USA, Canada get ready for another gold medal in women’s hockey – Orange County Register

By JOHN WAWROW AP Hockey Writer

BEIJING – US assistant captain Hilary Knight called it “a beautiful competition”. Canadian captain Marie-Philip Poulin summed it up as “great fun.”

Don’t be fooled by pleasant things.

One of the fiercest and longest-running matches in international sports will take place for the second time at the Beijing Olympics, with a meeting Thursday (Wednesday, 8:10 p.m. PT, NBC) between United States and Canada to determine who goes home. in gold.

“These are games we’re living,” said USA captain Kendall Coyne Schofield after the 4-1 win over Finland. “Everyone has weathered the pandemic with its ups and downs, cancellations, postponements and ways to train, and it was this moment. We’re going to clean up the tanks, and this is what we’re here to do. ”

The United States is the defending Olympic champion after rallying to beat Canada, 3-2, in a penalty shootout at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.

The Canadians are considered the favorites this time after beating a record 6-0 and beating their opponents 54-8, including a 4-2 win over the US in the group stage match.

Canada also has the edge over cross-border rivals since Poulin scored the gold-medal winner in a 3-2 overtime win over the US at the world championships in August to end a five-title streak. American champion. Canada is 5-1-1 in seven meetings with the US since then.

Overall at the Olympics, hosting more women’s hockey in 1998, Canada beat the US 6-3, with two gold medals for two Americans.

Success aside, lingering memories of 2018 are still there.

“Honestly, it’s very offensive for us to lose on penalties, because it doesn’t feel like you’ve lost a game,” said Canadian forward Sarah Nurse, who led the tournament. with 16 points (four goals, 12 assists). “It’s almost like the business isn’t done yet. So going into this gold medal match, no matter who we’re playing against, we’re here to get the business done and win a hockey game.”

The nurse spoke after the 10-3 win over Switzerland, and before knowing who Canada would face.

It’s fitting that it’s the United States, with the two nations meeting for the sixth time in seven Olympic finals. The exception was 2006, when Canada won overall against Sweden, which beat the US in the semi-finals.

Thursday’s match will mark the fourth time the US and Canada have met twice in the same Olympic tournament. In the first two matches, the Americans (Nagano 1998) and the Canadians (Sochi 2014) won both times. In 2018, the US won the championship after losing 2-1 to Canada in the group stage match.

The challenge for the Americans was Canada’s fast-paced, dynamic forward attack, which scored five times in a 3:24 opening time against Switzerland to set the Olympic record for fastest five goals. Against the Americans, Canada overcame a 2-1 deficit by scoring three goals in a 5:25 time span.

Switzerland’s coach Colin Muller said the Canadian’s four-way attack was dizzying because they made it difficult for opponents to change course.

“They’re tenacious,” Muller said, blowing into his mask with astonishment. “Like if you tell me who their best player is, I don’t even know, really. I look at their squad before the game and I’ll say, ‘Well, what do you want to do?’

USA coach Joel Johnson believes his team can compete, in part because they are yet to play their best game.

“When we played against them last time, I thought we played pretty well, but we didn’t create enough great chances to score,” Johnson said.

Shooting opportunities are an issue for the US, who are fifth out of 10 in scoring performance with 28 goals from the league’s top 334 shots. The Americans were also absent from leading striker Brianna Decker, who broke his left leg in the opening game of the tournament.

“I’m really, really pleased with how we’ve played against Canada,” Johnson said. “I think if we can create a few more scoring opportunities and make some plays, then that will hopefully be our best game.”

The Americans won’t go into details, but they do have a few grudges to deal with. It became clear that when the US players referenced the two nations’ nine-match pre-Olympic series of matches being abruptly canceled with three games remaining because of Canada’s COVID-19 concerns.

What annoyed the Americans was that they were preparing to play at home in Minnesota, with about 11,000 tickets sold, when the Canadians withdrew at the last moment after Emily Clark tested positive.