Canada's Women Win Gold at World Championship

Frank Doyle reports on a return to form for Canadian women’s hockey as the team claim gold in the World Hockey Championship!

After three years of second-best, Canada is back on top at the World Hockey Championship. Frustrated in China, Finland and Switzerland for the past three years, Canada’s women are World Champions again after a hard-fought 5-4 overtime win against their perennial Nemesis, the United States.

The USA were favorites all during the tournament, held this year at Burlington, Vermont. The United States was the dominant team in the group stages – it destroyed Canada 9-2 in the first game, Russia 9-0 in their second and Finland 11-0 in their third. Switzerland was annihilated, 10-0, in the semi-final.

By contrast, Canada suffered that morale-crushing loss to the US and then had to fight hard to get by Finland 3-2 in the Canadians’ second game, before finally finding some form in the final game of the group against Russia. Canada faced Finland again in the semi-finals, winning 5-1. It was an improvement in form, but the USA remained a prohibitive favourite for the final.

If the Americans expected a repeat of their first-round thrashing of Canada, they got a surprise. The first seven minutes passed without a single US shot on goal, and the Americans even found themselves behind when Hayley Wickenheiser lit the light on 7:52.

Things went back and forth after that, with the US levelling, Canada going 3-1 up only to find themselves deep in a 4-3 hole as the Americans took full advantage of their power plays by scoring three goals without reply. Suddenly, the Canadians had to battle for their lives.

Cometh the hour, cometh the women. Two Montreal Stars saved the day for Canada – Meghan Agosta scored on a power play to level at 4-4, and then Caroline Ouellette caught a pass from Agosta to slam the winner home in overtime.

This is Canada’s tenth title in a competition that’s been dominated by the North Americans, but there are signs of hope for the game’s expansion. Switzerland won its first ever metal at the World Championships when it beat Finland in the 3rd place playoff, despite having only five days’ practice before the Championships began. It’s an indicator of just what can be done in women’s hockey if the right effort is made.

Love hockey? Then check out our fantastic Break the Ice Infographic that celebrates all the great traditions, tales and threads in the NHL Playoffs!