Table of Contents
🃏 Why are only 14% of Tim Hortons Team Canada hockey cards women?
Visibility and marketing is one of the biggest issues facing women’s hockey today. Thank you to Dan from Women’s Hockey Cards on Instagram for bringing this to my attention and putting together this information.
Tim Hortons isn’t just a coffee shop. It was founded by NHL legend Tim Horton of the Toronto Maple Leafs, sponsors youth hockey nationwide, and sells the most accessible hockey card packs in the country. This is how many Canadians get into hockey card collecting.
Deck at a glance:
154 men’s cards (85.6%) vs. 26 women’s cards (14.4%) (180 cards total)
89 male athletes (85.6%) vs. 15 women’s athletes (14.4%) (104 total)
Let’s break down the deck:
While the 2026 Tim Hortons Upper Deck Team Canada set leans heavily on the "Olympic" branding because of the proximity of the set release date to the 2026 Winter Games, the set is actually a Team Canada collection rather than a strict Olympic roster.
I’d break this card deck into 4 categories:
active players representing Canada at Olympics
players who represented Canada at junior tournaments
players who represented Canada at world championships
retired “legends” players
Category 1 is evenly split, but categories 2-4 only feature men. Excluding women from the retired / legends category is extremely egregious, as it overlooks the history of women’s hockey.
Women’s athletes often say, “if you can see it, you can be it”. But if a little girl goes to a shop, her chances of getting a women’s hockey player card is very low.
Women’s hockey is often treated as an afterthought compared to men’s hockey. Canada has a women’s hockey team and a men’s hockey team. It has an extremely successful Olympic women’s team. Women are a huge part of hockey in Canada. It’s a shame that the cards don’t reflect that.
Semifinal schedule
Game | Date | Time EST | Time PST |
|---|---|---|---|
USA vs Sweden | Monday, Feb 16 | 10:40 AM | 7:40 AM |
Canada vs Switzerland | Monday, Feb 16 | 3:10 PM | 12:10 PM |
Bronze medal | Thursday, Feb 19 | 8:40 AM | 5:40 AM |
Gold medal | Thursday, Feb 19 | 1:10 PM | 10:10 AM |
🔮 Game Preview: USA vs Sweden
Sweden upset USA in the semifinal of the 2006 Olympics. Can they do it again?
Despite being one of the top countries for women’s hockey in 2002 and 2006, Sweden had a terrible coach who majorly hurt their program.
From wikipedia:
He was head coach for Sweden women's national team until 2018. He was fired after a series of poor performances, including finishing sixth at the 2017 Women's Ice Hockey World Championships and seventh at the 2018 Winter Olympics, and mass discontent with his leadership among players, including over decisions to throw veteran Emma Eliasson off the team, allegations of bullying Jenni Asserholt into retirement, and a player petition to have him resign.[6][7][8][9]
Thankfully, Team Sweden has been on the rise recently!
After dominating group B and upsetting Czechia, it’s really cool to see Sweden back in the semifinal.
I still think USA will win but do not underestimate Team Sweden.
Watch my game preview 👇
🔮 Game Preview: Canada vs Switzerland
Should Canada be concerned about Swiss goaltending?
Canada defeated Switzerland 4-0 in group stage.
My 4 keys to the game:
Canada has not faced Swiss goaltender Andrea Braendli yet. The Swiss goalie that Canada faced was Saskia Maurer, who was phenomenal, but she’s technically their #2. Their #1 goaltender is Andrea Braendli. She literally had norovirus earlier this tournament but she posted a 40 save shutout to upset Finland in the quarterfinal.
Swiss goaltending was an issue for Canada in group stage. Despite a lot of shots on goal, they didn’t break through until the 27th minute.
Switzerland needs to stay out of the box. 3/4 of Canada’s goals vs Switzerland came on the power play. Discipline has been an issue for Switzerland; notably they gave up 2 powerplays at the end of the quarterfinal game vs Finland. They managed to kill those off. If Switzerland can minimize Canada’s chances on the powerplay, that could shift the game.
Canada needs offensive spark. Canada has not yet demonstrated offensive creativity and potency on the same level as USA. Look at Canada’s most recent game: yes they scored 5 goals but Germany did not have great goaltending.
I still think Canada will win because even if Switzerland has good goaltending, they have also struggled to score.
Watch my game preview 👇
Why am I getting sad that there are only 4 games left?! 😔
Questions? Comments? Come hang on Discord!
