Team Canada Motivated By Trash-Talking Finland?

Women’s World Hockey Championship

If the Canadian Women’s National Hockey team needed anymore motivation for tonight’s game against Finland apart from the fact they need a win to clinch top spot in Group A, they have it now. Even after watching the Canadians down Team USA 3-2 and obliterate Switzerland 13-0, it appears at least some of Finland’s players aren’t impressed – at least according to Canadian coach Dan Church.

“They feel pretty confident about their performance against the United States,” Church told reporters after Finland dropped a tough 4-2 decision to the US. “They believe they can beat us, so we have to come into (Friday’s) game and have a great start and really put them back on their heels.”

OK, so if that’s all there was to Finland calling out the Canadian side, it’s obviously more of a motivational tactic by Canada’s bench boss than anything else, but you can hardly blame him. Finland has won 10 world championship bronze medals and is looking to make the next step to challenge powerhouses Canada and Team USA. The Fins also have a goaltender in Noora Raty who has the ability to steal a game for them – especially against a Canadian team that is banged up. Canada could be without Hayley Wickenheiser and Caroline Ouellette again Friday night in Ottawa after they both missed Wednesday’s blowout win over Switzerland with unspecified injuries.

“Obviously we are a better team with those players in the lineup,” Church told reporters of the pair. “They’re first and third all-time goal scorers and point getters for Canada, so you want them in the lineup, but we can definitely do well without them if we need to.”

That much was evident in Canada’s last game, when Church moved a number of regular defencemen to forward with Ouellette and Wickenheiser sidelined. That’s fine against Switzerland and helps develop versatility, but it’s far from ideal on this big stage. And while Canada certainly probably has more depth to deal with significant injuries than any other team in the tournament, that depth is young. Forward Bailey Bram and defencemen Courtney Birchard, Laura Fortino and Lauriane Rougeau are all bidding for spots on the Olympic team. They’ll continue to get a good look in this tournament, especially if the injury bug continues to be a problem.

In this matchup with Finland, Church is looking for a spark to ensure his squad doesn’t put itself in a bad situation against a tough team with a great goaltender. Whether Canada’s big guns play or not, expect a big victory for the home team tonight in Ottawa.