Whatever hope there was of the rest of the world closing the gap on the Canadian and U.S. women’s hockey teams is being dashed at the Olympics.
Beijing – Immediately after one of Finland’s most lopsided losses in international women’s hockey history, general manager Tuula Puputti marveled with envy at the depth of talent Canada has assembled. She began by referencing Canada’s top line centered by captain Marie-Philip Poulin, who has drawn comparisons to Sidney Crosby for scoring two gold-medal clinching goals. Then there’s a second line anchored by Sarah Fillier, the 21-year-old Princeton captain, who has already scored four times in her Olympic debut. Puputti, however, didn’t stop there. “Who wouldn’t want to have their third and fourth lines on their teams as well?” the former goalie said, incredulously. “It’s plenty to choose.” Plenty harder to contain. Whatever faint hope there was of the rest of the world closing the gap on the Canadian and U.S. women’s hockey teams is quickly being dashed three days into the Beijing Games. Canada outclassed its first two Group A opponents with a pair of 11-1 victories, beginning with Switzerland on Thursday and the Finns on Saturday. And Finland, which won bronze at the 2018 Winter Games and the world championships in August, hardly fared much better against the United States in a 5-2 loss on Thursday night. The defending Olympic champion Americans improved to 2-0 by overcoming a slow start in a 5-0 win over the Russian team later in the day. In Group B play, Haruka Toko had a goal and two assists, and Japan improved to 2-0 with a 6-2 victory over Denmark (0-2). The Czech Republic is off to a 2-0 start in its Olympic women’s hockey debut after Tereza Vanisova scored twice in a 3-1 win over Sweden (0-2). For Puputti, very little has changed her mind in the two months since she called Canada the tournament favorite.
