Neal: Team USA’s young stars can seize control of women’s hockey rivalry with Canada

So far, the American women’s hockey team has pulverized the field at the Olympics like a wrecking ball blasting through a house of cards. Team USA has been clinical, unrelenting and overwhelming.

“I think they just come at you in waves,” three-time Olympian and Eagan’s own Natalie Darwitz said.

When the Frost’s Kendall Coyne Schofield, currently tied for fifth in the PWHL in scoring, is on the American third line, you know there has to be firepower on the two lines in front of her. And, boy, has Team USA shown that while outscoring opponents 31-1 at the Olympics, amassing a whopping 259 shots on goal (38 more than the next-closest team) and charging into Thursday’s gold medal game against Canada on a shutout streak of over 331 minutes.

A closer look reveals why this is happening and how this could be the dawn of a new age of American dominance over their Canadian rivals.

The leading scorer in the Olympics is U.S. defender Caroline Harvey with nine points (two goals, seven assists). Her pro team? TBA. Harvey is playing at the University of Wisconsin.

Tied for third in points at the Olympics is diminutive U.S. dynamo Hannah Bilka, a forward with seven points (four goals, three assists). At the beginning of 2024, she was in her final season in college at Ohio State. She now has 30 games of pro experience.

Tied with Bilka is U.S. defender Laila Edwards, with two goals and five assists. She is Harvey’s teammate at Wisconsin.

Those standout performances make one thing clear in this tournament: The waves that Darwitz mentioned are caused by an influx of younger talent that appears to be ready for prime time.

“Their youth players are really their superstars,” Darwitz said. “Their leadership players, their older players have become more role players. If you look at Team Canada, they have had the same lineup for the last three Olympics. That’s 12 years. They really haven’t introduced a lot of the youth teams into their lineup yet.”

Hilary Knight is participating in her fifth Olympics. Coyne Schofield and Frost teammate Lee Stecklein are in their fourth. But Team USA coach John Wroblewski has activated a youth movement. Only 11 U.S. players remain from the 2022 Beijing Games. Seven members of this year’s team are currently in college. And the way the Americans have played in Milan shows the younger players have earned their spots.

You can add the Frost’s Taylor Heise, 25, to the mix. She’s playing in her first Olympics after being one of the final cuts four years ago. She’s centering a line that includes Murphy.

Before Team USA shoved off to the Olympics, Stecklein spoke of how the younger players have raised the level of competition in practices, making everyone better. She believed the team had the right mix of youth and experience. So far, she has been spot on.

Now the job must be finished. Team USA — which has won its last five meetings with Canada by a combined score of 29-7 — has to defeat the Canadians one more time and grab gold on Thursday.

Canada will not concede just because recent results haven’t gone its way. Legendary forward Marie-Philip Poulin had a knee injury and did not play when the Americans and Canadians met during pool play. When she returned, Canada looked like a different team. And she scored both goals in her team’s 2-1 win over Switzerland in the semifinals, making her the all-time leading goal scorer in Olympic women’s hockey history.

Poulin isn’t nicknamed “Captain Clutch” for nothing. She gives Canada hope.

And the young Americans have to prove they can perform with gold on the line. Darwitz even mentioned the plight of American figure skater Ilia Malinin, who was a sensation before falling in the free skate in Italy. When the lights were brightest, he showed he was human.

“When we were headed to Salt Lake in 2002, we were 8-0 [against Canada] leading up to the Olympic Games,” Darwitz said. “Our season ended up 8-1 against Canada. We lost the most important game [and got silver].”