Kessel Guides US to Gold, Canada Stuck with Silver

Phil Kessel may be starting to win hearts in Toronto but Canadian fans were stung by his sister Amanda who fired the winning goal as Team USA beat Canada in the gold medal game at the IIHF Women’s World Championship in Ottawa.

Amanda Kessel scored a goal to give her one-up on big brother Phil in their sibling rivalry. The 2013 Collegiate Player of the Year scored the winner early in the third period to give the United States a 3-2 victory over their arch-rivals.

Canada, the tournament hosts, entered the final as defending champions and had already beaten Team USA 3-2 in a shootout the earlier stages of the tournament. With the teams tied at 2-2 entering the final period, another nail-biting finish looked to be in the offing. Kessel however put the United States ahead for good with a goal at 3.09 in the third period.

“Really, what matters is how to you finish the tournament,” said Kessel. “I think we played our best game tonight. It feels great. It couldn’t feel any better.” The 21 year-old is part of an exciting young core of talent that is looking to reclaim Olympic gold for the first time since 1998, when Kessel was just 6 years old. Kendall Coyne, 20, and Brianna Decker, 21, were also outstanding for the Americans. With one eye on Sochi, the United States team will surely have been pleased with their defensive display. Canada managed just 16 shots in the entire game, despite a partisan crowd getting behind them. Inside the glass however it was the hosts under pressure for most of the night and there was no disputing the visitors were deserving victors.

Earlier in the day Russia capped off a minor Cinderella run through the tournament by beating Finland 2-0 to claim bronze. With Russia hosting the Olympics in Sochi next year, the result will be a boost for the IIHF who will be relying on a good showing from the home team in the women’s tournament. While their male counterparts will play in both the Olympics and World Championships in 2014, the governing body has no plans to have female players double up. IIHF president Rene Fasel pointed to most competitors not being full-time hockey players as a key reason not to have two tournaments in the one season. “It’s too much if they go to the Olympics and then to have the world championship, it’s too much,” said Fasel. “They’re students or they have a job. They take their vacation to go to the Olympics.”

That’s fine with the two goliaths of women’s Hockey. They’ll get one shot and one shot only to claim bragging rights next year.