The Canadians aren’t taking the Czech Republic frivolously.
It was a proficient Czech workforce that shocked the Canadian ladies’s Beneath-18 workforce within the semifinals of final 12 months’s world championship, the primary time the European nation beat the Canadians or made a semifinal on the annual event.
It was a potential signal that the remainder of the world is catching up, and a spot in Sunday’s last for Canada cannot be seen as a assure — unhealthy information for a proficient Canadian workforce, however excellent news for ladies’s hockey.
This 12 months’s Canadian workforce, with 5 returning gamers from the 2024 squad, as soon as once more have to get previous the Czech Republic to compete for gold. The semifinal sport is about for 11:30 a.m. ET on Saturday in Vantaa, Finland, with the winner taking part in within the gold-medal sport at 12 p.m. ET on Sunday.
The Canadians shut out the Czechs 5-0 within the preliminary spherical, thanks to 2 objectives from Saskatchewan’s Stryker Zablocki, one of many returning members of the workforce that misplaced in 2024 and a pressure on this event for Canada. The ahead, who’s dedicated to play at Northeastern College, is second on the workforce in scoring, having registered 9 factors in 4 video games.
Then, the Canadians crushed Japan within the quarterfinals by a whopping 17-0.
“Dealing with [the Czech Republic] once more within the semis, we all know what to anticipate,” ahead Caileigh Tiller, who had two objectives and three assists towards Japan, stated after the sport. “We all know they will play an enormous, bodily sport, so we simply should be prepared for that and ensure we win all of the battles.”
Main by instance
Within the first two preliminary-round video games, Canada appeared to start out out gradual, spending extra time on the lookout for the right shot than charging to the online. It wasn’t till later in each of these video games that Canada began to look dominant.
That carried right into a win over the Czech Republic to shut out the preliminary spherical, and Thursday’s drubbing of Japan within the quarterfinals.
Head coach Vicky Sunohara has shuffled her ahead traces all through the event, spreading out ice time throughout the lineup, with the aim of attempting to not deplete gamers’ vitality forward of the weekend.
The end result has been a balanced assault: each single skater on the Canadian roster has at the very least a degree after 4 video games.
However the prime line of Maxine Cimoroni, Sara Manness and Hayley McDonald has stayed collectively all through the event. Mixed, they put up 24 factors in 4 video games.
“I believe for nearly as good as we have been offensively, there are nonetheless issues to work on,” Cimoroni stated after the win over Japan. “It was simply good to construct confidence going into the semis towards [the Czech Republic] the place it is going to be a distinct sport, however nonetheless a great sport and a great step shifting ahead.”
Captain Chloe Primerano, in the meantime, grew to become the top-scoring defender in event historical past earlier this week. She had 24 profession factors going into Saturday’s semifinal sport.
North Vancouver’s Primerano, who simply turned 18 on Jan. 2, was MVP of final 12 months’s event. She performs on the College of Minnesota, after graduating a 12 months early to make the bounce to school hockey.
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Regardless of her stat line, her coach stated Primerano is not centered on particular person success. She praised her captain’s management.
“She talks about being ‘workforce first’ and that is how she desires to play as nicely,” Sunohara stated. “Her management is valued amongst her teammates, and I believe they appear as much as her for that as nicely.”
Future PWHL stars
Ought to Canada make it previous the Czech Republic on Saturday, they’re prone to face a United States workforce that would be the largest problem but. Staying out of the penalty field, an space the place Canada has struggled all through the event, might be key, as will channelling the boldness the Canadians confirmed in wins over Japan and the Czechs in round-robin play.
The Individuals tackle Sweden within the different semifinal on Saturday morning.
American beginning goaltender Morgan Stickney has allowed just one aim towards over 4 video games, whereas captain Bella Fanale leads the workforce in scoring (seven factors in 4 video games), after including a stunning, end-to-end aim whereas shorthanded towards Slovakia on Thursday.
“The child’s an actual deal, she’s dialled in, and somebody I depend on,” American coach Liz Keady Norton stated after the sport “She confirmed her pace on the finish of a protracted shift, her arms, and her willpower. If anybody’s questioning what Bella Fanale is about, they need to watch these 12 seconds and don’t have any extra questions.”
The one aim the USA gave up was to Slovakia, a workforce powered by a prime line of Ema Tothova, Nela Lopušanová and Gabriela Lacna. That line held its personal towards a few of the prime international locations, however the workforce as an entire could not compete with the powerhouse that’s the American roster, finally shedding 9-1 within the quarterfinals.
Lopušanová, who made headlines at 14 for scoring a Michigan aim, has arguably been one of many top-three gamers of the event. Now 16, she scored or assisted on each single aim her nation scored at this 12 months’s event (eight factors in 4 video games).
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Slovakia will play Japan within the relegation sport on Saturday, nevertheless it’s not the final you may see of Lopušanová. Her nation remains to be working towards a spot on the 2026 Olympics in Italy, and Lopušanová might be eligible to return for the U18 event once more subsequent 12 months.
The teenager moved from Slovakia to Rochester, N.Y. to play prep college hockey, and she or he’s dedicated to play at one of many prime ladies’s hockey applications, the College of Wisconsin, starting in 2026.
She’s one in every of a number of gamers competing within the event who might star within the PWHL sometime. Whereas most gamers full their faculty eligibility earlier than declaring for the league’s draft, the PWHL would not have a minimal draft-eligible age.
Canada will host the subsequent version of U18 ladies’s worlds in 2026, one of five major international women’s hockey tournaments Canada will host between 2026 and 2030. The bid course of is open and Hockey Canada expects to announce the host within the spring.
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