Fans from all over Michigan converged at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth on Friday, Oct. 30, for an exhibition match between Team USA and Canada.

The game – a 4-0 U.S. victory – was a warmup for November's 2026 IIHF Women’s World Championship, set for Denmark, but it was also a rematch between of the gold-medal game from February's Milan-Cortino Olympics..

Alexis Benjamin of Kalamazoo, who made a 113-mile trek to the arena, and Melissa Wilson of Ann Arbor said they were excited to see all of the U.S. players but specifically star Hilary Knight, who scored a late tying goal in the gold-medal game, allowing the U.S. to eventually prevail, 2-1, in OT on a goal by Michigander Megan Keller.

The duo is also excited for Knight's next team; the nation's career Olympic leading scorer is set to suit up for the PWHL's expansion team in Detroit, which begins play in December.

"When they sent the deposit out, the minute they announced it, I called her at work and told her we have to get this," Benjamin said.

Alex Bleecker and Jennifer Scott, both of Sterling Heights, were also among the 3,504-person sellout crowd.

"I've been playing hockey for a little while, so seeing a women's team here, that girls can look up [to], is really huge," Bleecker said. "Also, the only game in the country, so it's cool to be able to drive here and see."

They, too, were excited to watch some of their favorite players, in the only US/Canada exhibition this year on American soil. (Canada beat the U.S., 5-3, on Wednesday across the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario.

"We've got a list. It's changed a little bit now that we have a team in Detroit. We've got some people that have become rivals. It will be fun to see how it [shakes] out," Bleecker said.

After Friday's game, both teams are headed to Denmark, where they'll open the IIHF Women’s World Championship on Nov. 6 – The U.S. is set to start against Switzerland in Esbjerg, while Canada opens vs. Sweden in Herning. The two squads are in different groups in the tournament, so they won't meet again until the knockout stages, which begin on Nov. 13. If both win their groups and win in the quarterfinals and semifinals, a potential gold-medal game is set for Herning on Nov. 16.

Regardless of Friday's winner, though, fans at USA Hockey Arena could be pretty sure they'd seen the Worlds winner: In 24 iterations of Worlds, Canada has won 13 golds, while the U.S. has 11.