Canada's Sarah Nurse, centre, carries the puck between Team USA forward Hannah Bilka and defender Savannah Harmon (in the first period during IIHF Women's World Hockey Championship hockey action in Brampton, Ont., on April 10.Dan Hamilton
For a while in Monday’s game, you wondered if the Canadian and American women’s hockey teams were going to play all night.
It took overtime and nine rounds of penalty shooters before Jamie-Lee Rattray netted the winner for the Canadians, who remain undefeated at the IIHF Women’s World Hockey Championships after their preliminary round victory in Brampton.
Canadian goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens made 26 saves on Monday night -- on her 29th birthday -- including a jaw-dropper in overtime, and six more in the shootout, to help Canada to the 4-3 win after they survived a late-game collapse.
The Americans had roared back from two goals down in the final 39 seconds of the third period to tie things. It was the latest installment of a storied rivaly that grows faster and more skilled with each encounter. This one featured timely saves, big tumbles, a malfunctioning scoreboard, and plenty of third-period dramatics.
It was a big jump in pace, and the first real test for both teams, who each crushed their first three opponents in this event – Czechia, Japan and Switzerland.
The Americans – who have brought a younger team to this tournament compared to past events -- struck first, during a power-play mid-way through the first period, when Hannah Bilka ripped one through traffic past Desbiens.
Monday’s contest at Brampton’s CAA Centre was the fullest and loudest so far at this tournament. The sold-out crowd of 5,000 sounded twice its size when erupting just a few minutes later as Canada tied the game. Sarah Nurse floated in and rifled a shot off U.S goalie Aerin Frankel, and linemate Sarah Fillier banged home the rebound.
Marie-Phillip Poulin put the home team ahead early in the second, during a Canadian powerplay, when she fired a one-timer from the slot. It was the 103rd of Poulin’s career on the national team, and as the humble captain often does, she instantly pointed to the teammate who sailed her the pass, in this case Erin Ambrose.
Laura Stacey put in an empty-netter for Canada that appeared to seal the game for the home team with 2:27 left after the Americans pulled their goalie trying to get an advantage.
Long-time U.S star Hilary Knight put one in to silence the crowd but it seemed like Canada was holding on, until Amanda Kessel scored the tying goal with just three seconds left to stun the house. The scoreboard went dark for a bit, causing plenty of confusion and delay.
A period of three-on-three didn’t solve it, and they went to a shoot-out.
Both teams scored on their first shooter – Knight for the U.S. and Brianne Jenner for Canada, and then everyone either missed the net or got shut out by the goalies.
Canada forward Jamie Lee Rattray, right, scores against USA goaltender Aerin Frankel to lift Canada over the U.S. in a shootout during IIHF Women's World Hockey Championship hockey action in Brampton, Ont., on April 10.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
The netminders at both ends were in for a long ordeal. Desbiens stood on her head, denying six US shooters -- nabbing pucks with her glove or calmly absorbing the puck in her pads. Through six of the rounds, Canadian shooters missed the net, and Frankel made one save.
“I love shootouts, so I was super excited,” said Desbiens. “I’ve never been someone who really gets in my head and starts to overthink. So I was just waiting for it to be over and stuff the next one.”
Finally Rattray stepped up and ended the night.
“Rattray has just been a player that’s been so valuable for us. At times she’s been our 13th forward, sometimes she’s played his first line left wing,” said Canada Coach Troy Ryan. “She’s just someone that always finds a way to step up big when we need her most and tonight we did.”
Despite the loss, Knight, acting US captain for this tournament, was pleased with her young team at this point in the tournament. Frankel made 33 saves for the Americans.
“You can’t replicate these reps anywhere else,” said Knight. “To get them on a world stage like this, representing your country, the crowd’s against you, you’re getting booed. I mean, that’s a lot. So to have the younger players shine like that -- that’s what you want.”
The quarterfinals are scheduled for Thursday, and the semis on Saturday, with the medals to be handed out on Sunday. The two North American rivals have met in 20 of the 21 gold medal finals in the history of this tournament – all but 2019 when Finland upset Canada in the semis when they hosted in Espoo. The Canadians -- also reigning Olympic gold medalists – take aim at a third straight world championship title.
“It’s great to see. They play with intensity, but they also play with respect for each other and that’s how our game grew,” said Fran Rider, IIHF Hall of Famer, and the long-time President of the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association. “We still need a lot more credibility, but it’s great to see the sophisticated media coverage, the television coverage. That is huge for the game.”
The crowd was largely decked in red, but for pockets of kids all sporting their own team jerseys. One squad of young girls in white and teal hockey jerseys also wore matching easter bunny ears.
Rider is still among the organizers of the event. She’s a woman largely responsible for bringing about the earliest women’s world tournaments in the 80s and 90s, and helping advocate to get women’s hockey into the Olympics, which happened at the 1998 Nagano Games.
She thinks back to what it took to get international teams to Canada to play back in the earliest international competitions. Today, with email and virtual meetings it’s easy. But it wasn’t then. It was hard to even know what the level of talent was like on opposing teams until they arrived and got on the ice.
“The International rates for a phone call were incredible back then – talking to them for a couple of minutes would be like $30, 40 $50, and we didn’t have we didn’t have any money,” said Rider. “Our whole goal was to break even, because there was nowhere to draw the money from other than your own bank account.”
Today 10 teams are in Brampton, and while the gap is still large between the North Americans and other teams, Rider sees the depth and talent steadily growing among the international teams.
Rider is doing it while also overseeing a provincial championship coming to the region this weekend. Some 15,000 Ontario female players across 520 teams will converge on the GTA starting Thursday, and are looking to attend games at the world championships too.
There was a sense of urgency back in the 80s and 90s to get those talented women playing in front of a crowd, so kids could see them and idolize them. Rider has never forgotten that feeling. It still informs her work.
“It was the best kept secret in Canada that we had these players who played hockey with excellence and intelligence,” said Rider, recalling that back then they played despite a lack of infrastructure, coaching, and while wearing equipment that didn’t even fit women. “But the country didn’t see that back then. They do now.”