WINTERTHUR – Group B will be decided today from top to bottom as Canada and Finland fight for first place and a bye to the semi-finals while the Swiss try to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Canada-Finland, 16.00 Winterthur

Canada is the prohibitive favourite going into this game, never having lost to Finland in women’s hockey. That includes a 4-0 record at the Olympics and U18 and 11-0 at World Women’s Championship. In WW events, Finland has scored just four goals in the last seven games dating back to 1999, never more than two in a game…Hayley Wickenheiser has three points this tournament and now has 73 for her WW career, just five behind all-time leader Cammi Granato who had 44 goals and 34 assists during her hall of fame career…Canada is 2-0 so far in Switzerland and has yet to concede a goal, beating the Swiss 12-0 and the Kazakhs, 7-0…Interestingly, Charline Labonte, the gold-medal goalie from 2006 in Turin, got the first shutout and Kim St. Pierre, the 2002 Salt Lake golden goalie, got the second shutout, but Shannon Szabados, whose sensational play was the biggest factor in Canada’s gold-medal win in Vancouver, has yet to play a minute…Tessa Bonhomme is the leading scorer for Canada with just one goal and three assists. In fact, one of the main characteristics about this 2011 WW Team Canada is just how spread out the scoring is. Those 19 goals have been scored by 12 players…Finland’s best player has been goalie Noora Raty who has been playing at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. That team is an extraordinary compilation of players from Germany (Jennifer Harss), Sweden (Kim Martin, Elin Holmlov, Pernilla Winberg), Finland (Mariia Posa), and Canada (Haley Irwin, among several others). There are only four Americans on the team, perhaps the best known being Kacy Ambroz. The team is coached by Shannon Miller, and one of her assistants is Maria Rooth.

Switzerland-Kazakhstan, 20.00 Winterthur

The only previous meeting in women’s hockey between the teams was a stunning 2-1 win for Kazakhstan in overtime of the 2009 WW. Alyona Fux, still a valuable member of the team, scored the game-winning shot two years ago……Switzerland’s stunning overtime win over Finland two days ago has thrown the Group B standings in flux and offers huge possibilities for the Swiss. They sit in third spot with two pints and Finland is second with four. If the Swiss earn a win today (regulation, overtime, shootout, it doesn’t matter), they will finish in second place and play the winner of Slovakia and Russia in the crossover quarter-finals. Those being the two weakest teams in Group A, it is no great leap of faith to suggest that a win today could very likely mean a place in the semi-finals and a chance at a medal. The highest the Swiss have ever finished was a fourth in 2008…On the flip side, a Kazakhstan win in regulation would send the Kazakhs to the playoffs and the Swiss to the Relegation Round. A big game, indeed, is the night game in Winterthur today…The Swiss need today what they got two days ago against Finland—sensational goaltending from Florence Schelling, timely scoring, and inspired play with the help of a large, pro-Swiss crowd…The Kazakhs, meanwhile, need goals of any sort and need to keep the puck out of their own end. In a tournament like this, it’s easier said than done.

ANDREW PODNIEKS