“Could you give us a twirl and tell us about your outfit?” was apparently the most dire question to ask Eugenie Bouchard, a Canadian tennis player after her winning match in the 2015 Australian Open. This question caused a flood of criticism towards sports media and opened the discussion about gender discrimination within the industry itself. How could a twirl be so important?
Read MoreThe Avalanche were a team to watch at the 2022 trade deadline. They were reportedly in on multiple big fish like Claude Giroux. While they didn’t land Giroux, they did make a couple big moves to increase their depth going into the playoffs.
Read MoreMarch 12 was a big day for Avalanche announcements. In the same post-practice press conference, it was announced that the Avalanche locked up backup goalie Pavel Francouz, defenseman Samuel Girard is out for the next four weeks, and that Captain Gabriel Landeskog is having knee surgery.
Read MoreThe Avalanche only cooled down slightly in February going 7-2-1 in their 10 games. They snapped their home winning streak in a shootout loss to the 31st place Arizona Coyotes. So, let’s look back at this short month: the good, the bad and the ugly.
Read MoreTeam Canada is once again a gold medalist in women’s hockey. They defeated team USA in the final 3-2 to win the gold. It was a truly epic game and the crown jewel of these Olympic games for hockey fans or Canadians and Americans alike. It is true best-on-best as the most talented players in the world faced off.
There were incredible stories going into this game. Sarah Nurse is the first Black woman to win an Olympic gold medal in ice hockey. Nurse also broke Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser’s record for most points in an Olympic tournament scoring 18 points in 7 games. Marie-Philip Poulin scored two goals in this game alone and now has three “golden goals.” She became the only Canadian to score in four different gold medal deciding games. On the American side, Alex Cavelleni was unsure she would even play after she suffered an MCL injury. Now she is an Olympic silver medalist.
Canada’s first three goals came from the record-breaking women with Nurse and Poulin both scoring in the first period. Then Poulin scored early in the second period. Team USA answered back with a short-handed goal by Hilary Knight in the second and a power play goal in the third from Amanda Kessel. It wasn’t enough, though; despite team USA’s ability to get 40 shots on goal and their execution on the special teams, they just weren’t able to beat Ann-Renée Desbiens or stop the Canadian offense.
This was likely one of the best Canadian women’s hockey teams in history. Their offense was unstoppable, their goaltending was a brick wall, and their special teams operated at peak performance. Even though team USA put up a fight, team Canada’s incredible talent was inevitable. However, no American should be discouraged by this loss. Team USA was still unbelievable, and they almost gave the best women’s team in recent Canadian history a run for their money. The game was close, and they held that tremendous offense to three goals and 21 shots. This was the clash of the titans, and even though the USA showed how talented of a team they are, they fell just short to the Canadians.
The Canadian women’s team are gold medalists once again. Team USA and team Finland walked away with silver and bronze, respectively. It is a victory for all three teams but, on a grander scale, a victory for women’s hockey, a sport that is ignored or maligned often. Women’s hockey is a fantastic sport that deserves attention beyond the Olympics and into the season.
February 10 was the first set of women's quarter-finals games; it included the match-ups of USA vs. Czechia and Canada vs. Sweden. Team USA and eam Canada are the favorites to make the finals this year, and they are both on track to do just that as they are both advancing to the semi-finals.
Team USA beat Czechia 4-1 after the game was held at 1-1 for the first two periods. Despite only beating Czechia by three goals, they had 58 shots to Czechia's six shots on goal. The defense was excellent on team USA's part, holding team Czechia to single-digit shots. Czechia's goalie, Klára Peslarová, was incredible, blocking 54 out of 58 shots. She kept her team in the game for two whole periods, and Czechia almost pulled a huge upset. Czechia opened up the scoring with Michaela Pejzlova scoring the game's first goal. However, the USA didn't let their scoring frustrations stop them. They responded with four unanswered goals; Hilary Knight, Lee Stecklein, Savannah Harmon, and Kendall Coyne Schofield all contributed to the final score.
Canada beat team Sweden 11-0. Both Sarah Fillier and Brianne Jenner had hat tricks as they absolutely wrecked Sweden. The final shot count was 56-11 in favor of Canada. Besides the six goals from Fillier and Jenner; Jamie Lee Rattray, Natalie Spooner, Emily Clark, Erin Ambrose, and Blyre Turnbull all scored in addition to the dual hat tricks. Canada's offense is still excellent. Their defense was also on fire as they limited Sweden to only 11 shots and the goaltending held up despite not getting much action. It was a convincing shutout win for team Canada, but nothing out of the ordinary for the Canadian women's team that has been scoring prolifically since the Olympics began.
There have been no upsets in the first few games of the Quarterfinals. Even though Czechia put up a fight, USA and Canada both demonstrate why they are the favorites to win. However, Czechia and specifically Peslarová should be incredibly proud. They gave team USA fans a scare and proved how far women's hockey has grown internationally. With time and investment, these international programs will only continue to get stronger, and the days of the dominant USA and Canada might be challenged. For now, the two superpowers reign supreme as they advance into the semi-finals.
Semi-Final Match-Ups:
Canada vs. Switzerland
USA vs. Finland