With the gold medal on the line being contested by two teams that clearly do not like each other, expect Canada's and Team USA's Thursday match-up to be a very physical game.

"I love playing against Canada and I think there is this mutual respect that they like playing against us," said American F Hilary Knight to USA Today. "We know it's going to be a bloodbath. And both of us are so passionate and have so much fervor for our countries and we want to do the best we can do and that's to be on that gold medal podium."

The rivalry between both teams dates back to the 1998 Nagano Olympics, when the US defeated Canada in the inaugural woman's hockey Olympic tournament. Canada has dominated since that defeat, beating the Americans in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, the Swedes in the 2006 Turin Olympics, and the US in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Prior to the Sochi Games, the teams played a seven-game series in preparation for the tournament that saw a few fights break out. The US dropped their first three games in the series and rallied back to win the final four games in December.

The US was grouped with Canada in the preliminary pool phase of the tournament, with the Canadians defeating Team USA 3-2 in their first match-up. Canada F Meghan Agosta-Marciano led the way scoring two goals in their first game against the US.

"It's always revenge against them. I'm still working on revenge from Vancouver," said US team captain Meghan Duggan. "You come up short in that one, it doesn't feel good any time you lose a game, so we're obviously looking for revenge."

Julie Chu, who in three Olympics has won two silvers and a bronze medal, hopes to add gold to her collection at the expense of her longtime rival before she calls it a career.

"Julie's been everything to the program," said US head coach Katey Stone about the veteran forward. "She's been a youngster, she's been a mentor, she's been a captain, a leader, a great friend, teammate and mother to the younger kids in the program. Kids like that don't come around every day, so I certainly hope she gets what she wants here at the end."

The US throttled Sweden in the semifinals 6-1, with six different players on the squad scoring goals, having out-shot the Swedes 70-9. Canada beat Switzerland to advance to the gold medal finals, behind F Natalie Spooner two goals and G Shannon Szabados stopping 21 shots in the game.

"We've played a lot of great games against them," said Spooner. "It's going to be another one of those in the final."

Canada will rely on their vast experience with Agosta-Marciano, Caroline Ouellette, Hayley Wickenheiser, Jayna Hefford, and Gillian Apps all gold medal winners and accustomed to performing on a huge international stage.

"It certainly helps to have that Olympic experience. You've been in those big games. You know how you're going to feel," said Ouellette. "You know it's going to be normal to be nervous at first and you are able to channel that energy, that nervousness into positive energy and make sure everyone around is calm and play up to their potential, play with confidence. It's our role as veterans to make sure everyone is calm, everyone is ready to go."

Live Stream, Schedule & Scores
Coverage of the bronze medal game between Switzerland vs Sweden will start at 7:00 a.m. EST on NBC Sports. Coverage of the gold medal game between the United States vs Canada will start at 12 noon on NBC. Both games will be available on NBC Extra. Scores, statistics and updates are available on ESPN Sports.