One of the fiercest rivalries in global sport will renew itself this week in Beijing after the United States and Canada on Monday reached the women’s Olympic ice hockey final.
The only two countries to top the podium since the women’s event was introduced in 1998 arrived in Beijing as overwhelming favourites and kept their duopoly intact after Canada thrashed Switzerland 10-3 and the U.S. downed Finland 4-1 in the semi-final round on Monday.
“We’re taking the game to new heights right now,” said Canadian Sarah Nurse, among the tournament’s scoring leaders.
“I know that people look at the scores and again think that we just dominate teams, but I think that what we’re doing on the ice right now is we’re pushing the pace for women’s hockey.”
The world title holders scored five times in a span of just over three minutes midway through the first period, with Claire Thompson starting the rout. Jamie Lee Rattray, Blayre Turnbull, Renata Fast and Erin Ambrose added to the scoring burst.
“We’re going to keep pushing the envelope and keep making our sport better,” said Nurse.
It was the latest bloodbath executed by the Canadians, who have yet to record a loss in Beijing, beating the Americans 4-2 in their preliminary.
Led by stalwart captain Marie-Philip Poulin, Canada aims to avenge its gold medal loss in Pyeongchang four years ago that ended a run of four straight Olympic titles.
The Americans will have their work cut out for them after surviving a tougher-than-expected test from Finland, who were determined to make the favourites work for their place in the final.
Cayla Barnes converted on the power play to record her first Olympic goal, breaking the scoreless impasse early in the second period. Veteran Hilary Knight added to the advantage with 67 seconds left in the period, in a contest punctuated by brief skirmishes between the two teams.
The Americans had 33 shots on goal compared to 12 for Finland heading into the final period, where U.S. netminder Alex Cavallini held her ground and forward Hayley Scamurra added one more to the Americans’ tally midway through the frame.
“It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t awesome at times, but at the end of the day you just have to find a way and show up and compete, make plays when you can and kind of just take the game as it goes,” said four-time Olympian Knight.
With less than a minute left on the clock, forward Susanna Tapani got Finland on the board to make it 3-1. But first-time Olympian Abby Roque immediately countered with a shot into Finland’s empty net.
“I know how important a gold medal is to our program,” said Knight.
“I know there’s young girls, young boys, adults watching. What this team does for our country is incredible and I think when you wear that on your sleeve and you wear this jersey, it means something more.”
The women’s Olympic ice hockey final is set for Thursday.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in Beijing, additional reporting by Steve Keating; Editing by Ken Ferris and Bill Berkrot)
