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Canada can counter with collegiate stars, though. Princeton’s Sarah Fillier is the leading goal-scorer in the tournament with seven goals in six games. Emma Maltais was on the Ohio State team that lost to Wisconsin in the NCAA final.
But US fans may be more likely to fear Marie-Philip Poulin, who is happier to stick the dagger in the US like Arya Stark facing off with the Night King. She scored the overtime winner in 2021 and netted twice in the 2022 Olympic final, becoming the first hockey player to score in four straight Olympic finals.
Four weeks ago, four US players celebrated a championship. Caroline Harvey, Britta Curl, Lacey Eden and Nicole LaMantia won the NCAA championship with Wisconsin, which tends to win a lot of national championships. (LaMantia is not in uniform tonight.)
Plenty of their national teammates were also chasing a collegiate championship, as were three Canadian players. (For those in Canada, because it came up in one of my last live appearances – “college” means “university.”) The US team has a potent forward line (see lineup below) of Penn State teen phenom Tessa Janecke, Minnesota center (centre) Taylor Heise and Boston College’s Hannah Bilke.
Every player on these two teams played at a US college (university) at some point. Many a US college roster has included players from both sides of the border. But it’s a bit unusual for one team to have so many players who are also in college.
Those who don’t remember the past, we’re told, are condemned to repeat it.
US women’s hockey coach John Wroblewski is banking on the opposite.
After three straight losses to Canada in world championship or Olympic finals, the worst run for the US since Canada’s dominance of the sport’s first 15 years (1998 Olympics notwithstanding), Wroblekski has embarked on a youth movement. Maybe his players don’t remember winning Olympic gold in 2018 or the world championship in 2019, the only world championship final Canada has ever missed, but they also don’t remember losing in the 2021 worlds, the 2022 Olympics or the fall 2022 worlds.
It’s not a total clearout by any means. Eight-time world champion Hilary Knight is still here to captain the US. Fellow 30something Amanda Kessel is also in the attack. Alternate captains Alex Carpenter and Lee Stecklein are no stranger to this stage.
But the goaltender is no longer Maddie Rooney, who played well beyond her 20 years to win gold in 2018, or Alex Cavallini, the 2022 goalie. It’s 23-year-old Aerin Frankel.
The Canadian team, on the other hand, boasts several of the all-time greats. Ann-Renee Desbiens. Marie-Philip Poulin. Jocelyn Larocque.
You’d think Canada would have the edge here. But their matchup earlier in these championships went to a shootout, with Canada scraping by to win. And the young, feisty US absolutely demolished Czechia, which won the bronze medal earlier today, with a 9-1 decision in the semis, as mentioned below.
Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s a look back at the United States’ semi-final win over the Czech Republic.
English (US)