(Beijing) The Canadian hockey players started their Olympic tournament with a bang on Thursday, crushing the Swiss 12-1. This convincing victory was however overshadowed by the hasty exit of Mélodie Daoust, victim of an illegal check in the middle of the meeting.
Posted at 6:22
Updated at 7:44 a.m.
Daoust, the MVP of the last World Championship, was hit hard by Sarah Forster along the boards. The Quebec forward had difficulty getting up, and seemed to have shoulder pain. She left for the locker room, without even stopping at her team’s bench.
After the game, we went to inquire about his state of health with his head coach, Troy Ryan. However, the mixed zone of the indoor National Stadium in Beijing was just as confused and disorganized as the Swiss defence. The organizers confined the journalists to small individual enclosures, side by side, for about twenty meters. Ryan stopped at the very beginning of the line, in front of the paddock of an International Hockey Federation content creator. Far from the contingent of Canadian journalists of which I was a part. Between us, the Swiss coach answered questions in German. Nice mess. So we couldn’t ask our questions to Troy Ryan, nor hear his answers, because the speakers were turned off.
A few hours later, Hockey Canada sent us a terse email. ” [Mélodie] is resting, and continues to be assessed by our medical team. There are no further details regarding his status for the upcoming game. Hockey Canada has also not confirmed if it was indeed a shoulder injury.
Apart from that incident, it was a dream game for the Canadians, who hadn’t scored as many goals in a match for nine years. Their domination was total. Even 12-1 doesn’t fully reflect the slaughter it was. The Canadians had 70 shots on goaltender Andrea Braendli. Think about it: that’s more than one shot per minute played! Do you know how many times since World War II an NHL team has shot so often in a game without overtime?
Only once!
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
The Canadians won a resounding 12-1 win over the Swiss in their opener on Thursday,
This undeniable success, at the start of the tournament, will reassure Canadian fans. On the other hand, it also forces a sad observation: parity is still slow to settle in women’s hockey. It is abnormal that a duel between two of the five best nations in the world is so unbalanced.
How to explain this?
I put the question to the head coach of Switzerland, Colin Muller. He took the time to think for a few seconds before answering. “I was watching the NHL results yesterday. The Maple Leafs beat the Devils, 7-1. One team can have a good game and the other a bad game. I think the gap [au hockey féminin] shrinks itself. However, the pool of talent from which the Canadian team can draw is so large that to be able to stay in the game for a period and a half, all of our players must be at their maximum level. »
Numbers ? In Canada, women’s hockey has just over 100,000 fans. In Swiss ? About 2000. That’s three times less than in Quebec…
Number of players per country
- Canada: 101,879
- United States: 84,102
- Sweden: 7843
- Finland: 5906
- Czechia: 4142
- Russia: 2141
- Switzerland: 2011
- Japan: 1436
- China: 822
- Denmark: 702
Source: International Ice Hockey Federation
Colin Muller nevertheless sees progress. “Slowly it is improving. At the last World Championship, we saw scores of 4-0, 5-0. Against Canada, that’s okay. If you can reduce the number of throws allowed between 20 and 40, you have a chance of winning. But at 65, no, you’ll never win a game. »
Another factor in Canadian dominance, Colin Muller believes, is the fact that the players here train together.
“And what’s more, they train on a small surface. We thought of playing on a little mirror [à Pékin], it was going to be able to help us, because our players were going to be closer. It’s just the opposite that happened. It was the Canadians who were closer to us. Their forecheck is remarkable. Our players are not used to this. »
Muller was particularly impressed with young Canadian striker Sarah Fillier, 21, who had two goals early in the game and had 10 shots on target. ” She is incredible. But to be honest, I see 20 in the Canadian team who are hard to contain [rires] ! »
Fillier was radiant after her brilliant performance. ” It’s incredible. It’s a dream come true to be at the Games, to wear this jersey and to be able to contribute to the success,” she said with a smile on her face. Her teammates Nathalie Spooner and Claire Thompson also stood out, with five points.
Next match for the Canadians: on the night of Friday to Saturday, against the Finns, who gave them a good battle (5-3) at the last World Championship. With or without Mélodie Daoust? This will be to follow over the next few hours.