Now it gets real for Team Canada
Quarter-final next step on golden quest
CALGARY • No matter the colour scheme or the logo on the sweater, there is only one aim as the 2021 IIHF women’s world championship moves into the playoff round.
Beat the team in front of you and keep the ball rolling.
That will be Team Canada’s objective as they take on Germany in their quarter-final matchup on Saturday at Winsport Arena. The same two teams met at the 2019 worlds, with Canada skating away with a 5-0 victory then.
Game time is 7 p.m. EST. The other quarter-final matchups are: the U.S. against Japan, Finland versus the Czech Republic and ROC taking on Switzerland.
It’s a vastly different squad Canada faces than on
Thursday, when they overwhelmed the defending champion U.S. squad. The desire certainly will be to try to maintain that extremely high level of intensity.
“We have to focus on bringing our best, regardless of our opponent,” said Canadian defender Claire Thompson, appearing in her first world championship. “Our goals are the same, just focus on ourselves getting better each time we play and that helps us bring our best to each and every performance.”
The Canadians know, too, that at this stage it’s preferable not to look too far into the future.
“I think when you get to the quarter-finals, it’s do-or-die for every team,” suggested forward Blayre Turnbull, “so we’re going to see their best effort and we know we can’t take them lightly,”
There was no update on Friday as to captain Marie-philip Poulin’s availability for the quarter-final. Poulin suffered an upper-body injury in Tuesday’s
game against Switzerland and missed Thursday’s tilt.
In that game, Jamie-lee Rattray took Poulin’s place on the top line and rose to the challenge, scoring twice.
“We just have good depth right now,” explained Canada’s head coach Troy Ryan after the game. “As a staff, we’ve talked a lot about working through little things, making adjustments and making some changes so we can feel comfortable with what we’ve put together. We’re comfortable right now where we’re at.”
Canada, 4-0, topped all entries in the round robin with 20 goals for, while allowing just five. Germany had two wins and two losses in Group B, scoring seven goals and allowing five in those matches.
“Obviously, it’s going to be really hard to play against them, because they’re a really good team,” said Germany’s Marie Delarbre.
“But as our coach said, we’ve got nothing to lose so we’re going to into the game, do our best. We’re underdogs so really anything can happen. I think it’s great to play against Canada when worlds are in Canada. It’s going to be a great experience.”
“We’re looking forward to playing Canada,” added head coach Thomas Schadler. “Like the girls said, we have nothing to lose. We scouted the Canadian team. We need a really good defence, be solid in our zone. I think the Canadians want to end the drought of the championship and they take us serious for sure.”
Here’s a quick look at the other three quarter-final matches (all times EDT):
ROC vs. Switzerland, noon
ROC, sporting a relatively young squad, managed one victory in four games. Captain Olga Sosina continues to lead the Russians. Switzerland, meanwhile, was winless in the round robin, yet have a couple of impressive players in net — Andrea Braendli and Saskia Maurer, whose save percentages were both over 90 per cent. They both have the ability to steal a game.
U.S. vs. Japan, 3:30 p.m.
Their loss to Canada put the Americans in second spot in Group A, heralding a game against the Japanese, who were second in Group B. The U.S., led by captain Kendall Coyne Schofield, will attempt to return to their strong play and shouldn’t be pressed by Japan. The latter will be led by Hanae Kubo and Hikaru Yamashita, each finishing the round robin with a pair of goals.
Finland vs. Czech Republic, 10:30 p.m.
The Czechs were one of the most impressive sides during the first round of the 2021 tournament. They scored 16 goals and allowed three in their four wins. Captain Alena Mills and Dominika Laskova collected four goals apiece. Finland, the silver medallist in 2019, took a while to find its footing but finished off with an impressive 6-0 win over the Swiss. Their most dangerous player is Petra Nieminen, who scored a tournament-high five goals.