Canada had to find a different way to win a women’s world hockey title after its Olympic triumph earlier this year and world championship gold a year ago.
This edition was a work in progress throughout the tournament in Denmark, but Canada played its best game of the tournament in Sunday’s 2-1 win over archrival U.S. in the final.
The Canadian women won their third major international title in the span of a year after beating the U.S. 3-2 for Olympic gold in February in Beijing, and 3-2 in overtime in the 2021 world championship final just over a year ago.
“It wasn’t smooth. It looked a lot different from our Olympic win and our last world championship win, but I think we’re really reassured when things aren’t as smooth we can find different ways to win,” Canadian forward Brianne Jenner said. “We battled it out and got the job done.”
After a quiet tournament in the scoring department, Jenner scored two second-period goals within a minute of each other Sunday.
Goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens was the calm eye of the storm in the third as the U.S. pushed furiously for an equalizer.
The Canadians were outshot 12-6 in the third period, but they blocked shots with abandon over the final two minutes when the U.S. pulled Nicole Hensley for an extra attacker.
Desbiens made 20 saves for the win, while Hensley stopped 17 shots.
“I think coming into this tournament, we had the confidence that we were the best team in the world,” Canadian forward Sarah Nurse said.
“We really wanted to show that. Winning three gold medals in one year is so special and something I don’t know we’ll ever be able to do again, but it just shows how hard our program has worked, where we are today.”
Canada lost 5-2 in the preliminary round to a U.S. team that appeared ready to reclaim women’s hockey supremacy.
Both Canada and the U.S. returned 18 players from their Olympic rosters.
The Americans seemed to absorb what lineup changes there were quicker than the Canadians, who were juggling forward line combinations throughout the tournament in an effort to find chemistry.
Canada’s execution in an 8-1 semifinal win over the Swiss indicated the defending champions were finding their form.
But the U.S. went undefeated into the final with a plus-47 goal differential compared to Canada’s plus-22, whereas Canada had boasted the high-octane offence in Beijing.
“What we were able to accomplish at the Olympics was extremely special,” Jenner said. “To come in six months after an Olympics, to be able to have a summer of training and get the focus back and try to defend a world title is not easy.
“I think this was one of the toughest ones and we’re feeling pretty good we found a way to get it done.’
In addition to moving the puck quicker and cleaner than it did in the loss to the U.S., Canada also defended more tenaciously in the box between and below the faceoff dots.
Canada’s power play went 0-for-2 in the first period before Jenner converted a third chance in the second. The U.S went 1-for-3 with a man advantage over the back half of the game.
U.S. forward Abby Roque, who scored her team-leading fourth power-play goal of the tournament with less than a minute to play in the second period, accused the Canadians of diving.
“I think they have lots of players who dive around,” Roque said. “I think it’s ridiculous. It’s not the way to play hockey. We play a tough, disciplined game. That’s how we are.
“We want to play physical like hockey should be and they’ve got a lot of players who jump into the boards.”
Canada and the U.S. have met in the final of all but one world championship since the inaugural tournament in Ottawa in 1990.
The U.S. won five straight world titles, as well as Olympic gold in 2018, before Canada’s women heaved hard over the last year on the rope in the tug of war that’s been their rivalry,
“We’ve got to find a way to flip the script,” U.S. captain Kendall Coyne Schofield said.
Jenner’s nine goals in Beijing matched an Olympic tournament record, but the veteran didn’t score in the world championship until Saturday’s semifinal.
“I think my shot percentage was not great earlier in the tournament, but I just kept telling myself if you’re creating chances and have good habits and do something positive when you’re out there, when you work hard sometimes you’re rewarded in the end,” she said.
The 2021 world championship was delayed to August because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The International Ice Hockey Federation introducing a top-tier women’s championship in the same year as the Olympic Games for the first time compressed three major tournaments into just over 12 months.
“Not normal,” said Canadian head coach Troy Ryan, who will coach the Canadian women through to the 2026 Olympic Games.
“I don’t think you usually get three times to peak. It can be exhausting. I feel for this group. They found grit. They’re exhausted without a doubt. You can see it emotionally. They’re drained trying to get up to their top level three times. They deserve so much credit for just sticking with it.”
The 2023 women’s championship will be held in Canada in a city yet to be announced, followed by the U.S. hosting it in 2024. Canada and the United States will also square off in a seven-game Rivalry Series this winter.
The 10-country field in Denmark was minus Russia after it was barred by the IIHF from international tournaments for that country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Czechia reached the final four and the podium for the first time Sunday beating Switzerland 4-2 for the bronze medal. The Czechs were coached in Denmark by Calgary’s Carla Macleod, a former Canadian team defender.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 4, 2022
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
