World's Best Women's Hockey Player Just Got Hurt

The rivalry between Canada and USA in women's hockey is one of the best in all of sport, notes the CBC, but this year's chapter just took a turn. The two teams meet in a preliminary round Olympic game Tuesday afternoon, with one giant question looming: Will Canada's Marie-Philip Poulin be able to play in this game or any others in the Olympics? The 34-year-old is "the consensus best women's hockey player on the planet," per the Athletic, but she suffered what appeared to be a serious injury early in Monday's game against the Czech Republic.

The Canadian captain missed most the game after taking a hard check into the boards in the first period that left her struggling to return to the bench. Canada still won easily, 5-1, but Poulin's status for Tuesday's showdown with the United States is now the urgent question—and hanging over it is a larger one: whether the player who has scored in four straight Olympic gold medal games has played her last one. Poulin, one goal shy of tying Hayley Wickenheiser's Olympic goals record, is widely viewed as the sport's premier clutch performer.

"Yeah, I heard about that. It's a shame," said USA coach John Wroblewski of Poulin's injury, per the AP. Backing up that CBC assertion of one of sport's best rivalries: The Americans have won 11 championships since 1990, and Canada has won 13. Tuesday's game starts at 2:10pm ET.