2011-12 National Women's Team

Game Summary

Sweden 6 - Canada 4


CANADIAN WOMEN'S HOCKEY TEAM FALLS 6-4 TO SWEDEN AT 12 NATIONS TOURNAMENT

VIERUMÄKI, Finland – The Canadian women's hockey team closed the 12 Nations tournament with a 6-4 loss to Sweden on Wednesday.

It's just the second time the Swedish women have ever beaten Canada in international hockey. The last time was at the 2008 4 Nations Cup in Lake Placid, N.Y., where the Swedes edged Canada 2-1 in overtime.

“From a player's perspective we're extremely disappointed,” said veteran forward Jayna Hefford. “We don't feel like maybe we performed at the level we need to.

“We've played seven games in eight nights and we don't want to use that as an excuse. I think today we ran out of gas a little bit. We pressed as hard as we could at the end to get a few opportunities, but they played well today.”

Playing their fifth game in as many days, Canada trailed the Swedes 4-1 early in the second period.

The Canadians pelted goaltender Kim Martin with 53 shots, but Sweden's heroine in a silver-medal effort at the 2006 Olympics was up to the task.

Meghan Agosta of Ruthven, Ont., scored twice before the end of the second period to pull Canada within one goal. Sweden's Gizela Blom scored at 4:07 of the third, Agosta completed the hat trick at 5:15 before Pernilla Winberg sealed sealed the win for the Swedes at 17:23.

Mallory Deuce of London, Ont., scored for Canada 11 seconds into the game but Michelle Loewenhielm tied it at 2:30.

Sweden's Frida Nevalainen, Elin Holmlov and Anna Borgqvist scored in a span of eight minutes 18 seconds to start the second period. Winberg also had three assists for the Swedes.

Canada split goaltending duties between starter Geneviève Lacasse of Kingston, Ont., and reliever Christina Kessler of Mississauga, Ont. Lacasse gave up four goals and Kessler two.

The Swedes finished with a 5-1 record followed by Canada at 4-2. The U.S. (5-0) was to meet Finland (4-1) in a later game. Canada edged Finland 3-2 on Monday.

The 12 Nations is a new women's tournament sanctioned by the International Ice Hockey Federation. The IIHF wants to close the large gaps between countries in the sport by providing more competition. The goal is to encourage federations to put resources into women's hockey while also motivating individual players to improve their fitness and skills.

Canada didn't bring its entire roster from this year's world championship. Instead, head female scout Melody Davidson introduced a few younger players to Canada's roster, including three goaltenders who hadn't played at the world's top level before: Lacasse, Kessler and Liz Knox.

Hockey Canada also didn't want to pull players out of school for both the tournament and a national team camp at the end of September. As a result, forwards Rebecca Johnston and Marie-Philip Poulin, who helped Canada win gold in the 2010 Olympics, were not in the lineup.

Captain Hayley Wickenheiser declined an invitation to play in the tournament because of family commitments, including her son starting school. Forward Cherie Piper had a teaching internship and Sarah Vaillancourt is dealing with a hip injury. Canada's 12 Nations roster included just 10 forwards.

“It definitely had an impact on our performance in the last couple of games in particular,” Canadian head coach Dan Church said. “That depth is such an advantage for us and when we only send 10 (forwards) and you take some of those players who have been on the team out of that lineup, it definitely hurts us.

“We probably could have buried a couple of chances we had today, had we had fresh legs, but I think overall it was a good experience for us to play with some adversity.”

The 12 Nations tournament included the U.S., Canada, Finland, Sweden, Slovakia, Russia, Switzerland and Japan playing in Vierumaki, while France, Norway, Germany and the Czech Republic played a mini-tournament at the same time in Courcheval, France.

“We'd like to see Switzerland and Russia push more because we know they have strong federations behind them,” Hefford said. “But Sweden and Finland are definitely coming on.

“From a development point of view, I was really impressed by Finland and Sweden this week. They didn't sit back and trap like sometimes they've done in the past.”



Game Information
Game Number 25 Round Round Robin
Arena Vierumaki Ice Rink - 2 City, Country Vierumäki, FIN
Month / Day / Year 08/31/2011 Time 08:00 AM ET
Attendance
Game Status Final

Box Score 1 2 3 Total
Sweden (SWE) 1 3 2 6
Canada (CAN) 1 2 1 4

Goals/Penalties
First Period
Goals:
00:11 CAN 14 Mallory Deluce
02:30 SWE 9 Michelle Löwenhielm (21 Rebecca Stenberg)

Penalties:
08:55 SWE 18 Anna Borgqvist (Interference)
17:29 CAN 13 Caroline Ouellette (Bodychecking)

Second Period
Goals:
01:59 SWE 3 Frida Nevalainen (16 Pernilla Winberg) PP
03:03 SWE 2 Elin Holmlov (16 Pernilla Winberg) PP
08:18 SWE 18 Anna Borgqvist
08:48 CAN 2 Meghan Agosta (25 Tessa Bonhomme, 13 Caroline Ouellette)
18:31 CAN 2 Meghan Agosta (21 Haley Irwin, 18 Catherine Ward)

Penalties:
00:51 CAN 12 Meaghan Mikkelson (Hooking)
01:39 CAN 3 Jocelyne Larocque (Tripping)
03:44 SWE 12 Linnea Hedin (Cross Checking)
09:40 CAN 20 Jennifer Wakefield (Tripping)
14:47 CAN 20 Jennifer Wakefield (Tripping)

Third Period
Goals:
04:07 SWE 29 Gizela Blom (16 Pernilla Winberg)
05:15 CAN 2 Meghan Agosta (16 Jayna Hefford, 9 Courtney Birchard)
17:23 SWE 16 Pernilla Winberg (2 Elin Holmlov )

Penalties:
09:05 SWE 3 Frida Nevalainen (Hooking)
11:49 CAN 21 Haley Irwin (Hooking)


Goaltenders
Sweden
30 Kim Martin On 1/00:00 Off 3/20:00
Canada
30 Christina Kessler On 2/09:41 Off 3/18:57
31 Geneviéve Lacasse On 1/00:00 Off 2/09:40

Shots on Goal 1 2 3 Total
Sweden 5 8 14 27
Canada 19 17 17 53