Canada Falls in Group A Finale

 

Photo From Canadian Press

This afternoon after coming off 4-1 wins against Switzerland and a 9-0 win over Japan Canada and USA would meet in the final game of Group A at the Women’s World Hockey Championships. To be honest right from the very start you could see Canada simply just did not have it. Emerance Maschmeyer would be in goal for the Canadians while Nicole Hensley would be in goal for the Americans. Right from the opening faceoff the Americans would start the game with all sorts of energy as they would test Maschmeyer almost instantly, but she would shut the door early on the Americans. Going entirely against the flow of play it would be Canada opening the scoring when while playing in the American’s end the puck would be worked back to the point where Renata Fast would send a point shot on goal towards a screened Hensley. The puck would be knocked down and Sarah Fillier would find the puck in her skates before sliding it into the back of the net giving Canada the early 1-0 lead and collecting her fourth point of the tournament. Now, usually if a team starts a game sluggish if they manage to score a goal it often sparks the team and their play greatly improves, well in this case team USA would continue to apply pressure with wave after wave of attack but thanks to Maschmeyer standing tall between the pipes the Canadians would remain in front. Late in the opening period Canada would head to the powerplay.

Before I go any further, I want to say that it is about time we got to watch an IIHF Women’s hockey game where officials allowed contact to take place and did not blow the whistle every time two players collided. For those who many are not aware at the women’s level the IIHF does not allow body checking, yes you have read that right body checking is a two-minute minor at this level. It is embarrassing, in my opinion that the most basic part of the game is not allowed. I believe that body checking should be allowed in the women’s game because if the International Ice Hockey Federation wants women’s hockey to be taken a little more seriously then they may want to change some of their rules. Now, by no means am I saying that if we allow body checking that we will see hits like Scott Stevens used to throw all I am saying is that if the women want to have the same treatment as their male counterparts not only should they be paid accordingly but they should be allowed to play their game the same way. We all watched the World Juniors, or we all watch NHL games and if a defender drives his shoulder into the chest of the opposing puck carrier, we all say, “wow great hit” and the play continues but in women’s hockey usually if a check is thrown it is a minor penalty and to me that makes zero sense.

 

So, with that mini rant out of the way Canada would head to the advantage and their powerplay would come through because while there was a scramble in front of the US goal Ella Shelton would chip the puck into the roof of the net and Canada’s lead would double to 2-0, and this would be the score after twenty minutes despite Canada being heavily outplayed and out shot by their long time rivals.

As period two was set to begin I was sitting their hoping that Canada would have found their game and would then take control of this matchup but sadly the Canadians would find themselves shorthanded as Meaghan Mikkelson would be called for Hooking. Just like the Canadian powerplay it would not take long for USA to solve Maschmeyer as Megan Keller would light the lamp and the Americans would cut into team Canada’s lead as they now trailed 2-1. It was at this point that the States would completely take this game over and their powerplay marker would energize the team. Canada would try to regain their footing in this game, but it was to no avail because midway through this period the rival Americans would complete the comeback leveling this game at twos after Kelly Pannek would score her second goal of this tournament. With the score now tied the United States would have all the energy causing Canada to chase the game but once again Maschmeyer would do the best she could to bail her team out and thankfully for the Canadians time would expire and Canada would escape to the dressing room with the game still tied despite a strong effort by the Americans.

Period three would be a very disappointing one for Canada and its fans because for the first time in the tournament they would be trailing as Lacey Eden would put the stars and stripes ahead 3-2. With Canada having to play catch up you could simply see that Canada did not have the energy to climb back to level terms and the States had total control of this game and their opponents. After falling behind early in the third period Kendall Coyne Schofield would serve a minor for Boarding. With Canada given an opportunity to once again level the score their advantage would expire, and Schofield would leave the sin bin and put the game to rest as she beat the Canadian netminder in the high slot scoring her first goal collecting her eighth point of the event. With Canada trailing 4-2 their frustration would begin to boil over as Renata Fast would be called for Roughing. Canada however, would manage to kill off the minor but Hillary Knight would score her teams fifth goal of the game and this goal would be a milestone one for the US legend as is it would be her 50^th goal at the World Championships and her 85^th point putting her one point away from matching the career total of Canadian hockey legend and now member of Maple Leafs staff Hayley Wickenheiser. The final buzzer would sound, and the Americans would win this game 5-2 securing them first place in Group A. The Americans will now prepare for their Quarterfinal matchup against Hungary while the Canadians who had they won this afternoon’s game would have drawn Germany in the Quarterfinal round but instead they will now meet team Sweden in the next round.

I think today’s loss to the Americans is the exact wakeup call the team needed, all tournament despite winning their three previous games you could see that discipline and play in their end of the rink was a concerning issue. Well after today hopefully Canada realizes they need to be cleaned up because these games have more at stake because now it is you win, or you go home.

 

Canada will now play Thursday afternoon thanks as always for reading.