1997 Women's World Hockey Championship ====================================== These articles were provided by Richard Hungerford (hungerf@husc.harvard.edu) of Cambridge, Mass. Thanks for the excellent coverage, Richard, and for your support of women's hockey! *** Women's World Championship 1997 07 April 1997 Women's WC97: wrap-up Canada continued its premier standing in women's ice hockey by winning the gold medal for the fourth time. The talent Team Canada puts on the ice is outstanding. The game plan they used at the 1997 Women's World Championship made them easier to defeat. However with the character and skills the Canadian players have, they pulled it out. Les Lawton I do not think any of us gave enough credit to TCW WWC94 head coach Les Lawton. The core of Team Canada remained the same for the 1997 Championship, but their play wasn't close to the 1994 team. Lawton's leadership brought out the best in the players and assistant coaches and produced incredible hockey. That team was special and I want to thank Lawton for giving us some thrilling hockey! Year of the Husky I found it interesting that on the heels of Northeastern's 1997 Championship at the ECAC finals former Huskies Shelley Looney (TUSAW, NU94), Vicki Sunohara (TCW, NU89) and Laura Schuler (TCW, NU93) all played exceedingly well for their teams. Looney scored some key goals for the USA while Sunohara had three GWG for Canada and Schuler was Team Canada's best two-way player. Trends The good news was that the overall skating level of all teams was up. There was also much less junk. Only China continues to use hack and dive hockey. It makes them look cheap. Many teams were using large players who did not have the skating skills needed at this level. I am also worried about the number of players who are becoming muscle locked. You need flexibility for ice hockey. Team defense was the style of play. That made the games less interesting as there were often long spells of nothing but one team controlling the other. The Aud While the Kitchener Auditorium provided good sight lines, the rink was rather small (85X185) with tight corners. It did not allow teams to move the puck as well as they can. The crowds were more into the ritual commercial gimmicks than the hockey. The trivializing of sport with loud pop music at every stoppage of play was unfortunately in vogue at Kitchener. It was not a pleasant experience. Team Canada The key reason Canada continues to win are the players. They have an awesome talent pool. Canadian Hockey needs to take a close look at its program. The attitude of the coaches is shutting the team down and creating a poor climate to develop and bring in the best talent. They seem to want to turn scorers into checkers and checkers into scorers. I suppose they think a group of all- arounders is some sort of plus? The result is Team Canada now has trouble scoring goals against the better sides. Ouch! Geraldine Heaney - if there is a better defender in the world, I have not seen him or her. Heaney is the most dynamic player I have seen. Some of the plays she makes on defense are incredible. She also has the speed/quickness to join the attack and use her cunning skills to create wonderful plays. Heaney is sublime. Judy Diduck - is the backbone of Canada's defense. She is always there and ready to make the play. Her coverage and team play are marvelous. Therese Brisson - is a very good one-on-one marker. She also can surge forward and join a rush in an instant with her excellent skating. Fiona Smith - is a work in progress. She has fine mobility and is learning her trade well. Lesley Reddon - played a strong game in net. She made many important saves look simple with her quick reactions. Danielle Dube - also played well in goal and may well be the future great Canadian netminder. Laura Schuler (NU93) - is Canada's number one defensive forward. She made numerous plays by digging back and getting the puck. Schuler also looked great when on the attack with her mates. Vicki Sunohara (NU89) - is a really sniper. Give her half a chance and the puck is in the net. It was fun to see someone play with that much drive around the net. Nancy Drolet - scored some important goals for Team Canada. Drolet was not as flashy as at WWC94. She did do a lot of back-checking and team work. Luce Letendre - covered a lot of ice with her rapid skating. Team USA The Americans remain second best. They have the talent to win, but the direction is lacking. I was happy to see the overall improvement in the team speed. To win gold in Nagano the USA needs to: a) get some serious attacking plans, with variations, and go for goals, and b) replace the players who can't handle the high paced skating tempo with players who can. I was mostly proud of the way the Americans played, but highly frustrated to see players who shouldn't be there get killed at critical moments by the opposition. I believe the USA could win Olympic gold, and in style, if they went out and scored early and often. Chris Bailey (PC94) - the person I most want on the American defense when the going gets tough. Bailey is fast, tough and knows what it takes to get the job done. Tara Mounsey (Brown) - had a great WWC97. When Mounsey has her act together, she is a splendid, power defender that anticipates the play and makes the delightful counter move. She also has the vision to enhance any attacking structure. Angela Ruggiero - is another work in progress. At times she looked really strong and on top of things. When the pace quickened she had trouble staying with the flow. Laurie Baker (PC) - wow, what a great performance for a rookie. Baker was a force on the ice and went out and did her thing. If she develops her speed even more, she would be lethal. Alana Blahoski (PC96) - the mercurial one zipped over the ice, challenging anyone for the puck and causing all sorts of problems for the world's best defenders. The proper edge to Blahoski's game could turn her into a super scorer. Shelley Looney (NU94) - was perhaps the American's strongest player. She isn't a huge person, but she plays with heart. She did so many little things well. Looney supplied the background so others could excel and still was a scorer herself. Cammi Granato (PC93) - was gunning for the net in the final. She was not on song, but Granato is such a quality player that she fought through it and pushed the team forward. Lisa Brown-Miller (PC90) - played very well. She was one of the best defensive forwards the USA had on the ice. Brown-Miller stopped many plays before they had a chance to develop. Katie King (Brown97) - did not really roll as I have seen her. In the final she did start to play big and go for the goal. With time she should be a major scorer for Team USA. Tricia Dunn (UNH96) - is a very fine two-way forward. She used her speed well to help the team. Gretchen Ulion (DC94) - filled her role well, but it seemed like she was in a wasted position considering her superb skills. Team Finland It is so nice to see a team play clean, attacking hockey. Finland doesn't lower themselves to the common team defense game in vogue but play the more exciting skate and pass game. They were my favorite team to watch. The Finns had a number of players coming off injuries but looked very good. I think they are 2 or 3 players away from beating Canada and the USA. Nagano may be the breakthrough for them! Riika Nieminen - was easily the most exciting forward in the tournament. What a great set of skills. She moves so quickly and has such splendid touch. The setups Nieminen makes are sensational. Getting to watch Riika is a real treat! Sari Krooks (YorkU) - is a fast player that has excellent kill-instinct. Krooks can also lay on the brilliant pass. Tiia Raima - can turn a game around with refine attacking ideas. Sari Fisk - a quick striker who burned defenses with clever plays. Petra Vaarakallio - is a strong, fast center who can do it all on her own. Another great Finn forward who passes wonderfully and can finish clinically. Kirei Hanninen - was a marvelous defender who broke up attacks with ease and set her mates flying. Hanninen was the woman of match in the semifinal with China. Haanpaa & Ikonen - an excellent defensive pair that provided tough marking and enhanced the attack. Liisa-Maria Sneck - shutout the opposition in the three games she played. Sneck is a big, quick goalie and is tough to beat. Tuula Puputti - had a tremendous game against Team Canada. She made several point-blank saves look easy. Team China has improved its skating game. They remain a team defense squad that makes everyone play a tough game. I doubt that they will medal anytime soon with the tactics they use. The difference in ability between them and the Big Three is large. However China is well ahead of the other nations in the tournament. Sweden had some problems. I understand they had a number of injuries. I believe they are several players away from becoming a power in women's hockey. The Swiss and Norwegians also improved their skating and defensive games. At this point they are still too slow to press the countries ahead of them. Team Russia looked good. They have made a lot of progress in the last two years. If they continue to develop their skating they may turn into a world power. Oddly enough they seem too devoted to a star system instead of team play, and I believe that hurts them. *** 07 April 1997 Women's WC97: All-Let-it-rip teams The following players were sensational during the 1997 Women's World Championship. They know how to let-it-rip! 1st team: G: Tuula Puputti (Finland) D: Geraldine Heaney (Canada) - Tara Mounsey (USA) A: Riika Nieminen (Finland) - Laurie Baker (USA) - Laura Schuler (Canada) 2nd team: G: Lesley Reddon (Canada) D: Li Xuan (China) - Judy Diduck (Canada) A: Shelley Looney (USA) - Petra Vaarakallio (Finland) - Alana Blahoski (USA) MLir (Most Let-it-rip): Geraldine Heaney (Canada) *** 07 April 1997 Women's WC97: Canada 4 - USA 3 OT Sunday evening at the hot Kitchener Aud, a packed house saw Team Canada win its fourth WWC gold medal in overtime. Both teams put on periods of pressure and matched up well in all departments. Most people seem to believe the contest was one of the best women's games ever played. I found it rather dull play-off style hockey and not close to the best women's game I watched this season. I was very sad to see Canada give up its tremendous attacking game and come back to the rest of the pack. The Americans are using a freer style of play and their overall team speed is much improved. They are also a much cleaner team and used tough team defense to push Canada. The blue liners were led by Tara Mounsey (Brown). She made numerous breakup plays with her rapid reaction rate. Chris Bailey (PC94) had a strong game keeping things tidy at the back. Up front Tricia Dunn (UNH96) performed some fine back-checking. Shelley Looney (NU94) did all the little stuff so well and managed to carry the team out of the hole when Canada was pressing. The top USA line was Laurie Baker (PC), Alana Blahoski (PC96) and Katie King (Brown97). King took the puck to the net and tied the game at three at the start of the third. Blahoski had a goal and an assist on the night and used her speed to create attacks and general chaos in the Canadian defense. Baker was the American woman of the match. Her clever passing and powerful attacking energy put her in the right spot all night. Baker was on fire and even found the time to back-check effectively. Canada does not have its former great offense. It came very close to losing this final. Where have the great Canadian attackers gone? Geraldine Heaney, Judy Diduck and Therese Brisson led the way on the defense. Heaney's vision, quickness and strength are marvelous. Diduck was always there meeting the challenge. She is the strong blue liner that provided the backdrop for others to play. Brisson did some great one-on-one marking. She also made some fine rushes. Laura Schuler (NU93) played some excellent two-way hockey. Her penalty kill skills were particularly good last evening. Vicki Sunohara (NU89) went close a couple of times. Give that woman half a chance and it's in the net. The woman of the match was Nancy Drolet. The first line center had a hat trick and scored the winning goal. A classic Canadian forward who goes hard both ways, Drolet got in the right place and buried her chances. Overall, Canada wins again, but I could see the Americans walking off with Olympic gold if Canada stays on its present course. *** 07 April 1997 Women's WC97: Bronze, 5th & 7th place comments Switzerland 1 - Norway 0 7th place game Sunday afternoon at the Kitchener Auditorium's Kinsmen arena the Swiss outlasted the Norwegians 1-0. It was an evenly played match. At times Norway put on some heavy pressure. In the end Switzerland had the edge with their better skate and pass game. Sweden 3 - Russia 1 5th place game Both teams looked exhausted in this important match in the Aud. They both played "smart" defensive hockey. The woman of the match was Swedish defender Gunilla Andersson. She had a great take charge attitude and provided the lovely long ball pass off the boards that created the third, killer, shorthanded goal. Sweden will be the #5 seed at the Nagano Winter Olympics. Finland 3 - China 0 Bronze medal As the Kitchener Auditorium started to fill up, the bronze medal battle started slow. Both teams looked tired from the previous day's semifinals. There was no scoring in the first two periods. Eventually the Finns exploded for three goals in three minutes in the third. China played solid defense. However a stacked defense does not score goals and win games. Li Xuan played some very tough defense. Lu Yan also looked extremely strong on the blue line. Xu Lei made a couple of telling breaks. Finland finally cracked China with their superior attacking speed and energy. Sari Fisk showed some fine speed and terrific stickhandling. The combination of Riika Nieminen and Sari Krooks (YorkU) was fun to watch. Nieminen made an incredible behind the back square pass while on a 2 on 1 break. Nieminen also scored the goal of the tournament when she pulled off a solo ooh-la-la goal up the gut. She took the puck in, she deked, she wheeled and she scored! Lovely goal! Nieminen won the tournament scoring title. Petra Vaarakallio was the other standout forward. She took the puck to the Chinese all afternoon and laid on a brilliant back door feed for the second goal. Finland wins its fourth WWC bronze medal and is moving up. *** Sat, 5 Apr 1997 20:33:40 -0500 Women's WC97: Canada 2 - Finland 1 Saturday afternoon at Kitchener Team Canada pulled out a 2-1 win over Finland and made the gold medal game. Finland used tight defense and quick breaks to come very close to winning this match. The Finn's Riika Nieminen was outstanding with her impressive vision, passing and lovely skating. Some of the power play passes she made were incredible. Tuula Puputti had a strong match in goal with her great glove. The defense was led by Katja Lehto and Kirei Hanninen. They were an excellent pair. The Finn's line of Sari Fisk, Petra Vaarakallio and Marianne Ihalainen were superb with their wonderful combination passing. Canada looked very slow today. Again they mostly played as individuals and not a team. It appears the coach is trying to shape players to roles instead of using their natural talents. Lesley Reddon was in net and played a calm effective game. Judy Diduck and Fiona Smith provided very good defensive coverage. Diduck meets the play extremely well. Smith covers a ton of ice with her rapid skating. Up front Laura Schuler (NU93) was again stellar. She covered both ends with her high tempo checking and did an amazing amount of team work. Luce Letendre also was back-checking well. The woman of the match was Gerry Heaney. The perceptive play of this blue liner is amazing. Whether she is foiling an attack or laying on a soft pass, Heaney is a master. With 24 seconds left in the game Heaney grabbed the puck, surged up ice and made the prefect pass to Vicki Sunohara (NU89) who buried her chance for the win. Heaney does it all, and with class! Overall, Canada will need to lift their game if they want to beat the USA tomorrow and win their fourth gold medal. *** Sat, 5 Apr 1997 20:33:59 -0500 Women's WC97: USA 6 - China 0 Saturday evening in Kitchener the United States bombed China 6-0. The Chinese just could not turn it on enough to get by the Americans. China defender Li Xuan provided some fine one-on-one marking. She is an extremely strong defender. Up front Liu Hongmei made some really nice breaks and went close more than once. the line of Zhang Jing, Sang Hong and Xu Lei strung together some refined passes. The USA was too fast and clever for China. The Americans controlled the tempo of the game. Erin Whitten (UNH93) looked steady in goal. Tara Mounsey (Brown) led the defense with her excellent skating. She was all over the ice making the play. Mounsey's number one asset is her rapid reaction time, and that she used exceedingly well tonight. It was fun to see the speedy Alana Blahoski (PC96) up front for the USA. Lisa Brown-Miller (PC90) played a strong checking game denying China many chances. The first line of Cammi Granata (PC93), Sandra Whyte (Harvard92) and Karyn Bye (UNH93) looked very good together. The woman of the match was Shelley Looney (NU94). Looney scored a goal and had two assists and was zipping all over the ice. Overall, the Americans have a shot at the gold medal, if they go for goals. *** Sat, 5 Apr 1997 08:55:36 -0500 Women's WC97: Friday comments Sweden 7 - Switzerland 1 Friday afternoon in Kitchener the Swedes advanced to the Olympic qualifier with a fine 7-1 victory over a pesky Team Suisse. It was a pretty slow match. The Swiss, who have a few players who have played at the University of Toronto, came out and looked good to start, but gradually Sweden took control of the match. From the fans in the stands: "They don't skate worth beans." A tad on the harsh side, but both teams need to develop their skating if they hope to rise. Switzerland is improved from WWC94 and uses a better defensive system and a breakaway attacking structure. The Swedes were sluggish at times. Sweden's Asa Elfving was the woman of the match with two goals and some excellent penalty killing. Overall I expect Sweden to advance to Nagano on Sunday over Russia. Russia 2 - Norway 1 Friday evening the Russians edged Norway to keep their Olympic hopes alive. Until the last few minutes of the game, Norway lacked drive. Marianne Dahlstrom provided some very good defensive coverage, but the skating skills of Norway were lacking. Russia was led on the blue line by Maria Misropian. She is very quick and covers a lot of ice. The line of Svetlana Gavrilova, #27 and #16 looked very good together. The Russians, who feature one player who is the MIT Women's coach, have brought their level of play up a lot in the last few years. They still need much work on the basics. Their main problem might be that their coach was using some of the most complicated plays I have seen in this tournament, and they do not have the skill to pull them off. A simple approach can work best. *** Fri, 4 Apr 1997 09:03:17 -0500 Women's WC97: Finland Women 10 - Norway 0 Thursday afternoon at the Kitchener Auditorium the Finns hammered Norway 10-0. Finland was trying to beat the goal difference and finish ahead of the United States and make it into the gold nedal game. The Finns used excellent skating and some lovely passing as they easily dusted Norway. Norway features some huge players, but none of them skate that well, and their pass leaves a lot to be desired. Norway was defending for the entire game. The woman of the match was Finland's Riika Nieminen. Whether she was rolling out of the corner and beating two or three defenders and scoring, or finding a mate at the backdoor with a terrific pass, Nieminen was sensational. Sari Krooks (YorkU) used her explosive energy well as she she broke by Norway with her elegant moves. The line of Marianne Ihalainen, Petra Vaarakallio and Karoliina Rantamaki were marvelous together. They pulled off some of the best passes for Finland. Overall Finland should give Canada a tough go in the first semifinal on Saturday. *** Fri, 4 Apr 1997 09:11:37 -0500 Women's WC97: Canada Women 7 - China 1 Thursday evening in Kitchener Team Canada used a huge first period to blitz China 7-1. The undefeated Canadians are quick. They skate like the wind and at times could really move the puck. China has improved its skating and are playing a better tough defense game. The Chinese still use the cheap dive to try to draw penalties and can hook with the best of them, but overall looked very strong. The woman of the match was Canada's Geraldine Heaney. Her defensive reactions are sublime. Heaney is my vision of the dream skater. She has elegant moves and is always turning up ice with the puck. Wow! what a player!!! Defender Cassie Campbell is much improved from WWC94. She is moving well and joining the attack. In goal Danielle Dube looked very strong. She is a big standup goalie who faces the shooter well. The other Canadian who turned it on last night was Laura Schuler (NU93). She was buzzing all over the ice and was Canada's best forward at both ends of the ice. Overall, I do not picture any other team stopping TCW from winning it's fourth gold medal. *** 07 April 1997 Subject: Women's WC97: final results 1997 Women's World Ice Hockey Championship POOL A W L T P Overall POOL B W L T P Overall Canada 3 0 0 6 5 0 0 USA 2 0 1 5 3 1 1 China 2 1 0 4 2 3 0 Finland 2 0 1 5 3 1 1 Russia 0 2 1 1 1 3 1 Sweden 0 2 1 1 2 2 1 Switzerland 0 2 1 1 1 3 1 Norway 0 2 1 1 0 4 1 TEAMS TIME RINK Mon Mar 31st USA 7 - Norway 0 4:00 pm Kitchener Shelley Looney (NU94) leads TUSAW with 2 goals. Sweden 0 - Finland 5 4:00 pm Brampton The Finns let everyone know they are ready, blitzing higher seed Sweden. China 6 - Russia 2 7:00 pm Hamilton The big four make their statements on the way to the medal round. Canada 6 - Switzerland 0 7:30 pm Kitchener Vicki Sunohara (NU89) scores first goal for TCW in a fairly tough match. Tue Apr 1st Sweden 2 - Norway 2 4:00 pm Kitchener The Swedes come back from 2 goals down to draw their rival. China 11 - Switzerland 3 7:00 pm Mississauga The Chinese come out big on their way to the medal round. USA 3 - Finland 3 7:00 pm Brantford The Finns' Riika Nieminen & Sari Krooks scored late in the game to tie the USA. Canada 9 - Russia 1 7:30 pm Kitchener The Husky line of Vicki Sunohara (NU89), Laura Schuler (NU93) & Karen Nystrom each scored a goal to lead Canada. Thu Apr 3rd Finland 10 - Norway 0 4:00 pm Kitchener The Finn's Riika Nieminen hammers 3 goals past Norway but it is not enough to finish ahead of the USA. USA 10 - Sweden 0 7:00 pm London Karyn Bye (UNH93) scores 2 and Cammi Granato (PC93) lead the blitz that secures first place in Pool B for the Americans. Russia 3 - Switzerland 3 7:00 pm North York The Russians finish ahead of the Swiss in Pool A due to goal difference. Canada 7 - China 1 7:30 pm Kitchener Cassie Campbell & Lori Dupuis score 2 goals each as Canada continues undefeated. Fri Apr 4th Sweden 7 - Switzerland 1 4:00 pm B3-A4 Kitchener The Swedes make it to the Olympic qualifier with 2 goals from Asa Elfving. Russia 2 - Norway 1 7:30 pm A3-B4 Kitchener The improving Russians edge Norway on their quest for Nagano. Sat Apr 5th Canada 2 - Finland 1 1:00 pm A1-B2 Kitchener With 24 seconds left in the match Geraldine Heaney goes end-to-end and provides the incredible feed for Vicki Sunohara (NU89) for the Canadian win. USA 6 - China 0 5:00 pm B1-A2 Kitchener The Americans blow out China with one goal and two assists from Shelley Looney (NU93). Sun Apr 6th Sweden 3 - Russia 1 12:00 pm 5th pl Kitchener The Swedes gain the final Olympic qualifying spot as defender Gunilla Andersson leads the way. Norway 0 - Switzerland 1 2:00 pm 7th pl Kitchener-Kinsmen Team Switzerland pulls out the win in an evenly played contest. Finland 3 - China 0 4:00 pm Bronze Kitchener The Finns erupt for three third period goals as blue liner Kirei Hanninen helps them power forward and win the bronze medal. Canada 4 - USA 3 OT8:00 pm Gold Kitchener Team Canada edges the Americans to win its fourth WWC gold medal on three goals from Nancy Drolet. The Nagano 1998 Olympic seeds: 1) Canada - 2) USA - 3) Finland - 4) China - 5) Sweden - 6) Japan (host). Canada, USA & China qualify due to finishing 1-3 in the 1996 Pacific Championship. Sweden, Russia, Finland, Norway & Switzerland qualify as top five finishers at 1996 European Championship. Seeds: Canada (1) - USA (2) - Sweden (3) - China (4) - Russia (5) - Finland (6) - Norway (7) - Switzerland (8). ***