA Hockey and runner-up Canada topped their preliminary 2026 IIHF Women’s World Championship groups.
The US capped an undefeated run with Wednesday’s 8-1 victory over Czechia behind captain Hilary Knight’s hat trick, while young star Caroline “KK” Harvey leads all scorers with nine points.
Canada is also unbeaten, shutting out Finland 2-0 in its group-stage finale thanks to goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens’s 25 saves.
10 teams enter Friday’s single-elimination quarterfinals, with winners reaching Sunday’s semis before Monday’s medal games hit the ice.
The US faces host Denmark tomorrow while Canada skates against Czechia, with a rematch of last year’s Team USA vs Canada final — a 4-3 US win — in the works should both advance.
Germany, Finland, Sweden, and Switzerland round out the bracket. However, the North American rivals have been the IIHF Women’s World Championship’s only winners since its 1990 inception.
The IIHF Worlds quarterfinals start Friday at 5 AM ET (NHL Network).
