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Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
USA, Canada to face off in Women's World Championship gold-medal game
USA, Canada to face off in Women's World Championship gold-medal game ČESKÉ BUDĚJOVICE, Czechia — Team USA and Team Canada will play in the gold-medal game of the 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship on Sunday. The rivals have faced off for gold at 23 of 24 women's world championships since the tournament began in 1990, including last year's gold-medal game, which Canada won 6-5 in overtime. This year's championship rematch was set after both teams won their semifinal games on Saturday night. Advertisement Team USA narrowly escaped elimination in the first semifinal of the day with a 2-1 win against Czechia. It was a physical, intense game — the best of the tournament thus far — with a stellar performance from Czech goalie Klára Peslarová, who made 43 saves in the loss. The host Czechia scored a stunning opening goal against the top-seeded Americans, who went 4-0 through the group stage. With less than five minutes remaining in the first period, U.S. defender Savannah Harmon turned the puck over deep in the U.S. zone with goalie Aerin Frankel out of her crease. Czech forward Tereza Plosová — a top commit to the University of Minnesota — waited for a diving Lacey Eden to go by, and chipped the puck over Frankel for the opening goal of the game. Czechia held the 1-0 lead until late in the second period, when Laila Edwards scored a power-play goal — her first of the tournament — to draw the game even. Kelly Pannek gave the U.S. its first lead in the third period with her team-leading fourth goal of the tournament, which would be the game winner. Advertisement For most of the game, the 5,859 fans inside Budvar Arena were clapping, chanting and on their feet for the home team. It was the fifth-straight sellout for Czechia during a record-breaking tournament. With over 100,000 fans in attendance heading into the final day of the tournament, the 2025 worlds have been the best-attended tournament hosted outside North America. 'It was just an amazing showing by the Czech players, not only those on the ice, but (the fans) in the arena,' U.S. coach John Wroblewski said after the game. 'They had so much energy. Every loose puck meant the world to them, every blocked shot meant everything to them. And I just have so much respect for how the Czechs played. And so with that, I've got so much respect for the way that our team got the victory, because that was a tough game to play.' On the other hand, Team Canada beat Finland 8-1 in the second semifinal of the day. But it was Finland's Michelle Karvinen who opened the scoring just 45 seconds into the game. On Tuesday, Karvinen, 35, became the highest scoring Finnish player at women's worlds, passing Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Riikka Sallinen. The game was tied less than two minutes later after Erin Ambrose buried a rebound on Finnish goalie Emilia Kyrkkö. Then, Marie-Philip Poulin gave Canada a 2-1 lead with a historic goal to pass Hayley Wickenheiser as Canada's all-time leading scorer at the women's worlds. The game stayed close until Canada scored four goals in the final three minutes of the second period to go up 6-1. Daryl Watts scored twice during that sequence, while Emily Clark and Danielle Serdachny put things well out of reach. Claire Thompson and Sarah Nurse added more goals in the third. Advertisement Ann-Renée Desbiens made 19 saves in the win, her 22nd all-time at women's worlds, which broke Florence Schelling's career wins record. Finland and Czechia will (once again) play for bronze at 8 a.m. (ET) Sunday. Finland beat Czechia 3-2 in a shootout for bronze at last year's tournament, and again 4-2 just last week during the group stage. Czechia will look to get back on the podium for the first time since winning back-to-back bronze medals in 2022 and '23 — this time in front of a home crowd. USA and Canada will play the tournament's final game at noon (ET) Sunday. Team USA beat Canada in their preliminary round match 2-1, but preliminary success is not always telling of what's to come in a gold medal match. For the last three years, the winner of the group stage game has not won the world championship. 'We learned a little bit about ourselves tonight, but I think we learned a little bit about them as well,' Canadian head coach Troy Ryan said after the April 13 game. 'Hopefully, we can make the adjustments we need to make.' Advertisement Team USA will enter the gold-medal game as the No. 1-seeded team, feeling 'battle tested' after a tougher game than usual in the semifinals. 'There were times it felt like a Canada-USA game,' Edwards said. 'I'm glad we had that game, credit to Czechia for really bringing it.' A key issue for the Americans throughout the tournament has been scoring efficiency. On Saturday night, they only scored two goals on 45 shots. During the quarterfinals, they only scored three goals on 51 shots. There's something to be said about the strong goaltending in women's hockey, but the U.S. has only the fourth-best scoring rate (9.24 percent) in the tournament. Advertisement 'At some point here, you'd hope the law of averages would start to work their way in,' Wroblewski said. 'It's astounding that we haven't scored more goals. I will say that.' After losing to Canada last year at worlds in Utica, N.Y., one of Wroblewski's takeaways was that Team USA needed to show up in Czechia with 'the biggest, sturdiest and most mobile team' possible to negate how good Canada is. In focusing on the physical side of the game, Team USA has lost some of its offense, especially with skilled players like Kirsten Simms or Hannah Bilka either scratched or left off the roster entirely. Of course, scoring efficiency won't matter if the U.S. can grind out another 2-1 victory against Canada. And especially if starter Aerin Frankel continues her strong play with a 0.75 goals against average. Advertisement But it'll be easier said than done, attempting to beat Canada at its game. Team USA has only beaten Canada once over the last five major international competitions (2023 worlds). Canada enters the final as the reigning champs with the best offense in the tournament. No team has scored more goals (34) at a higher rate (14 percent). Not to mention, Poulin, who has scored more championship-winning goals than any player ever, is healthy and leading the tournament in scoring (11). Watts, who has four goals and five points in her debut worlds, was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct on Saturday night for an illegal hit to the head. If she were to get supplemental discipline, it would be a huge loss for Canada. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Advertisement NHL, Women's Hockey 2025 The Athletic Media Company
New York Times
19-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
USA, Canada to face off in Women's World Championship gold medal game
ČESKÉ BUDĚJOVICE, Czechia — Team USA and Team Canada will play in the gold medal game of the 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship on Sunday. The rivals have faced off for gold at 23 of 24 women's world championships since the tournament began in 1990 — including last year's gold medal game, which Canada won 6-5 in overtime. This year's championship rematch was set after both teams won their semifinal games on Saturday night. Advertisement Team USA narrowly escaped elimination in the first semifinal of the day with a 2-1 win against Czechia. It was a physical, intense game — the best of the tournament thus far — with a stellar performance from Czech goalie Klára Peslarová, who made 43 saves in the loss. The host Czechia scored a stunning opening goal against the top-seeded Americans, who went 4-0 through the group stage. With less than five minutes remaining in the first period, U.S. defender Savannah Harmon turned the puck over deep in the U.S. zone, with goalie Aerin Frankel out of her crease. Czech forward Tereza Plosová — a top commit to the University of Minnesota — waited for a diving Lacey Eden to go by, and chipped the puck over Frankel for the opening goal of the game. Terka Plosová nekompromisně! V semifinále vedeme! 🚀 🇺🇸⚔️🇨🇿 0:1#narodnitymzen #WomensWorlds — Hokejová reprezentace žen (@narodnitymzen) April 19, 2025 Czechia held the 1-0 lead until late in the second period, when Laila Edwards scored a power play goal — her first of the tournament — to draw the game even. Kelly Pannek gave the U.S. its first lead in the third period with her team-leading fourth goal of the tournament, which would ultimately be the game-winner. For most of the game, the 5,859 fans inside Budvar Arena were clapping, chanting and on their feet for the home team. It was the fifth-straight sellout for Czechia during a record-breaking tournament. With over 100,000 fans in attendance heading into the final day of the tournament, 2025 worlds has been the best-attended tournament hosted outside North America. 'It was just an amazing showing by the Czech players, not only those on the ice, but (the fans) in the arena,' said U.S. coach John Wroblewski after the game. 'They had so much energy. Every loose puck meant the world to them, every blocked shot meant everything to them. And I just have so much respect for how the Czechs played. And so with that, I've got so much respect for the way that our team got the victory, because that was a really tough game to play.' Advertisement Team Canada, on the other hand, beat Finland 8-1 in the second semifinal of the day. But it was Finland's Michelle Karvinen who opened the scoring just 45 seconds into the game. On Tuesday, Karvinen, 35, became the highest scoring Finnish player at women's worlds, passing Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Riikka Sallinen. The game was tied less than two minutes later after Erin Ambrose buried a rebound on Finnish goalie Emilia Kyrkkö. Then, Marie-Philip Poulin gave Canada a 2-1 lead with a historic goal to pass Hayley Wickenheiser as Canada's all-time leading scorer at women's worlds. Un but qui permet à @pou29 de fracasser un record! 👏🚨 A record-breaking goal for Marie-Philip Poulin! 👏🚨#WomensWorlds | #MondialFé — Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) April 19, 2025 The game stayed close until Canada scored four goals in the final three minutes of the second period to go up 6-1. Daryl Watts scored twice during that sequence, while Emily Clark and Danielle Serdachny put things well out of reach. Claire Thompson and Sarah Nurse added more goals in the third. Ann-Renée Desbiens made 19 saves in the win, her 22nd all-time at women's worlds, which broke Florence Schelling's career wins record. Finland and Czechia will (once again) play for bronze on Sunday afternoon (8 a.m. ET). Finland beat Czechia 3-2 in a shootout for bronze at last year's tournament, and again 4-2 just last week during the group stage. Czechia will look to get back on the podium for the first time since winning back-to-back bronze medals in 2022 and 2023 — this time in front of a home crowd. USA and Canada will play the tournament's final game on Sunday (noon ET). Team USA beat Canada in their preliminary round match 2-1, but preliminary success is not always telling of what's to come in a gold medal match. For the last three years, the winner of the group stage game has not won the world championship. Advertisement 'We learned a little bit about ourselves tonight, but I think we learned a little bit about them as well,' Canadian head coach Troy Ryan said after the April 13 game. 'Hopefully we can make the adjustments we need to make.' Team USA will enter the gold medal game as the No. 1 seed, feeling 'battle tested' after a tougher game than usual in the semifinals. 'There were times it felt like a Canada-USA game,' said Edwards. 'I'm glad we had that game, credit to Czechia for really bringing it.' A key issue for the Americans throughout the tournament has been scoring efficiency. On Saturday night, they only scored two goals on 45 shots. During the quarterfinals, they only scored three goals on 51 shots. There's something to be said about the strong goaltending in women's hockey, but the U.S. has only the fourth-best scoring rate (9.24 percent) in the tournament. 'At some point here, you'd hope the law of averages would start to work their way in,' said Wroblewski. 'It's astounding that we haven't scored more goals. I will say that.' After losing to Canada last year at worlds in Utica, one of Wroblewski's takeaways was that Team USA needed to show up in Czechia with 'the biggest, sturdiest and most mobile team' possible to negate how good Canada is. In focusing on the physical side of the game, Team USA has lost some of its offense, especially with skilled players like Kirsten Simms or Hannah Bilka either scratched or left off the roster entirely. Of course, scoring efficiency won't matter if the U.S. can grind out another 2-1 victory against Canada. And especially if starter Aerin Frankel continues her strong play, with a 0.75 goals against average. But it'll be easier said than done, attempting to beat Canada at their own game. Team USA has only beat Canada once over the last five major international competitions (2023 worlds). Canada enters the final as the reigning champs with the best offense in the tournament. No team has scored more goals (34) at a higher rate (14 percent). Not to mention, Poulin – who has scored more championship winning goals than any player ever – is healthy and leading the tournament in scoring (11). Watts, who has four goals and five points in her debut worlds, was given a five minute major and a game misconduct on Saturday night for an illegal hit to the head. If she were to get supplemental discipline, it would be a huge loss for Canada.
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Trade Targets: PWHL Trade Deadline Rapidly Approaching
Two trades are in the books this season for the PWHL. The first was a blockbuster seeing Savannah Harmon and Haley Scamurra heading to Toronto in exchange for Jocelyne Larocque and Victoria Bach with Ottawa. The second was a one-for-one deal with the Boston Fleet acquiring Jill Saulnier, sending Taylor Girard to the New York Sirens. Here's a look at each of the PWHL team's biggest needs, as well The Hockey News' trade target list. Boston Fleet - Secondary scoring. Boston has seen big boosts this season from Hilary Knight, but the team has struggled to score for the second straight season. The injury to Hannah Bilka was a dagger in their attack. Boston needs to make a move, and it might need to be more than a minor shift. Minnesota Frost - A goaltender. There's really no way to guarantee Maddie Rooney or Nicole Hensley will be good enough to get Minnesota back to the Walter Cup finals. Rooney has been the better of the two, but Minneota has looked good up and down their lineup, but their goaltending has not been good. Montreal Victoire - Depth forward support. The return of Dominika Laskova, if it occurs in time for her to play at the World Championships and prepare for a playoff run might be the only boost Montreal needs. If Montreal wants to deploy Laskova on the blueline, they'll have too much depth at the position, and could look to flip a D for more defensive depth to upgrade their wings. The injury to Catherine Dubois leaves Montreal with only 12 rostered forwards. New York Sirens - Secondary scoring. The injury to Alex Carpenter, and lack of scoring beyond New York's top group shows the need for more production up and down their lineup. New York has leaned heavily on their big names, and rightfully so, but adding a piece who can provide a different look on their third line would be big. As much as their blueline looked complete, Brooke Hobson has fallen out of favour and New York would also benefit from a defender who can slide into their third pairing. Ottawa Charge - If they can stay healthy, Ottawa's lineup looks good, but it's a big "if." Right now Ottawa could use help on their right side, and may look for an upgrade to their seventh D position. Toronto Sceptres - Defensive depth. Toronto moved on from Lauren Bernard and added forward depth in Laura Kluge. Their biggest boost will be the return of Sarah Nurse. But if there's a defender available for the right price, adding a seventh D as insurance would be wise. Denisa Krizova, Minnesota Frost - It's clear Krizova isn't a favorite of Ken Klee, and after signing a season extension, it might not be worth if for Krizova to stay in Minnesota. She'd be an excellent fit for Boston, New York, Ottawa, or even Montreal. Return would be the biggest issue. Chloe Aurard, New York Sirens - Whether it's a trade or at the end of the season, Aurard's time in New York is over. Her confidence looks shot, which is unfortunate for a player who the league had high hopes for heading into the inaugural season. Boston would be a good chance for her to re-unite with Alina Muller, or even a depth move to Montreal to try a similar reconnection with Maureen Murphy. Amanda Boulier, Montreal Victoire - Boulier was dealt last year, and despite her value, Montreal's top four looks locked in, and if Laskova comes back, Boulier, or defender Anna Kjellbin might be the off players out. New York or Toronto would be the logical trade partners. Elizabeth Giguere, New York Sirens - Giguere has needed a new opportunity for a long time. Montreal or Boston would be a good fit. She's big and still has a ton of upside. It just won't be realized in New York. Klara Hymlarova, Minnesota Frost - Still providing quality depth minutes, Minnesota may be ready to move on from their 2024 third round pick as Hymlarova has only one assist in 17 games. She has more to give, but isn't a match for the Frost's system. Klara Peslarova, Boston Fleet - There's a capable goalie waiting in the wings in Klara Peslarova. For a team like the Toronto Sceptres or Minnesota Frost who are both playoff contenders with crease concerns, adding a veteran like Peslarova might be impactful even if it's only to put meaningful pressure on their existing tandems. Jamie Lee Rattray, Boston Fleet - For the Boston Fleet to get scoring, they're going to need to give up something significant, and Rattray may be the logical pick. Rattray could draw interest from New York, Minnesota, Ottawa, or Montreal, bet moving a player on a three year deal, unless those teams know expansion is coming, will be difficult. Anna Meixner, Ottawa Charge - For a team looking for a potential scorer, Meixner has the upside. New York and Boston would be logical trade partners here. Noemi Neubauerova, Toronto Sceptres - It's more likely Toronto will keep their forward depth and just cut players loose into reserve spots and free agency as Sarah Nurse returns. But Neubauerova is a player who teams will look at. Boston, New York, and Ottawa could all be trade partners who would be a good fit for "Nemo." Maggie Connors, Toronto Sceptres - She has fallen out of a meaningful role in Toronto. New York has always been a spot Connors could fit with her college chemistry alongside Fillier. Toronto might be wise to get something for Connors before she walks in free agency. Loren Gabel, Boston Fleet - One of the best shooters in the league who rarely gets a shot, Boston planned for Gabel to be a top scorer heading into year one, and the inability to get her activated in a scoring role has been a major issue in Boston's scoring struggles. It's time to send Gabel somewhere new, as she'll be gone in the offseason. Anna Kjellbin, Montreal Victoire - It's not a Boulier and Kjellbin situation, but if Montreal is going to move a defender, it could be the Swedish captain. Her leadership and poise has been welcomed in Montreal and Kjellbin has quietly provided solid minutes. Montreal may not want to move on from her, but if they move a D, if could be anyone. Jade Downie-Landry, New York Sirens - New York still needs more up front, and although Dowie-Landry has shown she can score in this league, you have to give something to get something. New York just doesn't have enough punch on their third and fourth lines. If they aren't going to score, perhaps they could make a move to get tougher to play against. Zoe Boyd, Ottawa Charge - She's an off-ice fan favorite in Ottawa, but Boyd hasn't factored into Ottawa's lineup in an impactful way this season. If there's a chance to upgrade their lineup in a swap with a team looking for defensive depth, Boyd is the only option. Ottawa may be hesitant to move a defender unless they're trading for an upgrade at the position after how last season ended. But they could certainly still upgrade their depth here. Brooke Hobson, New York - There's a lot to like about Hobson's game. She's a good skater and physical, but there are issues. She hasn't recovered from the defensive debauchery that was New York's entire roster last season. Hobson still looks out of position and ahead of the puck at times. She needs somewhere new to simplify and resettle.
