Natalie Spooner will be wearing her jersey on Sunday afternoon, and she’ll be yelling at a giant projector screen in the backyard of her home in Komoka, Ont., while she watches her teammates battle the Americans for a world championship gold medal in Denmark.
For the first time in more than a decade, Spooner — who’ll be cheering for Canada along with her husband, her parents and some neighbours — won’t be a big part of the action herself. And that, sports fans, hasn’t been easy so far.
“It’s way more stressful watching,” says the two-time Olympic and world champion. The dynamic forward with the big smile made her debut at the worlds in 2011 and has been on every Canadian roster since, until this year. “Like, it’s so much more stressful.”
Spooner is on the shelf because she’s six months pregnant, and expecting a son in December. The 31-year-old is on the ice twice a week, working on power skating and skills, but body contact isn’t exactly advised by a doctor.
The new role as a fan is “weird,” Spooner admits, but also not. “I look at myself and like, imagine me hitting people with this belly — it would be interesting,” she says, laughing. “It makes it a little bit easier that I know why I’m not there. I miss the girls, the atmosphere, I miss competing and all that. But I try to keep in touch with the girls and see how it’s going over there.”
Over there, it’s down to the final game, featuring the best rivalry in sport: Canada, the reigning world and Olympic champions, against an American team that earned the top seed in Denmark thanks to a 5-2 win over Canada in a preliminary round matchup.
To help set up Sunday’s gold medal final (the puck drops at 1:30 p.m. ET) Sportsnet caught up with Spooner, after she’d played a round of golf, along with another veteran of the Canadian national team, former goalie Sami Jo Small — a four-time world champ and two-time Olympic gold medallist — who kindly agreed to chat after a long shift with TSN. Like Spooner, Small will be watching the action Sunday, and very closely, while she offers crackerjack analysis as a panellist on TSN’s broadcast.
Spooner and Small break down what they figure to be the differences in the game, they discuss players who’ve surprised them, which team has the edge in net, and they offer their completely biased predictions for who’s going home with those coveted gold medals.
What’ll be the difference maker?
Spooner: Establishing chemistry from top to bottom through the lines is really important. (Team Canada coach Troy Ryan) totally flipped the lineup in the quarter-final, so it’ll be really interesting to see the lines in the final. [In the quarter-final, for example, captain Marie-Philip Poulin had a new winger in Victoria Bach, and centre Sara Fillier, who’s been dynamite while averaging more than a point per game, had two new wingers].
If I look back to the Olympics one of the best things was, it was any of the four lines that could go out and score at any given time, all four lines were rolling. If we can get some chemistry between at least a few of the lines, I think it’ll keep the momentum of the game going in Canada’s favour.
Small: What’s in the back of my mind is that the Canadians haven’t really found chemistry yet. Obviously they’ve won all their games but they’re just not quite clicking. They have some incredible individual efforts, and they have some sparks, they’re generating amazing plays, but it’s not sustained. I’m really curious going into the final if this is coach Ryan’s final lineup or is he holding his cards close to his chest so the Americans don’t see it?
I’m really curious to see what adjustments he can make to the team we saw in the prelim game against the Americans, to the final. He keeps us guessing, that’s for sure… I’m looking for coach Ryan to make some changes that will miraculously lead to the Canadians putting some pucks in the net and then they’ll just rely on [goalie] Ann-Renee [Desbiens] to be the backstop she can be.
Spooner: I think (coach Ryan) will go back to some old lines and have some new ones based off what he thought worked and didn’t work.
He’s really good at telling players what you’re good at and what you need to bring to the team. Before the Olympics, this is how nice he is: He wrote us all individual notes about what you mean to the team and what you’re bringing. We each knew what our role was. You would just want to go through a brick wall because you know, this is what I can do, and we can win if we do these things. I think what he’s able to get out of his players is something special.
Who has the edge between the pipes among probable starters, Nicole Hensley for the Americans and Ann Renee Desbiens for Canada?
Spooner: Oh yeah, it’s Desbiens. Desbiens is a big game player. She makes saves out of nowhere to save the team. She gives our team a lot of confidence when she’s in net. For sure if she’s playing in the final, she’ll definitely do her part to make sure our team is winning that game.
Small: Canada doesn’t have just the slight edge in goaltending, I would give them a large, sizeable advantage there. It isn’t her technique that makes Desbiens amongst the best in the world as a goalie, it is her confidence and her ability to stay calm in big moments and to just have that poise for her team. In conversations with [veteran Canadian defender] Renata Fast, she feels so confident back there with Ann Renee. It gives them this boost to have that extra bit of offence or pinch a little deeper. You just always know that no matter what, she’s going to be back there.
Any surprises from either team?
Small: It’s those younger American players to me that just have been amazing, with incredible performances on a big stage in their first major tournament. That was the question mark: can their young guns replace the veterans like a Brianna Decker [she’s out after breaking her leg at the Olympics], or a Megan Bozek [she retired post-Olympics]. The Americans had some huge losses and while you can’t replace players like that, what these young people have brought has really elevated this team, thanks to youth and exuberance but also performance.
Taylor Heise has been incredible [she had a hat-trick in the quarter-final], and Hannah Bilka [who also had a hat-trick in the quarter-final] has been awesome. Lacey Eden has been great. Their young guns are really, really impressive. And [coach John Wroblewski] is using them in big roles, too. That doesn’t necessarily happen on the Canadian squad right away, you kind of work your way in, you owe your dues. But right away Hannah Bilka is playing alongside Hilary Knight and she’s playing lights out.
Spooner: I know everyone on Team Canada is amazing, so there are no surprises. Ella Shelton has been really good on D. At the Olympics she was in and out of playing and not getting that much ice time, and now she’s playing with confidence and jumping in the play, she’s playing really well. You see all the regulars, they all look good: Laura Stacey looks really fast, [Sarah] Potomak scored that amazing goal [in the quarter-final], Bacher [Victoria Bach] has scored some really nice goals. I think if they can keep their confidence up and have that swagger, that’s going to be really good for the big game.
Predictions, predictions…
Spooner: Ok, I’m going to go with Canada winning. I’m calling the most generic score because it feels like every game we play them is 3-2. So, let’s go with 3-2. This will happen in regulation. No overtime, please.
Game-winner, I’d love to go with Pou [Poulin] or Fillier, but I think Fillier’s gonna score one of the earlier ones. Oh, there are so many options, this is really hard. Let’s go with Clarkie [Emily Clark]. She’s been playing third-line but I think it’s gonna be an effort goal, and we’re gonna need those effort goals where it’s just dirty around the net.
Small: I’m going to go with Canada. Shots are going to be lop-sided, but Ann Renee Desbiens is going to come up huge and Sarah Nurse is going to score the game-winner. It’ll be 4-2 with an empty-netter. And yes, 100 per cent bias in that prediction [laughs].
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
Inter Milan winger Tajon Buchanan, recovered from a broken leg suffered in training at this summer’s Copa America, is back in Jesse Marsch’s Canada squad for the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal against Suriname.
The 25-year-old from Brampton, Ont., underwent surgery July 3 to repair a fractured tibia in Texas.
Canada, ranked 35th in the world, plays No. 136 Suriname on Nov. 15 in Paramaribo. The second leg of the aggregate series is four days later at Toronto’s BMO Field.
There is also a return for veteran winger Junior Hoilett, who last played for Canada in June in a 4-0 loss to the Netherlands in Marsch’s debut at the Canadian helm. The 34-year-old from Brampton, now with Scotland’s Hibernian, has 15 goals in 63 senior appearances for Canada.
Midfielder Ismael Kone, recovered from an ankle injury sustained on club duty with France’s Marseille, also returns. He missed Canada’s last three matches since the fourth-place Copa America loss to Uruguay in July.
But Canada will be without centre back Derek Cornelius, who exited Marseille’s win Sunday over Nantes on a stretcher after suffering an apparent rib injury.
The Canadian men will prepare for Suriname next week at a camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
“We are looking forward to getting the group together again with the mindset that there is a trophy on the line,” Marsch said in a statement. “We want to end 2024 the right way with two excellent performances against a competitive Suriname squad and continue building on our tremendous growth this past summer.”
The quarterfinal winners advance to the Nations League Finals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., with the two semifinals scheduled for March 20 and the final and third-place playoff March 23, and qualify for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Thirteen of the 23 players on the Canadian roster are 25 or younger, with 19-year-old defender Jamie Knight-Lebel, currently playing for England’s Crewe Alexandra on loan from Bristol City, the youngest.
Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies captains the side with Stephen Eustaquio, Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea, Alistair Johnston and Kamal Miller adding veteran support.
Jonathan David, Cyle Larin and Theo Bair are joined in attack by Minnesota United’s Tani Oluwaseyi.
Niko Sigur, a 21-year-old midfielder with Croatia’s Hadjuk Split, continues in the squad after making his debut in the September friendly against Mexico.
Suriname made it to the Nations League quarterfinals by finishing second to Costa Rica in Group A of the Nations League, ahead of No. 104 Guatemala, No. 161 Guyana and unranked Martinique and Guadeloupe.
“A good team,” Osorio said of Suriname. “These games are always tricky and they’re not easy at all … Suriname is a (former) Dutch colony and they’ll have Dutch players playing at high levels.”
“They won’t be someone we overlook at all,” added the Toronto FC captain, who has 81 Canada caps to his credit.
Located on the northeast coast of South America between Guyana and French Guiana, Suriname was granted independence in 1975 by the Netherlands.
Canada has faced Suriname twice before, both in World Cup qualifying play, winning 4-0 in suburban Chicago in June 2021 and 2-1 in Mexico City in October 1977.
The Canadian men, along with Mexico, the United States and Panama, received a bye into the final eight of the CONCACAF Nations League.
Canada, No. 2 in the CONCACAF rankings, drew Suriname as the best-placed runner-up from League A play.
Canada lost to Jamaica in last year’s Nations League quarterfinal, ousted on the away-goals rule after the series ended in a 4-4 draw. The Canadians lost 2-0 to the U.S. in the final of the 2022-23 tournament and finished fifth in 2019-20.
Canada defeated Panama 2-1 last time out, in an Oct. 15 friendly in Toronto.
Goalkeepers Maxime Crepeau and Jonathan Sirois, defenders Joel Waterman, Laryea and Miller and Osorio took part in a pre-camp this week in Toronto for North America-based players.
Canada Roster
Goalkeepers: Maxime Crepeau, Portland Timbers (MLS); Jonathan Sirois, CF Montreal (MLS); Dayne St. Clair, Minnesota United FC (MLS).
Defenders: Moise Bombito, OGC Nice (France); Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich (Germany); Richie Laryea, Toronto FC (MLS); Alistair Johnston, Celtic (Scotland); Jamie Knight-Lebel. Crewe Alexandra, on loan from Bristol City (England); Kamal Miller, Portland Timbers (MLS); Joel Waterman, CF Montreal (MLS).
Midfielders: Ali Ahmed. Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Tajon Buchanan, Inter Milan (Italy); Mathieu Choiniere, Grasshopper Zurich (Switzerland); Stephen Eustaquio, FC Porto (Portugal); Junior Hoilett, Hibernian FC (Scotland); Ismael Kone, Olympique Marseille (France); Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC (MLS); Jacob Shaffelburg, Nashville SC (MLS); Niko Sigur, Hadjuk Split (Croatia).
Forwards: Theo Bair, AJ Auxerre (France); Jonathan David, LOSC Lille (France); Cyle Larin, RCD Mallorca (Spain); Tani Oluwaseyi, Minnesota United (MLS).
—
Follow @NeilMDavidson on X platform
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
