ZURICH--The busiest day of WW 2011 kicks off with the 2009 gold medallists in action for the first time followed by the other pair of Group A teams. Canada goes for a 2-0 record later, and the Swiss try to rebound to give the home fans something to cheer about. USA-SVK, 12.00, Zurich
Slovakia’s women have never played the Americans at any level of women’s hockey, but today should be a mismatch if the 2010 Olympics is any indication. In five games in Vancouver, Slovakia was outscored 36-7 and didn’t earn a single point. Still, a year later and wiser, the team is perhaps better prepared. Their top player in Vancouver was goalie Zuzana Tomcikova, and she is here in Switzerland as well…Tomcikova played for the Bemidji State University Beavers this past season, her third year with the team, majoring in Mass Communication…Actually, she grew up in Canada, playing high-school hockey in Saskatchewan…Tomcikova had a fine season as a freshman with Bemidji in 2008-09, earning honours as a 2nd Team All-Star and sporting a .917 save percentage despite playing on a team that had a terrible record of 5-4-22 (W-T-L)…In her second season she was WCHA Player of the Year and nominated for the Patty Kazmaier Award…This past year, she led the team to the playoffs for the first time in her career…The Americans have a seven-game WW winning streak heading into the game. They last lost in the Qualification Round to Finland, 1-0 in overtime, in 2008…They have several new faces since they last played an IIHF event, the Olympics, namely Jen Schoullis and Kelley Steadman, making their debuts at the senior level, as well as Brianne McLaughlin, Josephine Pucci, Anne Schleper, Kendall Coyne, and Brianna Decker…Katey Stone is the head coach, taking over for Mark Johnson who was behind the bench in Vancouver and in 2007 and 2009…Stone coached the WW18 team to gold at the inaugural event in Calgary, Canada in 2008. SWE-RUS, 16.00, Zurich
Russia has defeated Sweden only once in women’s hockey, that a 3-0 win on April 2, 2001. Sweden has won the only two Olympics games the countries have played as well as six of seven WW games and all three U18 contests…The teams last played at the 2009 Worlds, Sweden winning 8-0. Sweden also won 4-1 at the 2010 U18 in Chicago…Sweden boasts the most senior player in women’s hockey. Defenceman Gunilla Andersson, who turns 36 the day after the gold-medal game, is the only active player who took part in the 1992 World Women’s Championship. In all she has played in ten WW events and 49 games, both records…Russia’s only medal at WW came in 2001 when it beat Finland, 2-1, to take the bronze. Four players are in today’s game from that bronze victory—Yekaterina Smolentseva, Alyona Khomich, Tatiana Burina, and Svetlana Terentieva.
KAZ-CAN, 16.00 Winterthur
Canada has never even allowed a goal to Kazakhstan in a women’s hockey game. The Olympic champions have a 2-0 record against the Kazakhs in WW competition, outscoring them 24-0. In one Olympic game, Canada won 7-0. There is little to suggest anything will change today. Canada scored a dozen goals last night against the host Swiss, including goals from ten different scorers….Kazakhstan played earlier in the day yesterday, losing by a respectable 5-3 count to Finland, but all three of their goals were the result of fortuitous bounces and weird plays more than well-executed passing plays…The Kazakhs will be looking to the game two days from now, against the Swiss, to avoid the Relegation Round…Canada also gets a day off tomorrow before playing Finland on Tuesday…Kim St. Pierre the all-time WW leader for goalies in medals won, tournaments played, wins, and shutouts, will likely get the start today. FIN-SUI, 20.00 Winterthur
Less than 24 hours after a lop-sided loss to Canada, the Swiss are back on the ice. Hopefully the Deutweg Arena will be packed again, and the team will almost certainly have a much better chance for victory tonight. Although they are winless in six previous WW games against Finland, the closest result was the most recent, a 6-3 loss in 2009…Finland has the most inexperienced team of the big four this year with ten newcomers. Most prominent is defenceman Rosa Lindstedt who stands 6’1” (1.86m). She and teammate Mira Jalosuo (6’/1.84m) are the two tallest Europeans in the tournament, and Jalosuo weighs in at 185 lbs. (84kg), the heaviest player in the event as well (Russia’s Anna Shukina is also listed at 185 lbs./84 kg). This is a strategic and purposeful attempt by coach Pekka Hamalainen to deal with the much stronger North American forwards…Key for the Swiss is special teams. Against Canada they were 0-for-7 on the power play and gave up two short-handed goals, and they also surrendered four power-play goals to Canada on just six chances. They had an extended 5-on-3 early in the third and couldn’t put the puck away despite several quality chances… ANDREW PODNIEKS