My first introduction with the women’s game was many years ago when I was playing hockey at the University of New Brunswick in the mid-1990s. They didn’t have a women’s varsity team, but they had a club team, and every once in a while, the team needed extra support with coaching. So, for a brief time while I was playing, I jumped on the ice to help.

After that, I started to build my own coaching career on the men’s side. I was actually in Calgary working at Hockey Canada’s under-17 camp and I received a call from Darren Sutherland at Hockey Nova Scotia. He said they had to make a last-minute coaching change for their Canada Winter Games women’s hockey team, and called me first to see if I had anyone I would recommend. I think I gave them three names, but two weren’t available and one wasn’t interested, so they called me back and just asked me if I would be interested. I jumped at the opportunity and I coached at that Canada Winter Games in 2015.

The following year, that group of women I coached at the Canada Winter Games got together and wrote a letter to Hockey Nova Scotia to recommend me or nominate me for a coaching award, and I ended up winning that award. It’s kind of a cheesy part of the story, but they were playing on my heartstrings a little bit and I got hooked to women’s hockey right away.

One of the biggest reasons why I love coaching in women’s hockey is the passion they have for the game. The other part is just the high-performance side of it—when you’re coaching these women, they are true professionals. They invest almost all their time in their craft. But it really comes down to their passion. The passion they have for the game, the passion they have to play for their country and the passion they have for each other really separates them from anybody else that I’ve ever coached. They are just a special group of athletes.

I honestly feel spoiled all the time working with Canada’s National Women’s Team. Every day is fun working with these players and staff. I think the biggest thing driving me as a coach is I still think this group has room to grow. I think we’ve taken huge strides in the right direction. We’re a better team now than we have been in the past. They genuinely care about each other’s success, and they share in those successes. I just still think there’s room to improve, and if I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t be doing my job.

Some of the best parts about coaching this team are things no one would ever see. Like when you have a video session with an athlete and you bridge a gap with them and you can see them excel in that area on the ice. It’s just that little look you get when they come off the ice after they’ve accomplished something that you’ve discussed with them. Those moments to me are the real special ones. The wins and all that, that’s obviously fun, but a lot of the times they’re more of a relief than they are a high moment. It’s the little moments along the way.

I remember one special moment at the Olympics in Beijing. Because of COVID-19, the athletes had to put the medals around each other’s necks. That was just so unique and special. You look at each one while they’re doing it, and you just have a story in your head for each of those people. Maybe it’s an obstacle they had to overcome to be in that situation. Several of them had been released from the team prior to world championships, and they did what they could to get back into the mix. So, I remember just almost checking out mentally during that five-minute span of the medal ceremony and just reflecting on some of the cool stories that each person had to overcome to get to that moment. To see them getting an Olympic gold medal around their necks from one of their teammates was a pretty cool experience.

Mike Johnston coached me at the University of New Brunswick. He’s actually Rebecca Johnston’s uncle, which is funny. When I first started coaching, he told me no matter what I do in hockey, always have your province’s back. A lot of people, when they first get that opportunity in U18 or junior hockey, they forget about their provincial program. I looked up to him so much when I was younger, so I always made sure that no matter what job I had in the game, if Hockey Nova Scotia ever reached out to me, I’d be there to volunteer and to help. If I had went along my route of coaching in junior hockey or university hockey, I never would have had the experiences that ended up benefitting me the most with this job. The best experiences I had with my provincial Member were participating in short-term events, working with the best players and coaches, and gaining more high-performance experience.

Another good piece of advice I got a long time ago was simple—meet people where they’re at, even at the national team level. There are athletes coming in that are four-time Olympians, then there are some that are just hoping to get centralized or make a world championship team. As a coach, it’s so important to understand the different dynamics, and the dynamics in the women’s game tend to be much different than in the men’s game.

When I first started coaching, one of the typical questions people asked me was the difference between coaching men and coaching women. I think a lot of people make a mistake in trying to put an umbrella over their group. I always thought good coaches coach their athletes as individuals. Take the time to get to know your athletes and know what goals they have and what they want to achieve. Right now, we are trying to build our program to win a gold medal at the 2026 Olympic Games. In order to get there, I think we need to really take care of a lot of the individual stories that are involved on our team. That will be a bit more of my focus in these first few years of the quad as we get ready for 2026.

CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada has announced that the Rivalry Series between Canada’s National Women’s Team and the U.S. Women’s National Team will return north of the border in November 2022.

Canada’s first two games on home ice since winning gold at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games and 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championship will take place in Kelowna and Kamloops, B.C., respectively.

Prospera Place in Kelowna will host the first rematch of the 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championship gold medal game on Nov. 15, before the two teams meet at Sandman Centre in Kamloops on Nov. 17.

“After a successful year for our team on the ice, we are thrilled to celebrate with our fans at home by bringing the Rivalry Series to Canada this fall,” said Gina Kingsbury, director of hockey operations for Hockey Canada. “Both games will feature the best players in the world competing against each other at the highest level, and we cannot wait to reignite one of the most intense rivalries in sports.”

Ticket information for both games will be released at a later date.

The 2022-23 Rivalry Series will feature seven games between November and February, including two additional matchups being hosted in Canada in early 2023. Host locations will be announced in the coming months.

“We hope that the legacy of the Rivalry Series will last beyond the two games in British Columbia and motivate girls across the country to pick up a stick and play hockey,” said Marin Hickox, director of women and girls hockey for Hockey Canada. “This will be an incredible opportunity to watch Canada’s gold medal-winning team play on home ice against its biggest rival, and inspire the next generation of hockey players.”

Grassroots hockey initiatives will take place throughout the week to ensure ample opportunities to engage local communities with the Rivalry Series and Canada’s National Women’s Team.

For more information on Hockey Canada, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow along on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

HERNING, Denmark – Canada’s National Women’s Team won its 12^th gold medal at the IIHF Women’s World Championship, earning a close 2-1 win over the United States on Sunday night.

Brianne Jenner (Oakville, Ont./PWHPA) broke a scoreless game at the 9:30 mark of the second period, finishing off a passing play fromMarie-Philip Poulin (Beauceville, Que./PWHPA) and Ella Shelton (Ingersoll, Ont./PWHPA) to give Canada the lead. The goal would be her 100^th international point, tying her with Cassie Campbell-Pascall and Gillian Apps for 13^th all-time with Canada’s National Women’s Team. Jenner would make it a 2-0 lead just 1:24 later with her second of the game.

A late power-play in the second period for the U.S. would cut into Canada’s lead as Abby Roque would put one behind Ann-Renée Desbiens (Clermont, Que./PWHPA) to make it a 2-1 game after 40 minutes. Both sides would have chances to score in the third, including the U.S. who pulled netminder Nicole Hensley with just over two-and-a-half minutes to go in the game, but Desbiens would shut the door for the 2-1 Canada win.

“It’s always nice to get on the board first,” Jenner says. “We always had the mindset that we were going to find a way to get the job done. It felt good just to get on the board and our energy jumped up after that. I think the second period was probably our strongest of the game and really set the tone for the game. It feels amazing and it’s probably the hardest [gold medal] of the last three (2021 Worlds and the Beijing Winter Olympics), the U.S. was hungry and it’s hard to three-peat. It’s going to be even harder to defend it in April and we know the road doesn’t get any easier, but we’re committed and throughout our whole lineup we have people that will do anything for the team, so it was great to find a way to get it done.”

Following the tournament, Sarah Fillier (Georgetown, Ont./Princeton University, ECAC) was named to the Media All-Star Team.

“It feels good, and the best part is the way the team won, they found a different way to win,” says Troy Ryan (Spryfield, N.S.) “I mentioned it to a couple of players, you put that in the bank and it’s something you can draw on down the road. Maybe when things aren’t clicking as they should be, you always have a Worlds like this to say it doesn’t matter, there’s other ways you can dig down, be physical, play a little grittier. It’s just nice for this team to have that in the bank and know they can draw on it.”

Canada was 3-0-0-1 through the preliminary round, finishing second in the Group A standings with wins over Finland, Japan and Switzerland before losing to the U.S. in the final preliminary game. Canada earned a trip to the gold medal game with an 3-0 shutout of Sweden in the quarterfinals and an 8-1 semifinal win over Switzerland.

Canada has captured 12 gold medals at the IIHF Women’s World Championship (1990, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2012, 2021, 2022) in addition to eight silver (2005, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017) and one bronze (2019).

For more information on Hockey Canada and Canada’s National Women’s Team, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow along through social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

GAME STATS | LIVE BLOG

HERNING, Denmark – Canada’s National Women’s Team will look to defend its IIHF Women’s World Championship gold medal when it meets the United States on Sunday, following an 8-1 semifinal win over Switzerland on Saturday night.

• Marie-Philip Poulin (Beauceville, Que./PWHPA ) recorded a three-point night with two goals and an assist.
• Sarah Fillier (Georgetown, Ont./Princeton University) also tallied three points with one goal and two assists.
• Kristin O’Neill (Oakville, Ont./PWHPA) and Jessie Eldridge (Barrie, Ont./PWHPA) scored 10 seconds apart in the first period, each scoring their first Women’s World Championship goals.
• Emily Clark (Saskatoon, Sask./PWHPA) and Brianne Jenner (Scarborough, Ont./PWHPA) added a goal and an assist each.
• Sarah Nurse (Hamilton, Ont./PWHPA) also scored for Canada.
• Ella Shelton (Ingersoll, Ont./PWHPA) and Sarah Potomak (Aldergrove, B.C./PWHPA) each added a pair of assists.
• Renata Fast (Burlington, Ont./PWHPA), Jocelyne Larocque (Ste. Anne, Man./PWHPA ) and Emma Maltais (Burlington, Ont./PWHPA) added an assist each.
• Ann-Renée Desbiens (Clermont, Que./PWHPA) turned aside five of six shots.

· Canada outshot Switzerland 56-6.

Following the game, the tournament announced Canada’s top three players as Marie-Philip Poulin, Sarah Fillier and Jocelyne Larocque.

Next Game:

Canada vs. United States (Gold Medal Game) – Sunday, Sept. 4 (1:30 p.m. ET/10:30 a.m. PT)

Quotes:

“I liked a lot of our game, even on the bench it was a good atmosphere. Our group was engaged, and I thought we showed more depth today; all lines contributed in some capacity and we got away from just relying on just our high offence. We went low, we went middle and high and that’s a lot better way for us to play. We got kind of predictable and it’s funny, we have so much confidence in our high offence, we can rely on it too much, so I thought we had a little more variety tonight and if we bring that variety tomorrow, it’ll cause some problems.”

- Head Coach Troy Ryan (Spryfield, N.S.) on adjustments in the team’s style of play

“I think we’re aware that every game we’re going to get better and today was probably our most complete game as a group. Every line was contributing, doing the little things right and at the end of the day, that’s what’s going to make a difference in the championship game. We kept it simple, a lot of goals were just about getting the puck on net and getting to the rebound; that’s key and we’ll have to do that again tomorrow. The gold medal game is huge—I haven’t had a lot of time to think about it, but we know the target is on us and it’s okay. It’s about using the excitement and knowing [the United States] are coming for us, but just playing our game, keeping our focus on us and competing for 60 minutes.”

- Poulin on the team peaking at the right time

“I mainly play the puck as much as I can when I have the opportunity. Teams are going to try and dump the puck in a little more so working on that and communicating with my teammates. Also, in every T.V. timeout, I make sure to go to the bench, help them out, tell them what I see, what can we do better and also telling them what they did great. Obviously today they did a lot of great things, so staying involved, focused and being ready for the next shot.

“I have goosebumps just thinking and talking about it. Canada-USA is an amazing rivalry, it’s always intense and we definitely get the best out of each other. It’s physical and that’s what we love about it. It’s definitely going to be a very good game tomorrow.”

- Desbiens on staying engaged when facing minimal shots and on facing USA for gold

REMINDER: Bidding is now open for the 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championship Team Canada game-worn jersey auction, with bids closing at 9 p.m. ET on Sep. 4: HockeyCanada.ca/Auction.

For more information on Hockey Canada and Canada’s National Women’s Team, please visit HockeyCanada.ca or follow through social media onFacebook,Twitter and Instagram.

GAME NOTES: CANADA VS. UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 4)

TV: TSN | Stream: TSN Direct

Canada’s National Women’s Team will play for its 12^th world championship title in its 20 ^th gold medal matchup against the United States at the 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championship on Sunday.

LAST GAME

Canada punched its ticket to the gold medal game with an 8-1 win over Switzerland in the semifinals. Seven different Canadians scored on Saturday, including Kristin O’Neill who recorded her first goal with Canada’s National Women’s Team, plus Jessie Eldridge and Brianne Jenner netted their first goals of the world championship. Marie-Philip Poulin and Sarah Fillier both had three-point games, giving them nine and 10 respectively so far in the tournament.

The U.S. marched to its 20^th straight championship final with a 10-1 semifinal win over Czechia. Taylor Heise led the offence with two goals and three assists, while Amanda Kessel had a hat trick and an assist in the double-digit win. Nicole Hensley made nine saves to propel the United States to a spot in the gold medal game.

LAST MEETING

Canada dropped a 5-2 decision to the United States when these rivals last faced off on Tuesday in the preliminary round finale. Sarah Fillier continued her offensive streak, burying a rebound to open the scoring before Ella Shelton punched in a goal of her own on the power play. That early offence wouldn’t be enough as the United States scored five unanswered to hand Canada its first loss of the tournament. The Americans outshot the Canadians 33-28 in the game.

WHAT TO WATCH

Ella Shelton added two more assists on Saturday to lead Canada with six so far in the tournament. The playmaking blueliner’s impact is being felt in just her second world championship, recording 11 points in 13 games played at the women’s worlds in her career. Shelton’s ability to jump into the play will be crucial for Canada’s success against the U.S. on Sunday.

Hilary Knight made history on Thursday, scoring a goal and an assist against Hungary to surpass Hayley Wickenheiser as the all-time points leader at the IIHF Women’s World Championship with 87. The 5-foot-11 forward will look to add her ninth gold medal in 12 world championships since her debut in 2007.

A LOOK BACK

While Canada has the all-time edge with 94 wins in 166 games, this rivalry is about as even as they come. Need proof? In the last 14 meetings between the rivals dating back to February 2020, six of those games have needed overtime (Canada has won four, with Poulin getting the game-winning goal in three).

Looking back at the 20 gold medal games at women’s worlds, 19 of them have featured a Canada-United States matchup. The Canadians hold the narrow lead, breaking a five-year U.S. winning streak to earn their 11th title last summer in Calgary.

All-time record: Canada leads 94-71-1 (20-17 in OT/SO)
Canada goals: 456
United States goals: 403

GAME NOTES: CANADA VS. SWITZERLAND (SEPTEMBER 3)

TV: TSN | Stream: TSN Direct

Coming off a 3-0 win over Sweden in the quarterfinals, Canada’s National Women’s Team is one step closer to back-to-back gold, and will face Switzerland in the semifinals of the 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championship.

LAST GAME

Canada picked up its fourth win of the tournament on Thursday, securing a 3-0 win over Sweden in the quarterfinals. Jocelyne Larocque opened the scoring for Canada with her first career world championship goal, before Sarah Potomak danced around the Swedish defence for a highlight-reel score to extend Canada’s lead to 2-0. Erin Ambrose added a goal off a point shot in the third period to seal the victory. While the score came out in Canada’s favour, Swedish netminder Emma Soderberg did not make things easy, stopping 54 shots faced throughout the game. Ann-Renée Desbiens earned her fourth Women’s Worlds shutout by turning away nine shots.

Switzerland is coming off a thrilling 2-1 shootout victory over Japan in the quarterfinals. Sinja Leeman came away as the hero, registering the tying goal while short-handed just over six minutes into the third. With nothing decided in 3-on-3 overtime, the Swiss and Japanese went to the shootout, where another goal by Leeman alongside a score from Alina Marti booked Switzerland’s spot in the semifinals.

LAST MEETING

The Canadians and Swiss last met in the preliminary round, with Canada coming away with a 4-1 win. Sarah Fillier kicked off the scoring in the first and followed that up with another score midway through the second. Emily Clark scored her first of the tournament off a great feed from Blayre Turnbull, who would add a snipe of her own to close out the game. Canada outshot Switzerland 46-8 and successfully killed six penalties for the second game in a row.

WHAT TO WATCH

After just missing out on a spot on Canada’s Olympic Women’s Team last winter, Victoria Bach is making a statement at this world championship. After four preliminary games, Bach led all Canadian forwards in assists with four, and tied with Jocelyne Larocque for the team lead in helpers. The 26-year-old has shown versatility by being able to move throughout the lineup—she most recently played on the top line with Marie-Philip Poulin and Brianne Jenner in Canada’s quarterfinal game against Sweden. Look for her to continue to make an impact on Canada’s offence against Switzerland.

Netminder Andrea Braendli has played all five games at Women’s Worlds for Switzerland, making her mark as one of the busier goalies in this year’s tournament. Her 140 saves over 240 minutes played is the third-highest amongst goaltenders, and she comes into Saturday’s game with a .907 save percentage.

A LOOK BACK

While the Swiss women’s program has made huge strides—including Olympic bronze in 2014 and a bronze medal game appearance in 2022—Canada continues to own the head-to-head history, winning all 16 meetings thus far.

Previous to its matchup in this tournament, Canada and Switzerland met at the 2022 Olympics, with Canada coming away with a 12-1 win. Sarah Fillier scored two early goals, but it was Natalie Spooner who led the Canadian offence, tallying two goals and three assists en route to Olympic gold.

All-time record: Canada leads 16-0-0

Canada goals: 135

Switzerland goals: 7

GAME STATS | LIVE BLOG

HERNING, Denmark – Canada’s National Women’s Team booked its spot in the semifinals at the 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championship with a 3-0 shutout over Sweden on Thursday.

• Marie-Philip Poulin (Beauceville, Que./PWHPA ) drew an assist on Jocelyne Larocque’s (Ste. Anne, Man./PWHPA) goal, giving her 100 career international assists and placing her sixth all-time (behind Hayley Wickenheiser, Jayna Hefford, Caroline Ouellette, Jennifer Botterill and Danielle Goyette) with Canada’s National Women’s Team.
• Larocque’s goal at 17:11 of the first period was her first goal at a Women’s World Championship.
• Sarah Potomak (Aldergrove, B.C./PWHPA) added a goal and an assist.
• Erin Ambrose (Keswick, Ont./PWHPA) also scored for Canada.
• Renata Fast (Burlington, Ont./PWHPA), Emma Maltais (Burlington, Ont./PWHPA) and Ella Shelton (Ingersoll, Ont./PWHPA) chipped in with an assist each.
• Ann-Renée Desbiens (Clermont, Que./PWHPA) stopped all nine shots that she faced.
• Canada outshot Sweden 57-9.

Next Game:

Canada vs. Switzerland (semifinal) – Saturday, Sept. 3 (12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT)

Quotes:

“It was a hard game. They are physical, they clog the middle, they took away shot lanes, they made us work for the win and their goalie was phenomenal. I like when we’re tested. I think it builds stronger teams and we have to fight through the adversity. Our first period wasn’t the strongest, but we got better as the game went on and we stuck to the little things that we need to do. It’s common when you’re facing a hot goalie and you’re maybe not getting the result you’re hoping for to turn a little individual and think you have to do more, but this team does a good job of sticking to the game plan and it was another test to stick to it and do the little things right. I thought [in] the second and third periods we did that and committed to getting in the dirty areas, so we can build off that and we’ll continue to get better [with] every game.”

- Larocque assessing her team’s performance

“It is pretty special obviously and I’ve been pretty lucky to play with so many great players. They make me look good out there since I started playing and it’s the women that have paved the way for all of us. Hefford, Ouellette, Wick, Apps—those are all ladies I’ve played with and they are the reason that we’re here and have the chance to represent our country. It’s special but even more special that it was on Jocelyne’s first goal at the world championship, that makes it even more fun.”

- Poulin on reaching the 100-assist milestone with the National Women’s Team

“We wanted to look for some different pieces on different lines and it always takes a couple of games for the girls to find that chemistry, but this group is very adaptable and they were able to find that chemistry throughout the game. We will always keep assessing what our lineup looks like but tonight we got the job done. On the powerplay, we had some good looks and they were moving the puck around. At the end of the day, we hit a crossbar, missed a couple of nets, but it’s bearing down and making sure we’re executing because our passes are good right now.”

- Assistant Coach, Kori Cheverie (New Glasgow, N.S.) on making line adjustments

REMINDER: Bidding is now open for the 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championship Team Canada game-worn jersey auction, with bids closing at 9 p.m. ET on Sep. 4: HockeyCanada.ca/Auction.

For more information on Hockey Canada and Canada’s National Women’s Team, please visit HockeyCanada.ca or follow through social media on Facebook,Twitter and Instagram.

GAME NOTES: CANADA VS. SWEDEN (SEPTEMBER 1)

TV: TSN | Stream: TSN Direct

After finishing second in Group A in the preliminary round, Canada’s National Women’s Team gets the playoffs started with a quarterfinal matchup against Sweden at the 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championship.

LAST GAME

Canada dropped its prelim finale, falling 5-2 to the United States on Tuesday. Sarah Fillier continued her offensive streak, burying a rebound to open the scoring and tie for the tournament goal-scoring lead, before Ella Shelton punched in a goal of her own on the power play to give the Canadians a two-goal advantage after 20 minutes. But the offence dried up from there, and the U.S. scored five unanswered goals to take top spot in the group.

Sweden is coming off a 3-0 loss to undefeated Czechia on Tuesday to close out its preliminary schedule. Emma Soderberg stopped 21 out of 23 shots, but the Swedes couldn’t solve Klara Peslarova on 27 tries and suffered their first loss.

LAST MEETING

The Canadians and Swedes last met in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, with Canada earning the 11-0 win. Brianne Jenner and Sarah Fillier each recorded hat tricks, while Marie-Philip Poulin and Sarah Nurse tallied four assists each. Emerance Maschmeyer earned the shutout, turning away the 11 shots she faced.

WHAT TO WATCH

Maschmeyer and Ann-Renée Desbiens both got two starts in the prelims, leaving Troy Ryan and his coaching staff with a decision to make for the playoff round. Desbiens has the better numbers, with a 1.00 goals-against average and .920 save percentage (Maschmeyer is at 2.02 and .892), but the Albertan looked good against the U.S., preserving the Canadian lead early and suffering a little bit of bad puck luck.

For Sweden, Hanna Olsson has been the breakout star, recording four goals (tied with Fillier and Czech sniper Natalia Mlynkova for the tournament lead) and five points in the prelims. The 23-year-old had a hat trick in an opening win over Denmark and showed she can finish under pressure, scoring shootout winners in victories over Germany and Hungary.

A LOOK BACK

Canada is a perfect 9-0 against Sweden at women’s worlds, outscoring the Swedes 74-6. The last time these two teams met at the worlds was in 2009, when eventual tournament MVP Carla MacLeod tallied a goal and four assists in a 7-0 win.

MacLeod’s five-point performance is one of five such efforts over the years; Jennifer Botterill holds the single-game high with six (a hat trick and three assists) at the 2000 4 Nations Cup, while Meghan Agosta (3-2—5) and Hayley Wickenheiser (1-4—5) both had five in a 13-1 win at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

All-time record: Canada leads 77-2-1
Canada goals: 503
Sweden goals: 68

GAME STATS | LIVE BLOG

HERNING, Denmark – Canada’s National Women’s Team closed out preliminary-round play at the 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championship om Tuesday, dropping a 5-2 decision to the United States.

• Sarah Fillier (Georgetown, Ont./PWHPA) scored her tournament-leading fourth goal.
• Ella Shelton (Ingersoll, Ont./PWHPA) scored on a first-period power play.
• Victoria Bach (Milton, Ont./PWHPA), Renata Fast (Burlington, Ont./PWHPA), Kristin O’Neill (Oakville, Ont./PWHPA) and Sarah Potomak (Aldergrove, B.C./PWHPA) chipped in with an assist each.
• Emerance Maschmeyer (Bruderheim, Alta./PWHPA) stopped 28 of 32 shots.
• The U.S. outshot Canada 32-28.

Next Game:

Canada vs. Sweden (quarterfinal) – Thursday, Sept. 1 (2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT)

Quotes:

“I thought the second period at times was a better period than the first. We had a breakdown on the penalty kill and then a breakdown on defensive-zone coverage and those momentum swings in a game are tough to come back from. In the second period we made some adjustments on our breakouts, and we were able to exit the zone a little bit better. It’s tough, a 2-2 game, but you can’t give a team like that a chance to get back in the game.”

- Head coach Troy Ryan (Spryfield, N.S.) on his team’s performance

“I thought we stuck to a lot of the key things we outlined before the game. I thought we had a good forecheck and got up ice and pressured them a lot. It’s always tough after a loss like that, you don’t want to overreact, you just have to go back, watch some video and make some adjustments that will help in the next game. You certainly don’t want to ride the emotion [of a loss], there’s lots of hockey left in this tournament. The loss certainly doesn’t affect our confidence; we’ll try and learn from it and get better.”

- Brianne Jenner (Oakville, Ont./PWHPA) on staying confident despite the loss

“I think the power play was huge for us. We had chances to tie it up, but I don’t think we were as much of a threat as usual. That’s something we’re going to have to work for so we’ll look at some video and see what we can do differently. It’s not a time to panic for us, it’s a game and it’s a process. It’s never going to be perfect, but it’s a matter of us being resilient and coming back to work tomorrow.”

- Marie-Philip Poulin (Beauceville, Que./PWHPA) on not capitalizing on the powerplay

For more information on Hockey Canada and Canada’s National Women’s Team, please visit HockeyCanada.ca or follow through social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

GAME NOTES: CANADA VS. UNITED STATES (AUGUST 30)

TV: TSN | Stream: TSN Direct

The preliminary round comes to a close Tuesday at the 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championship, with Canada’s National Women’s Team facing off against its long-time rivals from the United States as it tries to finish a perfect prelims and claim first place in Group A.

LAST GAME

Canada continued its unbeaten start with a 9-0 shutout win over Japan on Sunday. Sixteen different skaters got on the scoresheet, led by two goals and an assist from Marie-Philip Poulin, and a goal and a helper apiece from Sarah Fillier and Victoria Bach. Emerance Maschmeyer needed to make just five saves for her fourth consecutive women’s worlds shutout, dating back to 2019.

The U.S. came away with an identical score to Canada, blanking Switzerland 9-0 on Monday to hold onto top spot in the group by way of goal differential. Hilary Knight and Taylor Heise both scored twice and Hannah Bilka had a goal and two assists for the Americans, who have scored 25 goals in their three wins while allowing just one.

LAST MEETING

Canada saw the United States in pre-tournament action, beating its southern neighbours 3-1 ahead of women's worlds. After the Americans opened the scoring in the first period, Blayre Turnbull tied it with an unassisted effort in the second and Jessie Eldridge converted on a power play for the game-winner. Fillier added insurance in the third for the Canadians, who won their fifth in a row over the U.S.

WHAT TO WATCH

Blayre Turnbull has led the way in Denmark. This is the fifth women’s worlds for the Stellarton, N.S., native, who famously broke her leg in the gold medal celebration a year ago in Calgary. She has come back with a vengeance from the injury, posting seven points (4-3—7) in seven games at the Olympics last February and registering five (3-2—5) in three games so far at worlds, centering Emily Clark and Victoria Bach on Canada’s third line. She is also winning 56.8% of her faceoffs (25 of 44), second-best among players with at least 40 draws.

Heise made quite a splash in her women’s worlds debut, posting five assists in the first two periods of the Americans’ opening win over Japan, one off the tournament record. The 22-year-old – who won three gold medals with the U.S. at the IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship (2016, 2017, 2018) and was MVP in her first U18 appearance – sits atop the scoring race (2-6—8) with one game left in the prelims.

A LOOK BACK

While Canada has the all-time edge with 94 wins in 165 games, this rivalry is about as even as they come. Need proof? In the last 13 meetings between the rivals, dating back to February 2020, six of those games have needed overtime (Canada has won four, with Poulin getting the game-winning goal in three).

Of 20 gold medal games at women’s worlds, 19 of them have featured a Canada-United States matchup. The Canadians hold the narrow lead, breaking a five-year U.S. winning streak to earn their 11th title last summer in Calgary.

All-time record: Canada leads 94-70-1 (20-17 in OT/SO)
Canada goals: 454
United States goals: 398