Here's what happened at the Canada-Russia women's Olympic hockey game, at least according to the Russians – National Post

Article content

BEIJING — The long hockey history between Canada and Russia has had its moments over the decades, though never such high drama in the women’s game.

Article content

But after a bizarre afternoon at the Wukesong Sports Centre, there is a new cloak-and-dagger chapter, complete with protective KN95 masks for all involved. Yes, a breathing-restricted mask was required for world-class athletes in a high-endurance sport.

For part of the game, anyway.

At an Olympics where we’ve been warned to expect any number of twists — and always the possibility of COVID calamity — we certainly got a dose prior to Canada’s breezy 6-1 win over the artists known as Team Russian Olympic Committee.

The game was initially delayed because the Canadians were waiting for the reporting of Russian COVID test results, a must before any competition here.

But even with this, there was mystery — from the Canadian side, anyway.

Article content

No one from Hockey Canada — including coach Troy Ryan — was willing to confirm that was the cause. The team’s general manager, Gina Kingsbury, was in the mixed zone following the game but declined to speak with the media, turning her back when asked.

“I don’t have that information,” Ryan said when asked about the cause of the delayed beginning. “All I was told, for health and safety reasons, that there was going to be a delay.”

Of course, all bets are off when you expect clarity from the International Ice Hockey Federation, which was once again the case with this near debacle. Any official updates were late and vague at best.

So, it was chaos from start to finish, in other words. And if you can believe it, the Russians seemed to be the most reliable source of all information clarifying the mess.

Article content

Some members among the Russian contingent hinted that forfeit was a possibility at some point between the scheduled 12:10 p.m., start and the actual 1:15 puck drop. Canadian officials would not acknowledge this narrative.

Eventually, IOC, IIHF and officials from both teams agreed that the game would be played with all participants — including the four on-ice officials — wearing masks.

What Ryan did admit was that forward Emily Clark was pulled from the game during warmups after her daily COVID test came back inconclusive. That’s two separate pandemic-related issues in one game, for those scoring at home.

As for the potential of forfeiture, the Russians clearly believed it was on the table at one point but wanted to avoid it at all costs.

Article content

“If it was like that, it would be lik really upsetting for us because we are athletes,” Russia’s Alexandra Vafina said through a translator. “We came here to play and this is the most important thing for us.

“It doesn’t matter if we wear the mask or not, as long as we play.”

Russian coach Yevgeni Bobariko acknowledged that there was a testing error on his side, one made out of ignorance, not skullduggery. The Russians, he claimed, were not aware of an early testing deadline for the noon local time start, which made it impossible to get the results reported by puck drop.

“We were not considering the possibility (of forfeiting) because we respect every team that we play against and Canada is not an exception,” Bobariko said through a translator. “We were ready to play this game whenever they said — 1 p.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m., midnight. We were going to play the game because the outcome must be decided on the ice.”

Article content

It was played eventually, including a third period in which the Russians ditched that masks after their test results came back without an issue.

As high as the drama surrounding the start turned out to be, such developments probably should be expected from a pandemic Olympics.

To their credit, Hockey Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee have been diligent in preparing their athletes to be ready to veer as circumstances dictate. No doubt that caution dictated some of Monday’s precautions.

As for the overshadowed part of the story — what happened when the ice was finally reached — the Canadians moved to 3-0 on the eve of the first game in what is expected to be two showdowns with the reigning-champion Americans.

Article content

Ryan’s group has now outscored its opponents 29-3 through three games and flexed its collective might in doing so.

“I think they handled it great,” Ryan said of Monday’s odd circumstances. “You could see them in the dressing room as they prepared that this group just loves being around each other.

“It’s water off a duck’s back for some of them. I don’t think it affected them much negatively.”

Sarah Fillier, with her fifth goal of the tournament, and Sarah Nurse with her fourth, paced the prolific Canadian attack that is performing at an Olympic record pace.

And they did so with the inconvenience of wearing masks, albeit added gear they practised with on occasion before shipping off to China

“I think we were ready for not playing, for playing in five minutes, for playing in two hours,” Canadian forward Brianne Jenner said. “Everything was on the table. We’re so used to rolling with the punches with this team. We were just keeping it light.”

As for the developments taking place in and around the testing labs, Jenner offered a vintage hockey player answer.

“That’s a question for our med team,” Jenner deadpanned. “I’m just a right winger.”