U.S. Olympic Women’s Hockey Shuts Out Canada; Ben Ogden Wins 1st U.S. Men’s Cross Country Skiing Medal in 50 Years

In the 1st seven Olympic Women’s Hockey events, either Canada (5 times) or the United States (twice) have won the Gold Medal, and usually, which ever team didn’t win Gold won Silver (in one case, the U.S. won a Bronze). In other words, it’s Canada, the U.S., and everybody else when it comes to Olympic Women’s Hockey. It’s a little early to say if that’s the case this time around, but the U.S. Women are off to a great start.

The U.S. Women played Canada in Group Play on February 10th, and dominated their rival for a 5-0 victory, finishing Group Play at 4-0 and advancing to the quarterfinals. It was the third shutout in a row for the U.S., who outscored their opponents 20-1 in their four games. Hannah Bilka scored a pair of goals for the U.S. University of Wisconsin players Caroline Harvey, Laila Edwards, and Kirsten Simms also scored. Edwards is the first Black woman to play on the U.S. team. Another Badger alum, Hillary Knight, had an assist and tied Jenny Potter for most points (36) by a U.S. Olympic women’s hockey player.

Link to Highlights

Despite the loss, Canada is still favored to play the U.S. for the Gold Medal. Canada is missing injured captain Marie-Philip Poulin, though she will probably be back before the end of the tournament.

Ben Ogden Wins Cross Country Silver

In 1976, Vermont native Bill Koch won the Silver Medal in the 30 km cross country ski race in the Winter Olympics held in Innsbruck, Austria that year. It took 50 years, but an American man has finally won a medal in an Olympic cross country ski race again. Ben Ogden, another native Vermonter, won Silver in the Men’s Individual Sprint.