Canada National Women’s Hockey Team – Page 5

Finland’s opening 5-2 loss to the defending Olympic champion Americans didn’t lay the best groundwork for confronting Canada on Saturday. If the Finnish women aspire to do more than hopefully repeat the bronze medal they captured at the 2018 Winter Games and the 2021 IIHF Ice Women’s World Championship, they need to get their offence clicking and not get outshot 52-12 again.

“In the first and second period, we weren’t really there,” said Finnish captain Jenni Hiirikoski. “We didn’t win enough battles and loose pucks. But we came back in the third period and we improved our game.”

That might be a generous assessment, given that third-period shots favoured the U.S. 19-5. Still, the Finns need to maintain an optimistic outlook in Beijing, despite some topsy-turvy circumstances.

In the latest development, Finland announced on Friday that head coach Pasi Mustonen, who has led the team since 2014-15, would return home due to health concerns in his family and be replaced by his assistant Juuso Toivola, who was slated to become head coach after these Olympics.

Dating back to 2017, the Finns upset Canada twice in their last six IIHF encounters, including both Olympic and Women’s Worlds play. That includes a 4-3 group-stage win at the 2017 Women’s Worlds in Plymouth on Ronja Savolainen’s late goal and a 4-2 semi-final win at the 2019 Women’s Worlds in Espoo, where Savolainen again stepped up with two goals and an assist.

At the 2022 Olympics, Canada-Finland might be the single most likely group-stage game to produce a legitimate upset. No other women’s hockey nation can challenge the North American superpowers like Finland can.

Conversely, more recent history offers a cold shower of reality. Not only did the Canadians – the defending Women’s Worlds champions from the 2021 tournament in Calgary – just stomp Switzerland 12-1, but they also convincingly swept the Finns in a three-game exhibition series in Helsinki and Turku in November (4-2, 8-0, 5-1).

Against Canada or the U.S., the Finns are unlikely to win unless they concede two or fewer goals. Most famously, they came within a video review of knocking off the Americans in the 2019 Women’s Worlds final, although Petra Nieminen’s 2-1 sudden-death winner was controversially disallowed, and Finland lost in a shootout.

In Beijing, everyone is scrutinizing Finland’s goaltending after Mustonen’s surprising decision to leave four-time Olympian Noora Raty off the roster. Realistically speaking, against the U.S., Anni Keisala – named Best Goalie and a tournament all-star at the last Worlds – turned in a 47-save performance that compared favourably with the last time Raty faced the Americans in Olympic play (33 saves in 2018’s 5-0 semi-final loss).

Still, it wasn’t Keisala’s best outing. In the first period, the 24-year-old Ilves netminder looked caught off guard when Amanda Kessel cut to the net to open the scoring and when Alex Carpenter’s 2-0 power-play goal beat her short side less than two minutes later, even though she got little defensive support. However, U.S. captain Kendall Coyne Schofield’s two goals and Carpenter’s in-tight deflection to make it 5-1 were fantastic plays that Keisala had little chance on. You couldn’t pin this loss on the goalie.

“Obviously there’s room for improvement, but I think that we worked hard and tried to execute what we talked about,” said defender Minttu Tuominen, playing in her fourth Olympics.

Offensively, Finland’s biggest positive was getting two third-period power play goals from Susanna Tapani, even if it was too little, too late. But they still need more out of Michelle Karvinen, who has not scored a goal in IIHF competition since 2019’s 3-1 quarter-final win over the Czechs. The top line of Tapani, Karvinen, and Petra Nieminen needs more secondary support overall, even if the power play stays hot. That line provided seven of Finland’s 12 shots in the opener.

Discipline-wise, Savolainen will need to watch her step after Thursday’s game. After missing a scoring chance, the talented, aggressive 24-year-old defender tripped up superstar Brianna Decker with her left leg behind the net, and the three-time U.S. Olympian was stretchered off with a lower-body injury. Decker will miss the rest of the Olympics.

Savolainen has been a magnet for these kinds of incidents in recent IIHF history, on both the delivering and receiving ends.

In the 2018 semi-final, then-U.S. captain Meghan Duggan nailed the Finn with an outstretched knee in the first period and she hobbled off, although she would return in the middle frame. In the 2019 semi-final, Savolainen shoved Blayre Turnbull from behind into the boards, and the Canadian not only went off, but also missed the 7-0 bronze-medal win over Russia. Oddly, no penalties or suspensions were incurred in any of these cases.

Seemingly, the Finns sagged and the U.S. surged after hearing Decker’s cries of pain. For NHL fans, it was reminiscent momentum-wise of the way the Boston Bruins reacted after Vancouver Canucks defenceman Aaron Rome’s open-ice hit that knocked Nathan Horton out of the 2011 Stanley Cup final. The Finns must show greater resilience.

Team Canada, of course, could face a significant injury problem of its own. Melodie Daoust, the 2021 Women’s Worlds MVP and scoring leader (12 points), left the opener mid-game and did not return after taking a hard illegal hit from Switzerland’s Sarah Forster.

Yet Canada has so much depth that – with or without Daoust – a Finnish upset on Saturday still seems improbable. For example, look at the remarkable composure of its Olympic rookie “Princeton pair,” 21-year-old forward Sarah Fillier and 24-year-old defender Sarah Thompson.

They may not be as famous as fellow Princeton alumni like Jeff Bezos and Michelle Obama, but Fillier made her mark early with Canada’s first two goals against Switzerland, and Thompson racked up a whopping five points.

Star blueliner Renata Fast hailed Fillier’s debut: “Talk about making an entrance to the Olympics. To score on her first shift, to bat the puck out of the air, that is so skilful.”

“I circled out in front and the seas just seemed to part and I took my shot,” Fillier said of her second goal, set up by captain Marie-Philip Poulin. Fillier is already being projected as Poulin’s heir.

Veteran leaders like Natalie Spooner (2+3=5), Rebecca Johnston (1+3=4), and Blayre Turnbull (2+2=4) also dazzled with big nights. Canada was truly firing on all cylinders as it outshot Switzerland 70-15.

Finland’s best hope of pulling off a Group A upset here is if Canada lulls itself into a false sense of security. That seems unlikely for coach Troy Ryan’s relentless crew. But the honest truth is that no coach wants to win 12-1 from a psychological standpoint. If the Swiss had pushed back harder on Day One, with Canada playing just as well, and, say, kept the score to 5-1, it would naturally inspire a greater sense of urgency going forward.

The Finns couldn’t defeat Canada in their last official meeting at the 2021 Women’s Worlds, but Suomi put two early pucks past goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens before falling 5-3. No other country – apart from the Americans in the final – ever managed to lead Canada in that tournament.

Little crumbs of hope like that will have to sustain the Finns as they face a Canadian squad that looks far more energized than the one they upset in the 2019 Women’s Worlds semi-finals.

Source: iihf.com

The cauldron has yet to be lit to start these 24th Olympic Winter Games but already Canada’s women’s team has come out with an emphatic 12-1 victory over the Swiss this afternoon at the National Indoor Stadium in Beijing.

And the early star of the show was 21-year-old Sarah Fillier, who came into the Olympics as the undisputed heir to Marie-Philip Poulin. Fillier scored twice and added an assist in a three-goal first period en route to the win.

“I think it’s awesome to get a first game under our belts, build chemistry with our lines and, you know, work on some plays,” Fillier noted. “I’m really excited to be here and I want to come out with a lot of energy and luckily my first couple of shifts, some pucks found the net.”

Fillier was hardly alone in her fine play. Claire Thompson had a goal and four assists; Natalie Spooner had two goals and three assists; Rebecca Johnston had a goal and three assists; and, Blayre Turnbull had two and two. It was a balanced, explosive, potent attack right across four lines.

Thompson tied a record for women’s hockey at the Olympics with three assists in the second period. She and Spooner also were one point shy of the record for most points in a game (6, three times).

If there is one aspect of the game coach Troy Ryan will want to clean up, it’s discipline. Canada incurred seven minor penalties, and as the games get tougher that is a number that will prove more and more costly.

“We were pumped,” said Swiss captain Lara Stalder. “We started well in the first few shifts. If we could have kept the 0-0 a bit longer, they would maybe have been more frustrated but by allowing goals they came into a flow. In the end it’s a difference in class. They are incredibly strong and it’s great to play against them. I love to play at this level. We have to look at the good things.”

Canada came into the game with a 3-0 record against the Swiss at the Olympics, and that included an 18-2 goals differential and a whopping 179-48 difference in shots on goal. Today was no different. Final shots were 70-15, and although Swiss goalie Andrea Brandli played the full 60 minutes and gave up a dozen goals, she also made some sensational saves and was often left to her own devices.

“I never, never think it’s easy,” said winning coach Troy Ryan. “They’re a good team. A lot of depth. You know, I think just offensively, tonight, we were able to spread things out and really use the width and the depth and had a good net from presence as well. So definitely not easy and something that our girls had put a lot of time and effort in to get to that level. It’s still difficult to execute, especially at this stage.”

“We wanted to stay in the game as long as possible, but it was just a few minutes,” offered Swiss coach Colin Muller. “We lost our faith a bit. We knew it would be difficult against Canada if we allowed them to score early. In the end we were too far away from our own net. Our defence was not good enough. We were not skating well, maybe were a bit nervous. Everything has to work well to keep up with this team. We allowed them six goals too many.”

Canada got exactly the start it wanted, swarming the goal of Andrea Brandli. Fillier opened the scoring after just 64 seconds when she batted in a loose puck, taking advantage of a Swiss giveaway behind their own goal. A lengthy video review confirmed the swat was done below the height of the crossbar. Canada continued to press, wave after wave, shift after shift, chasing down every loose puck, coming away with the disc after almost every battle in the corners.

The Canadians made it 2-0 at 7:55 when the Swiss allowed Fillier to skate into the slot unobstructed. She rifled a shot past Brandli’s blocker before the goalie could react. Fillier then set up veteran linemate Spooner for the third goal three and a half minutes later. After more sustained pressure, Fillier nudged the puck out front where Spooner tapped it into the open goal.

Canada surged ahead by five midway through the second on goals 15 seconds apart. First, Johnston got her own rebound and banged it home at 8:06, and they added another on a nice play by defender Ashton Bell. From behind her own blue line she fired a shot off the corner boards in the Swiss end, and Laura Stacey got there first. Even though she was behind the goal line, shoe took a shot and it bounced off the skate of Brandli and in.

It was a shot the goalie should have stopped, but Brandli made up for it with a string of sensational saves as Canada kept pressing. She stoned Jamie Lee Rattray on a breakaway with a right-pad save, then stopped Turnbull in tight. Still, Canada kept the pressure on and made it 6-0 at 13:20. Spooner got her second of the night off a rebound on the power play.

That advantage came with a high cost, though. Sarah Forster was in the penalty box for a very hard hit along the boards against Melodie Daoust, who fell to the ice holding her shoulder. She skated off and went right to the dressing room, and didn’t return.

Canada added two later goals, one by Turnbull off a sensational pass from the corner by Thompson, and then with less than three minutes remaining Stacey made it 8-0 with her second of the period.

Despite all the scoring, the play of the period belonged to goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens, who had little to do. But in the dying seconds, with the Swiss on the power play, she made a glorious save off Laura Stalder, who had a wide-open net. Stalder made a great shot, high, but Desbiens came across the crease, slid with pads in the air, and kept the puck out.

Rattray made a great play to give Canada a 9-0 lead early in the third. She chased down a puck to nullify an icing call, then got the puck in front to Turnbull who made no mistake from close range.

Swiss captain Stalder got her team’s one goal during a 5-on-3 advantage midway through the third. Her centring pass from the side of the goal went off a stick in front and trickled between the pads of Desbiens at 8:30 to make it a 9-1 game.

Soon after, Bell got to a rebound with Brandli down and out and popped the loose puck into the net to make it 10-1. Turnbull added another, and Ambrose closed out the scoring on yet another rebound with exactly two seconds left on the clock.

Canada now has a day off before playing Finland on Saturday while the Swiss are right back at it tomorrow against ROC. All five teams in Group A advance to the quarter-finals, but superior finish will get the easier opponent in the first game of the playoffs, so every game counts.

Source: iihf.com