Canadian Women Win Tournament Opener/Sarah Nurse on NHL 23 Cover

 

Photo From Sportsnet

Hockey Canada at least on the ice has been on quite the roll as of late with Canada winning the Hlinka Gretzky Cup at the start of August, it was then followed by Canada winning this summers World Junior Championship, well now it is time for the women to take the ice as the Women’s World Championships began this afternoon in Denmark. Usually, this event isn’t held in an Olympic year so in a normal international calendar the IIHF would treat the Beijing Olympics as the World Championships but for the first time ever they decided to hold a separate tournament for the top division. Canada who won the tournament last year would look to defend their title as they began their tournament against Finland who in recent years has become a difficult opponent for the Canadians. Canada would be playing this tournament without a very familiar face as Natalie Spooner has moved on from the National Team and has decided to become a mom, so it goes without saying but congratulations to Natalie.

Canada would hand the first game of the tournament to netminder Ann-Renee Desbiens while Finland would have Anni Keisala who in the previous year’s event appeared in every game before being named the goalie of the 2021 tournament.

The opening period would see both teams attempt to find their footing in the game, but it would be Finland with the early opportunity as Sarah Nurse would be sent off for tripping. With Finland on the early powerplay Canada’s aggressive penalty kill would get right to work but then with a minute remaining in the Nurse minor and the play in Canada’s end of the rink a complete lack of discipline would be shown as Petra Nieminen would be given a major penalty for cross checking from behind on a vulnerable Canadian defender. Team Canada would kill off the remainder of the Nurse penalty before going to work on their major power play and it didn’t tell long for Canada to apply pressure on their opponent as the shots began to pile up forcing Keisala to freeze the puck to slow the momentum for Canada. The powerplay would open the scoring after a faceoff was won in the Finland zone. The draw would be sent back to the right point to Jocelyn Larocque and she would quickly send a pass to the far point to a waiting Marie-Philip Poulin who although she is known for her great scoring ability this time she would show her great vision by sending a snap pass right into the slot where a waiting Sarah Nurse would redirect the puck into the roof of the net to give Canada the 1-0 lead. Midway through period one Canada would be shorthanded once again as Nurse would be called for high sticking. Finland would be on the advantage once again but this time they would be the ones controlling things as Canada would be the ones stuck in their zone. Finland would see their powerplay expire but seconds later they would tie the game as a point shot would be knocked down in front of the Canadian goal and the loose puck would end up on the blade of Julia Liikala and she would beat a sprawling Desbiens leveling the game at ones.

It wouldn’t take long for Canada to pull ahead once again when Sarah Nurse would begin Canada’s counterattack by sending a stretch pass to Jocelyn Larocque who would carry the puck into the Fins zone before dropping the puck off to Poulin. She would then use the Finish defender as a screen where she would then send a wrist shot into the net beating Keisala on the blocker side giving Canada the 2-1 lead. With the first period winding down it looked as if the teams would head into the first intermission with Canada leading but the pesky Fins gave Canada a late scare as Kiira Yrjanen would be in all alone on a breakaway. Poulin would end up hooking the hands of Yrjanen leading to a penalty shot and a last second chance for Finland to tie the game for a second time, but unfortunately Yrjanen would fail to score, and Canada would remain in the lead as they prepared for the second period.

Canada would really begin to show their dominance in this period as Keisala would face shot after shot but to her credit she did a great job keeping the Canadian lead at one goal. Midway through the period however Canada would manage to solve Keisala for a third time when Canada would be piling on the pressure as a point shot would be stopped but Meaghan Mikkelson would find the puck in her feet and slide it into the net for her first Canadian goal in five years and Canada would have a well deserved 3-1 lead. Late in the second period the parade to the penalty box would continue for Canada as Sarah Potomak would be called for roughing and Sarah Nurse would be sent off for her third minor, but thanks to Canada’s aggressive penalty kill Finland’s power play would remain scoreless and after forty minutes Canada would take a 3-1 lead into the intermission.

With twenty minutes remaining in this game Finland would have a good opportunity to pull themselves closer to their opponent as Canada would have two players sent off yet again by the midway point of the final period. Finland who had been heavily outshot for most of the game would find themselves defending despite having to separate powerplays. Canada would at this point begin to slow the game down by turning away any attempt of an attack from their opponent. Late in regulation Finland would call Keisala to the bench and play with an extra attacker but Canada would put this game out of reach for Finland as Emily Clark would assist Blayre Turnbull on her empty net goal giving Canada the 4-1 win to open this tournament in Denmark. Canada will now have Friday off where they will prepare for their next opponent, Switzerland.

Photo From EA Sports

Before I wrap this one up, I want to mention that EA Sports revealed the cover for their upcoming game NHL 23 and for the first time ever a woman is featured on the cover as Sarah Nurse will be featured on the cover along side Anaheim star Trevor Zegras. I am not going to talk about how fans criticizing the Zegras selection because in my opinion that is just people who need to find better things to do with their time. Instead, I am going to focus on the huge positive that is Nurse being on the games cover. For years we have had people go on and on about how the women’s game needs to grow, Rosie DiManno comes to mind seeing as she does nothing but knock the Women’s game. With Sarah Nurse being featured on the cover and the Women’s rosters being included in the game this is just another step in the right direction because young girls who may have watched this afternoon’s game will see this and bug their parents to buy them a copy so they can hijack their brothers Playstation or Xbox and play using their favorite women players that they watch on tv and maybe this will help them find an interest in hockey and maybe they will want to get involved in the sport. I am all for growing the game of hockey and any form of exposure can only be a positive for the women's game.

That’s all for this one thanks as always for reading.