Summer hockey: Women's game isn't competitive enough...but neither is men's nor World Juniors

The hockey world is a small place, regardless of the division...Plus, what was Hockey Canada thinking?...The 50th anniversary of the Summit Series will be tempered by the war in Ukraine

The best thing about the World Women’s Championship, which begins Thursday in Denmark, is that we once again get a front-row seat to the best rivalry in sports. The worst thing about the World Women’s Championship, which begins Thursday in Denmark, is that we once again get a front-row seat to the best rivalry in sports.

There is no doubt that Canada vs. USA in women’s hockey is the most compelling matchup of any two teams in any sport, bar none. But it’s what leads up to that matchup that has a lot of people questioning women’s hockey’s place on the sporting landscape. And it also prevents the sport from being taken seriously by a lot of sports fans.

Yes, as we’ve heard many, many times, the women’s division in hockey isn’t competitive enough beyond the top two teams. That is not hyperbole, that is not trolling, that is not sexism. That is a fact. That’s not on either Canada or USA, countries that continue to raise the bar by producing increasingly prodigious players, both in terms of talent and numbers. Sometimes it seems as though the rest of the world will never catch up. And as the puck drops in Denmark, there is nothing to lead us to believe that it will not be the two North American countries playing for gold once again, as has been the case in 25 of the 27 World Championships and Olympics that have been contested in women’s hockey. Aside from their games against each other, scores and shot totals involving Canadian and American games are almost always lopsided.