Women’s Ice Hockey Sochi 2014: Team Canada an underdog vs. Team USA
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Frank Doyle
Consider this women’s hockey matchup between Team Canada and Team USA the appetizer. It’s always intriguing when Canada and the US share the same ice, but this game might have a different feel than fans are used to.
Both clubs are assured spots in the semifinals and you have to wonder whether they’ll want to keep their cards close to the vest in the event they meet again in the finals.
But that doesn’t look like a guarantee as it has been in previous competitions. While Canada and the USA are still overwhelming favorites to reach the gold medal game, the rest of the women’s hockey world is beginning to catch up to North America. There had been whispers of cutting women’s hockey as an Olympic sport leading up to these Games, but we shouldn’t hear much more of that if the competition continues to improve.
For now though, Team Canada is set as a +155 underdog Wednesday against Team USA and its high-powered attack.
Team USA dropped Finland 3-1 in its opener and then destroyed Switzerland 9-0. The American squad is extremely fast and will look to put Team Canada on its heels early.
Canada blanked Switzerland 5-0 in its opener and then took care of Finland 3-0 on Monday. However, the Fins didn’t make it easy on the Canucks. Team Canada went into the third period knotted in a scoreless draw before finally solving goaltender Noora Raty.
“They just never give up,” Canadian forward Brianne Jenner said of Finland. “They are a hard-working team and they clog the middle of the ice. We knew that coming in so our game plan was to not be impatient and stick with what we wanted to do and it turned out that it worked in the third period.”
Canada knows it isn’t going to get any easier Wednesday against Team USA. The Americans haven’t won a gold medal since the sport was introduced in the 1998 Olympics, while Canada cruised to gold in 2002, 2006, and 2010.
However, if you look to recent play, Team USA has the clear edge over Team Canada. The American squad won four straight meetings with Canada leading up to the Sochi Games and has serious scoring threats in Amanda Kessel and Hilary Knight.
“On both sides, we’ve tasted both victory and defeat,” Canadian veteran Hayley Wickenheiser told reporters. “Most recently, we had the defeat in the world championships and I think there’s a lot of desire to want make it right this time in Sochi.”
Sports Interaction currently has the total for this game set at 5.5 goals.
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