Canada had to find a different way to win a women’s hockey world title after its Olympic triumph earlier this year and world championship gold a year ago. That version has been a work in progress throughout the tournament in Denmark, but Canada played its best game of the tournament in Sunday’s 2-1 win over rival USA in the final. The Canadians won their third major international title in a year after defeating the USA 3-2 for Olympic gold in February in Beijing and 3-2 in overtime in the 2021 world championship final just over a year ago. “It wasn’t smooth. It looked a lot different from our win at Olympiacos and our last win at the world championships, but I think we’re really relieved when things aren’t so smooth, we can find different ways to win,” the Canadian forward Bryan said Jenner. “We fought it and got the job done.” After a quiet tournament in the scoring department, Jenner scored two second-period goals within a minute of each other on Sunday. Goalkeeper Ann-Renee Desbiens was the calm eye of the storm in the third as the USA pushed furiously for the equalizer. The Canadians were outshot 12-6 in the third period, but blocked shots with abandon in the final two minutes when the USA pulled Nicole Hensley for an extra attacker. Desbiens made 20 saves in the win, while Hensley stopped 17 shots. “I think coming into this tournament, we had the confidence that we were the best team in the world,” Canadian forward Sarah Nurse said. “We really wanted to show that. To win three gold medals in one year is so special and something I don’t know we’ll ever be able to do again, but it shows how hard our program has worked to get where we are today.” Canada lost 5-2 in the preliminary round to a USA team that looked poised to reclaim women’s hockey supremacy. Both Canada and the USA returned 18 players from their Olympic rosters. The Americans seemed to absorb the lineup changes faster than the Canadians, who juggled offensive line combinations throughout the tournament in an effort to find chemistry. Canada’s 8-1 semifinal rout of the Swiss showed the defending champions are finding their form. But the USA went into the final undefeated with a plus-47 goal difference compared to Canada’s plus-22, while Canada had boasted its high-octane attack in Beijing. “What we were able to accomplish at the Olympics was extremely special,” Jenner said. “Coming into six months after the Olympics, being able to have a summer of training and refocusing and trying to defend a world title is not easy. “I think that was one of the hardest and we feel really good that we found a way to do it.” In addition to moving the puck faster and cleaner than in the loss to the USA, Canada also defended more tenaciously in the frame between and under the dot. Canada’s power play went 0-for-2 in the first period before Jenner converted a third chance in the second. The USA went 1-for-3 with the man advantage over the second half of the game. American forward Abby Roque, who scored her team-leading fourth power-play goal of the tournament with less than a minute to play in the second period, blamed the Canadians for diving. “I think they’ve got a lot of players floating around,” Roque said. “I think it’s ridiculous. That’s not the way to play hockey. We play a tough, disciplined game. That’s who we are. “We want to play physical like hockey should be and they have a lot of players who jump on the boards.” Canada and the USA have met in the final of all but one world championship since the inaugural tournament in Ottawa in 1990. The U.S. won five straight world titles, as well as Olympic gold in 2018, before Canada’s women took a hard-fought last year in the tug-of-war that was their rivalry. “We have to find a way to turn the script around,” US captain Kendall Coyne Schofield said. Jenner’s nine goals in Beijing set an Olympic tournament record, but the veteran didn’t score at the world championships until Saturday’s semifinal. “I think my shooting percentage wasn’t great earlier in the tournament, but I was just telling myself if you create chances and have good habits and do something positive when you’re out there, when you work hard sometimes it pays off in the end,” he said. The 2021 World Cup has been postponed to August due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The International Ice Hockey Federation established a top-tier women’s league in the same year as the Olympics for the first time, compressing three major tournaments into just over 12 months. “It’s not normal,” said Canadian coach Troy Ryan, who will coach the Canadian women through the 2026 Olympics. “I don’t think you usually get three times to get to the top. It can be exhausting. I feel for this team. They’ve come up against it. They’re exhausted without a doubt. You can see it emotionally. They’re tired trying to get up to their highest level. three times. They deserve so much credit for just sticking with it.” The 2023 women’s championship will be held in Canada in a yet-to-be-announced city, followed by the U.S. hosting in 2024. Canada and the United States will also compete in a seven-game Rivalry Series this winter. The 10-nation field in Denmark was minus Russia after it was banned by the IIHF from international tournaments for the country’s invasion of Ukraine. The Czech Republic reached the final four and the podium for the first time on Sunday by defeating Switzerland 4-2 for the bronze medal. The Czechs were coached in Denmark by Calgary’s Carla Macleod, a former Canadian team defender. This report by The Canadian Press was first published on September 4, 2022.
