RUSH OF ADRENALINE
Women rout Russia, 8-0
Jenn Wakefield was back to being a bully on Monday.
It was midway through the first period of an 8-0 win against Russia when the Team Canada power forward took a pass in the slot and blasted a shot through two pairs of legs for her first goal of the women’s world hockey championship.
A couple minutes later, Wakefield absorbed a hit at the side of the net and banged in a rebound.
“I just cleaned up the garbage, as they say,” she said.
It was the kind of no-nonsense game Canada has been searching for after back-to-back losses to the U.S. and Finland to start the tournament.
With the win — combined with Finland losing 5-3 to the U.S. on Monday — Canada finished second in Group A with a 1-2 record, meaning it gets a bye to Thursday’s semifinal. The Americans finished 3-0 atop Section A.
For the 5-foot-10, 172-pound Wakefield, it was the only game she really knows how to play.
As one of the bigger players in women’s hockey — only Canada’s Natalie Spooner weighs more — Wakefield is like Gulliver among the Lilliputians. She plays a heavy game, modelled after watching the Philadelphia Flyers’ Wayne Simmonds. In a sport where bodychecking is forbidden, but body contact is allowed, Wakefield is a dangerous asset.
“She’s a big player,” linemate Meghan Agosta said. “Nobody’s going to move her.”
Against the women, this is true. Against the men, Wakefield found it was a little different.
The Pickering, Ont., native first went over to play against women in Sweden after winning gold at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. A year later, she was asked if she would also play for the men’s team in the third division.
All of a sudden, Wakefield’s biggest asset was gone. The big power forward was now one of the smaller players on the ice.
“I’m a pretty small forward with the guys, so you have to kind of play a smaller forward role. But it helped that I had really big wingers that made sure none of the guys took liberties with me,” Wakefield said. “It was fun. It’s something I would never change.”
In Sweden, Wakefield didn’t exactly shy away from contact. After all, bodychecking is part of the men’s game. But she did learn to pick her spots.
“Maybe the SHL is different than the NHL, but when you get to the lower leagues, there is quite a bit of hitting,” Wakefield. said. “I held my own. I’m 5-foot10 and pretty heavy for a girl. So it’s not like I’m five feet. I threw my body around, but I’m not going to go out and throw a massive open-ice hit and fight a guy to get the team going, right. So I didn’t do that.”
With Canada, Wakefield is taking a similar approach. She got into penalty trouble during the first two games, but walked the line against Russia. Playing on a line with Agosta and the 5-foot7, 170-pound Haley Irwin, the three forwards gave the Russian defence fits.
“Playing with Irwin and Agosta really helps,” Wakefield said. “Agosta creates a lot of space with her speed and Irwin’s a really big body down low.”
A cycle play down low led to Canada’s first goal. With Irwin parked in front of the net with a block-out-the-sun type of screen, Wakefield was allowed to fire a shot the Russian goalie never saw. The fact Wakefield has one of the hardest shots on the team made it even more unstoppable.
“Her shot is so dangerous,” head coach Laura Schuler said. “I think we have one of the smartest players playing with her in Haley Irwin. I think she does such a good job in making sure there’s a net presence for us.”
“She’s a very skilled player,” Agosta said. “Her hands alone are unbelievable. I always tell her, if you shoot the puck nobody’s going to stop it.”
“I was lucky today I only got hit by one (shot),” said Irwin.