Meaghan Mikkelson is on the cusp of a golden hat-trick at the Olympic Winter Games.
The two-time gold medallist from St. Albert is playing for three in a row with Team Canada in tonight’s women’s hockey showdown against the United States in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
It’s also the third Olympic final in a row between the hockey rivals as Canada goes after its fifth consecutive gold after losing the 1998 final to the Americans when women’s hockey made its Olympic debut at the Nagano Winter Games.
In pool play, Canada edged the Americans 2-1 Feb. 13.
Both teams posted identical 5-0 victories in the semifinals as Canada out-shot the Olympic Athletes of Russia 47-17 and the Americans out-shot Finland 38-14.
Mikkelson, 33, is the oldest player on the Canadian roster that includes 14 returnees from the 2014 Sochi Olympics and six from the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
Mikkelson’s assist in the semifinal was the second point of her 13-game Olympic career.
Mikkelson, a defenceman, joined the Canadian national team in 2007.
Curling
Marc Kennedy of St. Albert was curling 90 percent overall after eight games as the southpaw third for the Team Canada rink skipped by Kevin Koe.With one game left in the round robin, Canada was tied for second place with Great Britain at 5-3 and Sweden was first at 7-1.
Canada plays Denmark (2-6) today. The semifinals and bronze-medal game are scheduled for Thursday and the gold-medal final is Friday.
Canada is back in the medal hunt after three consecutive losses as Kennedy shot 90 percent in the 8-4 win over Japan (4-4) Monday.
Canada, with second Brent Laing, lead Ben Hebert, alternate Scott Pfeifer of St. Albert and coach Jim Dunn, started off the Olympics with four consecutive wins.
Kennedy and Hebert are Olympic gold medallists with the Kevin Martin rink at the 2010 Winter Games.
