Canada Are Off to the Semifinals

 

Photo From CBC

After falling to the American’s, the other day to close out group play team Canada would look to rebound in their quarterfinal matchup against Sweden who at one time were a team constantly making it to the bronze Medal game but as of late they seem to be going through a change because they haven’t been as competitive as they once were. So, in this Quarterfinal matchup Canada would give the net back to Ann-Renee Desbiens who won Canada’s first two games of this tournament while Sweden would have Emma Soderberg starting.

Unlike the other night where Canada seemed to be slow and chasing the play right from the opening faceoff the Canadians simply dominated the action because in the first period, they would register the first twelve shots on goal before their opponent could even have a chance to set up. Canada would have a few powerplays early in period one but we unable to capitalize on their opportunities due to some strong defensive play by Sweden and some fantastic goaltending by Soderberg. I am just going to let you readers know now that Soderberg faced fifty-seven total shots and stopped fifty-four of them if it were not for her unbelievable play in goal this would have been a double-digit score line for the Canadians. With the shots piling up for Canada they would find the back of the net late in the opening frame when Poulin would work the puck over to Renata Fast whose centering pass would find Jocelyne Larocque and Jocelyn’s shot from the high slot would light the lamp and Canada would have the deserved 1-0 advantage. This goal would be a memorable one as it was Jocelyn’s first ever goal for Canada at the Worlds.

Shortly after opening the scoring Canada would be shorthanded as Sarah Nurse would be penalized for Holding but Sweden’s powerplay could not apply any pressure and the teams would head into the first intermission with the score 1-0 for Canada and just to give you an idea of what Soderberg was dealing with the shots were 14-1 for the Canadians, I’m telling you she was great. Period two would start with three consecutive Sweden penalties but Soderberg would keep Canada’s lead at just one goal.

Although the powerplay was unable to add to Canada’s lead at the thirteen-minute mark of the second period we would see possibly the nicest goal of this tournament as Ella Shelton would send Sarah Potomak in for a great scoring chance. Potomak would beat the lone defender and pull off a beautiful forehand backhand deke before sliding the puck by Soderberg doubling Canada’s lead to 2-0. Canada’s penalty troubles would continue as they would be shorthanded twice after the Potomak goal, but it would not come back to bite them as Canada’s aggressive penalty would not allow Sweden any time to apply any pressure with the hopes of cutting into their two-goal deficit.

The teams would line up for the faceoff as the third period would begin with Sweden once again finding themselves shorthanded but Canada would continue looking for answers as their powerplay would continue to struggle but Canada was perfectly content with just running the clock down in the third because although the score was close this game was never in doubt if you are a Canadian supporter as Canada controlled every single aspect of this Quarterfinal game. Midway through the third and final period any hope of a Sweden comeback was dashed when the Canadians would have possession in the offensive zone and show their elite skill with a serious of great passing. Emma Maltais would send the puck over to Potomak at the point, she would then send the puck to Erin Ambrose and with a kinds of traffic in front of Soderberg Ambrose would send a wrist shot on goal that would beat Soderberg on her blocker side. With Canada now ahead 3-0 all that was left was closing this game out and give Desbiens the shutout and that is exactly what would happen, and regulation would expire, and Desbiens would earn her first shutout of this tournament stopping just nine Swedish shots.

With all Semifinal matchups now set for Saturday the Americans will square off against Czechia who earned the upset of the tournament as Czechia would upset Finland to reach their first ever Semifinal at this event. Canada will have a rematch against Switzerland in their semifinal matchup Saturday afternoon.

Before I wrap this one up tragedy struck the hockey world when Eli Palfreyman who a week ago was named captain of the Ayr Centennials a Junior B hockey team here in Ontario tragically passed away during a preseason tournament that his team was hosting, he was just twenty years of age. There are little details as to what caused his passing but at this point it doesn’t matter because to lose your life at just twenty years old it just isn’t supposed to happen. I want to pass along my condolences to Eli’s family and to his hockey family in Ayr.

 

Thanks everyone for reading.