MILAN — Is this the best U.S. women’s national hockey team we’ve ever seen?
‘Absolutely,’ Olympic champion Monique Lamoureux told USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday.
Many talented squads have worn USA across their chests. There’s the 1998 team that clinched Olympic gold in the inaugural women’s competition in Nagano. The 2018 team topped the podium following a dramatic shootout in Pyeongchang, made possible by Lamoureux’s game-tying goal and her twin Jocelyne’s shootout winner.
But the 2026 U.S. women’s team could be the most complete squad we’ve seen on the Winter Olympics stage. The U.S. women have been unstoppable in their run to Thursday’s gold medal game against Canada. Depth is their superpower and they are firing on all cylinders, with nearly every player on the roster on the score sheet.
‘Everyone up and down the lineup is contributing,” said Lamoureux. ‘Sometimes you get a line that’s really hot at an Olympics or in a tournament and you really lean on that line, but to see them all performing at the same tournament… that’s really good to see.”
That’s not an exaggeration by any means. Team USA has outscored opponents, 31-1, through six games with 19 players registering at least one point. Fifteen players have found the back of the net. And offense isn’t the only thing rolling. USA’s three goalies have combined for five consecutive shutouts.
“Anytime I put on the jersey I just feel so lucky to be part of this group,” starting goalie Aerin Frankel said. ‘There’s so much talent in our locker room. It’s just so much fun to play with the best players in the world.”
What makes the U.S women’s hockey team the best we’ve ever seen? USA TODAY Sports asked three-time Olympic medalist Monique Lamoureux ahead of Thursday’s gold medal match.
Monique Lamoureux weighs in on Team USA
The U.S. women’s national team has numerous offensive threats, which will force Canada to pick your poison. Lamoureux said the reigning Olympic champions will likely look to shut down defender Caroline Harvey, who leads the ‘most offensively skilled defensive core from top to bottom that we’ve ever seen.’
Harvey is one of 11 players returning from the 2022 Beijing Games, where the U.S. settled for silver following a devastating 3-2 loss to Canada, the nation’s fourth runner-up finish to the Canadians at the Olympics. That’s a defeat that likely remains in the back of their heads. It’s not a loss that’s easy to get over, but it has served as fuel for their dominant run in Milan.
‘When you lose at the Olympics, it’s unlike anything else when you have to watch the other team celebrate for 30 to 40 minutes before they bring the medals out,” Lamoureux told USA TODAY Sports. ‘That’s something that sticks with you. So I’m sure they’ve used it as motivation.”
Harvey walked away from Beijing with the most motivation. She made her Olympic debut at age 19 as the youngest member of Team USA in 2022, but her lack of ice time (only about a minute in total) deeply rattled her confidence. Harvey has responded in historic fashion and is now one of the best players on ice.
The 23-year-old senior at the University of Wisconsin leads all women at the Olympics with nine points — seven assists and two goals — marking a record for an American defender at the Olympics.
‘Really you can take that one of two ways… but to come back four years later and be one of the top, or if not the top player on the U.S. for this tournament, speaks to her character and just the people she surrounded herself with to put her in a position that she’s in now,’ Lamoureux said.
Harvey leads a young core of stars that represent both the present and future of the national team. While the veterans — like five-time Olympian Hilary Knight and four-time Olympian Kendall Coyne Schofield — have anchored the team, the twelve players making Olympic debuts have infused youth into the lineup.
Seven players are still in college, but you wouldn’t be able to tell by their sheer production. The young stars are unphased by the moment and have successfully ‘made that jump from college or the pros to the international level,’ Lamoureux said, which isn’t easy despite how the U.S. rookies make it look.
‘Everyone tells you when you’re preparing (for the Olympics), prepare like any other tournament… Well, I feel like most people that tell you that have not been to the Olympics,’ added Lamoureux. ‘The pressure when you’re only there once every four years and the amount of eyes that are on you, it’s unlike anything else… It seems like they’re handling it very well and they’re managing everything very well.’
Lamoureux will have her eyes out for the second line of Hannah Bilka, Taylor Heise and Abbey Murphy on Thursday. Bilka was on the starting line for the first three games of the tournament, before moving to the second line ahead of USA’s 5-0 shutout of Canada Feb. 10. The move paid off as Bilka scored two of her four goals in the Canadian rout.
‘They’re just a bunch of spark plugs out there. They move fast, they’re creative, they play really hard and with an edge,’ Lamoureux said of the second line. ‘I know everyone’s talking about Abbey Murphy and how she plays with a chip on her shoulder and she gets under the other team’s skin. So I’d like to think that’s how my sister and I played when we were on the ice. So I love watching her play.’
Team USA’s three goalkeepers are also first-time Olympians, but have been solid in front of the net. Team USA conceded only one goal in its Olympic opener against Czechia, but has since kept opponents off the score sheet for the last 331:23 minutes of play. Frankel has recorded three of Team USA’s five shutouts, becoming the first goaltender in do so in women’s Olympic hockey.
Lamoureux praised Frankel’s skill ability to stay focused and engaged in front of the net.
‘She’s small for a goalie. So her athleticism and her ability to read plays, I think it is just at an elite level,’ Lamoureux said, pointing to her performance against Sweden on Monday. ‘(Frankel) had two shots in the first period and then in the second period she gets 13 shots. Those are not easy games to play in…Her and the other goalies have been ready at every step of the way.’
What to expect in USA vs. Canada gold medal match?
The USA-Canada women’s ice hockey rivalry is like no other in sports. Although the players taking the ice in Thursday’s gold-medal match have played together in the PWHL, Lamoureux said there will still be fireworks. The Americans shut out the Canada for the first time in Olympic history Feb. 10, further adding fuel to the flame, but the Canadians will have five-time Olympian Marie-Philip Poulin back in the lineup after injury.
‘When you’re putting on your country’s jersey and you’re going against Canada, there’s certainly no love lost,’ added Lamoureux, who expects a physical and heated matchup. ‘As far as offensive threats, the US definitely has a lot more of ’em for sure…We’re going to see some awesome hockey on Thursday.’
Team USA is one win away from securing its first gold medal since 2018, which would cap Hilary Knight’s prolific Olympic career with her fifth medal and second gold. Knight is one point and one goal away from setting all-time U.S. Olympic records. She’s also one medal away from the U.S. Olympic record.
‘It would be pretty amazing to see her top it off with one more gold medal,’ Lamoureux said. ‘Some people were kind of counting her out and saying she was past her prime… to see her continue to produce at an elite level and just to be able to sustain a career like that for so long is, I mean, there’s not that many people who’ve done it.’
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