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Canada blanks US, claims gold in women's hockey
Source: Agencies |
February 26, 2010, Friday
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Online Edition
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MARIE-PHILIP Poulin scored two goals, Shannon Szabados made 28 saves, and Canada rolled through the United States 2-0 yesterday to win the women's hockey gold medal for a third straight Olympics.
In front of a raucous Vancouver crowd ringing cowbells and frantically waving thousands of maple leaf flags, Canada thrived on its home fans' relentless cheers. The Canadians dominated every aspect of the biggest game in this young sport, earning their 15th straight Olympic victory.
Playing with a consistency and passion its men's team can only hope to emulate this weekend, Canada hasn't lost at the Olympics since 1998, when the Americans won their sport's first gold.
The Canadians got two first-period goals from Poulin, the super-speedy 18-year-old Quebecois forward who claims she feels no Olympic pressure. Their smooth, graceful goalie did the rest, with Szabados capping her first Olympics with flawless netminding in a win that sometimes seemed just as one-sided as Canada's 18-0 victory over Slovakia to open the Winter Games 12 days ago.
The Canadians kept nearly the entire game in the Americans' end - outpassing, outshooting and simply outworking the only team in women's hockey with a chance of standing up to them.
Much of the Canadian men's team, which faces Slovakia in the semifinals Friday, watched the game from press box seats above the ice, while hockey great Wayne Gretzky and several Canadian gold medalists from other sports were in the stands. Several members of the American men's team also attended before their meeting with Finland.
When the puck went to center ice and time expired, the Canadians skated into a massive pile-up near their goal. Cheering fans threw several flags to the players, and they raised the banners or wrapped them around their shoulders as capes.
Jessie Vetter made 27 saves for the Americans, whose offensive potency evaporated in front of Szabados and the Canadian defense. The potent power play that scored 13 goals in the last four games went 0-for-6, and the Canadians consistently won most of the battles in a physical, grinding game.
The only matchup that matters in women's hockey was secured in Monday's semifinals, when the Americans routed Sweden and Canada clobbered Finland to finish two dominant runs through the field.
In front of a raucous Vancouver crowd ringing cowbells and frantically waving thousands of maple leaf flags, Canada thrived on its home fans' relentless cheers. The Canadians dominated every aspect of the biggest game in this young sport, earning their 15th straight Olympic victory.
Playing with a consistency and passion its men's team can only hope to emulate this weekend, Canada hasn't lost at the Olympics since 1998, when the Americans won their sport's first gold.
The Canadians got two first-period goals from Poulin, the super-speedy 18-year-old Quebecois forward who claims she feels no Olympic pressure. Their smooth, graceful goalie did the rest, with Szabados capping her first Olympics with flawless netminding in a win that sometimes seemed just as one-sided as Canada's 18-0 victory over Slovakia to open the Winter Games 12 days ago.
The Canadians kept nearly the entire game in the Americans' end - outpassing, outshooting and simply outworking the only team in women's hockey with a chance of standing up to them.
Much of the Canadian men's team, which faces Slovakia in the semifinals Friday, watched the game from press box seats above the ice, while hockey great Wayne Gretzky and several Canadian gold medalists from other sports were in the stands. Several members of the American men's team also attended before their meeting with Finland.
When the puck went to center ice and time expired, the Canadians skated into a massive pile-up near their goal. Cheering fans threw several flags to the players, and they raised the banners or wrapped them around their shoulders as capes.
Jessie Vetter made 27 saves for the Americans, whose offensive potency evaporated in front of Szabados and the Canadian defense. The potent power play that scored 13 goals in the last four games went 0-for-6, and the Canadians consistently won most of the battles in a physical, grinding game.
The only matchup that matters in women's hockey was secured in Monday's semifinals, when the Americans routed Sweden and Canada clobbered Finland to finish two dominant runs through the field.
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