Global Courant 2023-04-12 03:34:40
As Canada appeared to be heading for a methodical victory over the US on Monday, it felt like the vaunted rivalry had lost a bit of energy for once.
That turned out to be no less true.
The final minutes of the game brought a lot of drama as a disallowed goal, clock malfunction and last minute heroics left Canada to take their eventual 4-3 victory the hard way via shootout.
It sets up what will likely be another North American showdown in Sunday’s world championship gold medal game at the CAA Center in Brampton, Ont.
That tilt would be the ninth between the teams dating back to last August, when a postponed 2022 world championship was held in Denmark.
It’s arguably the biggest rivalry in the sport right now, and it delivers amazing consistency.
“They are by far the best matches,” Canadian goalkeeper Ann-Renée Desbiens said after Monday’s affair. “I don’t think this rivalry can get any better.”
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After Canada blew a 3-1 lead late in the third inning, Rattray ended a long shootout to take the Americans down.
Reasonable. But the addition of a formal professional league, featuring all of the countries’ top talent, could certainly add another layer to the heavyweight fight we’ve seen on repeat for years.
Every player on both North American rosters, except for American forward Becca Gilmore, is currently a member of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association (PWHPA). Gilmore plays in the Premier Hockey Federation, which also houses five members of the Czech team, among others.
There are reports that the PWHPA, which has played an overwhelming showcase series for the past four years called the Dream Gap Tour, will begin formal, structured competition next fall.
“Even this year we got to play with some of them, so we may have become more friends with them off the ice, but not so much on the ice,” said Desbiens. “I think if we run into them after the game, we’ll definitely chat and stuff, but once you put on the Canadian jersey, there’s absolutely no friends left.”
New battles in the war
What a formal pro league could provide are new battles in the war.
Imagine young stars Sarah Fillier and Taylor Heise winning a pro championship together only weeks later becoming enemies in the sport’s most intense rivalry.
If Desbiens goes up against an American professional teammate, who would have the advantage?
Or, conversely, how much would an interpersonal rivalry that flourished in the professional league be amplified in international matches?
Scandinavian rivals Sweden and Finland have already experienced something similar, with many of their top players stationed in the Swedish Women’s Hockey League (SDHL).
Finnish striker Petra Nieminen, 23, has already competed in five major championships for her country. She said it is “always good” to beat Sweden as Finland did in this tournament.
“If you know it’s your teammates on the other side, that’s really nice,” she said.
Swedish captain Anna Kjellbin, who plays with Nieminen and other Finns in the SDHL, said knowing her opponents only adds to the rivalry.
“Of course I do. One hundred percent. I hate losing, but most of all I hate losing my friends,” Kjellbin told CBC Sports.
On the other hand, maybe we don’t need to fix something that isn’t broken.
Matches between Canada and the US almost always come down to one goal. The inevitability of the matchup leading up to a tournament only adds to the intensity.
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Canada has recently had the number of the US in women’s hockey, and the two countries are gearing up for another showdown at the Women’s Hockey World Cup.
Canadian forward Sarah Nurse, a member of the PWHPA board, said she hopes a professional league will one day become “our primary source of hockey.”
“Unfortunately we only get a few Rivalry Series games all year round, we only get one world championship a year so you don’t get to see the best of the best,” she said.
“So if you have a professional league, you’re going to be able to watch it week in, week out and then of course a world championship becomes that much more special because the rivalry between Canada and the US isn’t that common.”
A schedule more in line with almost every other sport, with most games played professionally, could make international tournaments even more important.
Teammate Renata Fast told CBC Sports earlier in the tournament that she hopes a professional championship will one day reach the level of international titles. Nurse agreed.
“I think that’s the ultimate goal. Young boys grow up wanting to win the Stanley Cup and so we want the same on our side,” she said.
On Tuesday, Germany beat Hungary 2-1 to clinch second spot in Group B, while Sweden crushed France 8-2 to secure third spot.
The results mean that Canada will face Sweden in the quarterfinals at 5pm ET on Thursday, while the US will face Germany at 1:30pm ET that day.
The other two quarter-finals will be decided later on Tuesday in the final group stage between the Czech Republic and Switzerland.
