A highly recommended event at the Xcel Energy Center on Sunday, Dec. 3: The U.S. Women’s National Team faces off against Canada at 3 p.m. If you can’t make it to the X, the game will be televised on NBCSN. After Sunday, the two teams will play three more exhibition games before the upcoming Winter Olympics. The next game is in Winnipeg on Tuesday evening, broadcast on NHL Network.

Because of the no-check rule, you’ll see super-skillful hockey at high speed, clearly a different style than the men’s game, which is oriented toward defense. While both teams have world-class skills, their game philosophy is a dramatic contrast. The American priority is puck possession – passing and regrouping to keep the puck out of Canada’s hands. Meanwhile, the Canadians use their skills and speed to get to scoring positions as quickly as they can.

How fast is the hockey? Our tests with several NHL teams show that three of the U.S. women would be faster than 20 percent of NHL players. Several others are close to NHL speed, and you’ll see the Canadians are also excellent, fast skaters. Both teams are extremely agile on corners, so this skill is something to study on Sunday. There is much to be learned watching this style of play, because skills dominate.  

Both teams have trained intensely for months, and it’s not just leg speed and strength. The U.S. is following a unique circuit off-ice for stick skills. Alternating between stickhandling or passing heavy steel balls, and immediately switching to light balls or pucks, this transition is a stimulus for the central nervous system created by associate coach Brett Strot (check out   HockeyInternational.net).

The rivalry is intense, because these two teams are favored to meet in the gold medal game at the Olympics next February in South Korea. The U.S. took the first Olympic gold in 1998; then Canada won the next four. In the World Championships, which started in 1990, Canada won the first eight with the U.S. finishing second each time. That trend was reversed as the U.S. won eight of the next 10 World Championships, including the most recent last spring.

Let's Play Hockey photo by Mike Thill