Brampton, Ontario –
For Canadian-colored Natalie Spooner, this was a career goal of No. 67, but a first for a mother.
The 32-year-old forward, who gave birth to son Rory on Dec. 6, spent little time getting back on track Wednesday as Canada beat Switzerland comfortably 4-0 in the opening game of the IIHF Women’s World Hockey Championship. bottom.
Spooner, who is in his ninth World Championship, gave Canada a 1–0 lead at 11:42 of the first period, before the Swiss defense failed to clear the puck before scoring goalkeeper Andrea Blandri with a wrist shot. broke the
“It was amazing,” said Spooner. “Just coming back with my teammates was a lot of fun.”
“It’s just amazing how much my teammates and Hockey Canada have supported all this,” she added. That’s it. They hold him to a meal and make sure he is happy so I can eat. My mom is also here to help out…he was very happy around the girls That’s great. He loves them. “
According to Canadian coach Troy Ryan, Rory became a favorite for the entire Canadian national team.
“It’s just been so much fun for our team, athletes, and staff to have little Rory everywhere we go,” he said.
“Hats off to her,” added Canadian captain Marie-Philippe Poulin. “Wow, I got to see her reaction on her bench. How happy we were with her.”
Sarah Nurse, Rebecca Johnston and Sarah Phillier also scored for Canada in a game that had a sullen moment, especially in the second period. Canada beat Switzerland 49-12 for her, and in the third round she was 25-1.
Johnston took a break from hockey last fall to treat a back injury.
The defending champion Canadian, who has never missed a World Championship podium, is chasing his 13th world title. The Swiss, who won a bronze medal in 2012, is hoping to improve on her fourth-place finish in the last two tournaments.
Attendance at the CAA Center, which has a stated capacity of 5,000, was announced at 3,510. Most of the people in the stands were dressed in red.
“I definitely felt the energy from the audience,” Pauline said.
Canada jumped out but quickly fell behind and had to kill three early penalties, including a 65-second sequence when two players were downed.
The penalty was killed, and Nurse then scored a costly penalty for the Swiss, scoring from the slot just 15 seconds after a 14:27 powerplay to make it 2–0.
Canada struck again with a power play at 1:44 in the second, with Johnston facing a gaped goal with Brendol out of position after being stopped by Jamie Lee Rattray.
Ryan complimented his team’s special squad that night, but said there were some details that needed to be worked out.
The Swiss thought they had scored midway through the period, but somehow the pack didn’t go out as Canada beat the women after the scrum. The Swiss player was quickly sent off as the game turned physical.
After winning 9-8 in the first round, Canada had a 16-2 advantage in the second round and had 11 shots in the third.
Phillier made it 4–0 on Canada’s 19th shot of the period, tossing the puck home at 14:07.
Canadian goalkeeper Anne Lenny Desbiens shut out the game.
The United States defeated Japan 7-1 in Wednesday’s Group A match. That meant listening to Smash Mouth’s cover of The Monkees’ “I’m a Believer” seven times in goal celebration.
Haruka Toko gave congratulations to the underdog Japanese by scoring the first goal at 8:14.
“It was a crazy atmosphere on the bench,” said forward Chihiro Suzuki, who plays for the University of Guelph.
Born in Japan, the 20-year-old has spent the past nine years in Canada pursuing hockey.
The Americans rallied to take a 2–1 lead at the end of the first period, making 23 shots to 5-foot-2 goalkeeper Miyu Masuhara while Japan had just 5 shots. Masuhara was second midway through her period she gave way to 18-year-old Riko Kawaguchi and the United States took her 4–1 lead.
After defeating Sweden in penalties at last year’s world championships and finishing in a career-best 5th place, Japan showed a solid play.
The Japanese were 59-13 ahead, and while they were ahead in terms of size, they weren’t determined.
While the average Japanese roster size is 5ft 4lbs 130lbs, American captain Hilary Knight is 5ft 11lbs 172lbs, 13 inches taller and 57lbs heavier than Japanese forward Remi. Oyama.
“They don’t back down… they’re going to give you everything they’ve got. They showed it by getting on the (score) board first.” I had to scratch and stuff.I liked the way I put my feet down and applied a few things, a plan that I wanted to play.”
“Up and down our lineup, I thought we had a strong performance.”
The tournament kicked off on Wednesday with nine Finnish players scoring in a 14-1 win over France in Group B play. Jennyina her Nyland scored a hat-trick as Finland shot goalkeeper Caroline Lambert to beat France 53-12 for her.
It broke the 13 goals scored against Switzerland in 1992 and 1994, becoming Finland’s all-time top scorer in a single game.
The Swiss were led by star forward Alina Muller, who suffered an ankle injury at the 2021 World Championships in Calgary and fell to COVID during last year’s tournament in Denmark.
A Patti Kazmeier Memorial Award finalist for women’s NCAA hockey players, the 25-year-old Mueller has played 38 games for Northeastern this season, scoring 27 goals and providing 33 assists.
At the 2022 Beijing Olympics, Canada beat Switzerland 12-1 in group play and 10-3 in the semifinals. The Canadian women lost her 4-0 to Finland in the bronze medal match, while the Canadian women beat the United States 3-2 to win the gold medal.
Canada also defeated Switzerland 8-1 in the semi-finals of the 2022 World Championship.
The Canadian will face 2022 World Championship bronze medalists Czech Republic on Friday.
