It just feels right – Tigers, Desjardins together again

Willie Desjardins pictured in the 2007 Memorial Cup game program.

    Would the Lethbridge Hurricanes ever try to get a Tim Hortons built next to the Canalta Centre in an attempt to make Willie Desjardins late for a practice or a game?

    The Hurricanes might not have put in that type of work to disrupt a rival, because the Tim Hortons pitfall is naturally present due to the lay of the land.

    A Tim Hortons sits on the east side of the Canalta Centre in the northern tip of Medicine Hat in the community of Crescent Heights. You can’t miss it when driving to the rink via that route.

    If you approach the Canalta Centre from the west via Redcliff, there is a Tim Hortons in your path. The famed donut and coffee chain has Desjardins boxed in.

    All joking aside, the Medicine Hat Tigers officially announced on Friday that Desjardins has returned to the team to become the club’s head coach and general manager once again.

    The Tigers parted ways with their former long time head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston on Thursday.
    Desjardins was the Tigers head coach from 2002 to 2010 and also held the role of general manager from 2005 to 2010. During that time, he compiled a 323-176-60 regular season record as Tigers head coach, and he guided the club to WHL titles in 2004 and 2007.

    When you saw the video of Desjardins during his introductory press conference on Friday, it felt right. It feels like Medicine Hat is the place he is meant to be in, and the Tigers are the team he is supposed to lead.

Pictures from the Tigers glory times under Willie Desjardins.

    The Tim Hortons joke actually comes from an episode during the 2005-06 season. The Tigers were in preparations leading up to a key regular season game with the Calgary Hitmen. The two clubs were battling for first place in the overall WHL standings.

    During a practice session at The Arena, Desjardins called a special team meeting for 2 p.m. the next day regarding this important game. No one knew about this meeting until Desjardins announced it.

    At the time, the Tigers usually arrived at The Arena for practice between 2:30 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. At 2:45 p.m. they would have a meeting that lasted about 15 minutes and the team hits the ice at 3 p.m.

    Anyways, the Tigers players and coaches arrive for this 2 p.m. meeting, and Desjardins is missing. Around 2:15 p.m., overage forward Tommy Maxwell calls Desjardins on his cell phone.
    Desjardins picks up right away and the two have a chat for 45 seconds. Maxwell asks Desjardins what he was up to.

    Desjardins said he was in line at the Tim Hortons located two blocks from The Arena buying a sandwich. Desjardins asked Maxwell what he was up to.

    Maxwell said he was in the Tigers dressing room with the team, and they were ready for this special 2 p.m. meeting and that everyone was waiting for him.

    A moment of silence passes. Desjardins lets loose with an explanative and said he would be right there.

    The Tigers team that season was full of great players who were characters that had character in captain Kris Russell, Derek Dorsett, Maxwell, Cam Barker, Matt Keetley, Jerrid Sauer, Kevin Undershute, Kieran Block, Daine Todd, Roman Psurny, Brett Robertson, David Schlemko, Gord Baldwin, Brennan Bosch and Tyler Ennis to name a few. For the next two weeks, you can envision them giving Desjardins the gears saying it was important to be on time in a humourous way.

Picture of another highlight from Willie Desjardins time with the Tigers.

    Anytime Desjardins would walk into a room, you could almost hear, “Hey, coach is late. That’s a fine.”

    Darren Helm of today’s age would engage in those jabs too, but he was more of a quiet type back then.

    Anyways, that episode with the Tim Hortons near The Arena seems to grow into a taller tale as the years pass. Desjardins was late for a special team meeting he called, because he made a Tim Hortons stop.

    Desjardins will dispute the amount of minutes he was actually late, but I think the union is there to agree it was at least 15 minutes. It is possible other details from that episode get exaggerated as time passes.
    Even in that small humourous spot in time, it was easy to see some of the factors that made Desjardins so successful.

    One is the fact the 62-year-old product of Climax, Sask., is able to get information across to his players. They did realize it was important to be on time for meetings or on the ice to be in spots at the right time when plays develop.

    Another thing it shows is Desjardins has humility. He recognizes he makes mistakes too, and all you can do is correct them and move forward.

    Desjardins knows when to allow the players to be themselves and when it is time to focus on work. He was comfortable enough to let players give him some light-hearted jabs and create some fun around the facility.

    He wasn’t one of those coaches that took himself so seriously that something like this wouldn’t be allowed.

    Still when it was time to focus on the task at hand, he was able to get that message across and everyone went to work.

A picture of another Tigers memory of Willie Desjardins’ era with the team.

    Above all, he always tried to ensure the rink was the best place to be. That atmosphere was one of the reasons everyone was on time for that special meeting but him. It just slipped his mind that day.
    The Tigers won a lot during Desjardins first run with the team.
    What made the journey so special during those years was the fact it was filled with so many of those fun stories. Everyone enjoyed the journey, and if they could have lived at The Arena, they would have.

    During that run, he became revered as the greatest coach the Tigers ever had. Desjardins was a great coach, but he was even a better human.

    He is a first rate person who had compassion and could help people in their toughest circumstances. Back in the 2009-10 season, the Tigers acquired power forward Cole Grbavac in a trade with the Kamloops Blazers.

    Grbavac was going through some troubles, and he needed to spend time away from the team. When he rejoined the club, he went forward at full speed.

    Grbavac never said what he was going through but said he was thankful Desjardins was present at that point in his life and he owed him so much. Grbavac would be the Tigers captain in his final season of major junior eligibility in 2011-12.

    In July of 2010, Desjardins left the Tigers to be an associate coach with the NHL’s Dallas Stars. A lot of thought went into the decision including the notion of staying with the Tigers and possibly having the longevity Brian Kilrea had in coaching the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s.

    Desjardins knew there was great value to remaining in junior and making a positive impact on players aged 16 to 20 making their way in life.

    It was these types of things that made Desjardins enduring to the community of Medicine Hat.

    It was those things that made people miss him and always created this longing that he would return.

Willie Desjardins pictured in the Medicine Hat News.

    When I was last in Medicine Hat in late March, it caught me off guard how many of my friends were out of work due to the energy sector economy being down. When you talked hockey, you could tell people there wanted him to come back and be the head coach and general manager of the Tigers.

    It was like Desjardins return would be this beacon of light and hope that better days were coming. People remembered that genuine and special type of humanity Desjardins possessed that most don’t have.

    It is easy to see on social media lines the fans in Medicine Hat received what they wanted. Desjardins is back.

    By the sounds of it, people who are just scraping by are now going to do what they can to put together money to buy tickets for Tigers games. Last season, the Tigers averaged 3,121 fans at the Canalta Centre, which seats 6,016 spectators.
    For many years, the Tigers soldout their old home rink The Arena at 4,006 spectators.

    As the Tigers enter their 50^th season, Desjardins return provides hope. The dreams of brighter days and endless possibilities have returned to Medicine Hat.

Clouston had great run with Tigers facing difficult odds

Shaun Clouston is the Tigers all time leader in coaching victories.

    I still chuckle at the humours jabs sent my way from media colleagues on the WHL trail that I hired Shaun Clouston as the Medicine Hat Tigers head coach.

    The same goes for Brad McEwen, when he was hired to be the team’s general manager. Just to be clear, team owners Darrell and Brent Maser did in fact make those hires.

    In July of 2010, Willie Desjardins stepped down from holding both of those positions to become an associate coach with the NHL’s Dallas Stars.

    I thought back to those days, when Clouston parted ways with the Tigers on Thursday leaving behind the roles of head coach and general manager. McEwen left the team back in August of 2014.

    On Friday, Desjardins returned to the Tigers to be the team’s head coach and general manager once again.

    Desjardins vaulted to legendary status in Medicine Hat having guided the Tigers to WHL titles in 2004 and 2007. With the success Desjardins had back then, you always wondered when a sound opportunity would arise that he would make the jump to the NHL.

    When that day came, the Tigers were in position to fill the void. Clouston had joined the team before the start of the 2003-04 campaign as an assistant coach, and he was promoted to associate coach before the start of the 2005-06 season.

    He was set to take on the head coaching duties.
    McEwen was a Tigers head scout and had a successful track record as a WHL general manager. He was ready to fill that spot.

    After Desjardins stepped down, Clouston and McEwen took on the respective roles of head coach and general manager about three days later. I had known both for a lengthy stretch of time before they assumed those positions.
    At the time, I was the beat writer for the Medicine Hat News who covered the Tigers. Many media colleagues covering the WHL would joke saying I made those hires so I wouldn’t have to get used to someone new holding those roles that might not be media friendly.
    My media colleagues also joked that I wanted to ensure I kept covering playoff action in April. The presence of Clouston and McEwen would ensure the Tigers kept winning.

Shaun Clouston explains a point on the Tigers bench.

    Both were great guys, and I admit I wanted them to succeed. Good feelings aside, I was aware they were stepping into a tough situation following Desjardins.

    While it is a tough job to take a struggling team and make that club a winner, I believe it is even tougher to take over a winning program and keep the success coming.

    When you take over a winner, fans have a built in expectation that they want to see success now. In order to come out on even footing, Clouston and McEwen would have to guide the Tigers to a WHL championship and a Memorial Cup title.

    Anything short of that would be viewed as a disappointment.

    In following Desjardins, their position was similar to that of Steve Young when he had to succeed Joe Montana as quarterback of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, or Danny White when he had to follow Roger Staubach as quarterback of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
    The expectations for the successors in all cases were always going to be unfair to some degree.

    In August of 2012, Clouston added the duties as general manager to go with his duties as head coach. McEwen moved to the role of assistant general manager and took on duties as the club’s head scout. In August of 2014, McEwen left the Tigers to become a scout with the NHL’s Calgary Flames.

    Looking back to July of 2010, I was aware of what Clouston and McEwen could be in for. From my end, I wanted to ensure they received a fair chance.

    I wanted to make note of the noise when things didn’t go right but try not to let it affect how I graded the team’s performance.

    Of course, Clouston held the head coach role for nine seasons and was also the general manager for the last seven of those campaigns. In the NFL analogy, he mirrored what White did with the Cowboys by winning but not winning enough.

    White quarterbacked the Cowboys to three straight appearances in the NFC title game from 1980 to 1982, but the Cowboys were unable to advance to the Super Bowl negating any chance to win it.

    Clouston became the all-time leader in regular season head coaching wins with the Tigers. The 51-year-old product of Viking, Alta., put together a stellar 375-241-46 regular season coaching record.

Shaun Clouston tracks play in the defensive zone.

    Under his guidance, the Tigers advanced to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship series in 2011 and 2014, but the squad wasn’t able to earn a berth in the WHL final.

    I thought the Tigers had a great shot to potentially win the WHL title and advance to the Memorial Cup in 2010-11, which was the first campaign after Desjardins departed.

    The Tigers were plagued by injuries that season. In the 20 seasons I’ve covered the WHL, I had never seen a team deal with as many injuries as the Tigers did in 2010-11.
    I believe there were only three occasions, when they hit the ice with everyone on the roster being available to play. Some days it felt like Clouston came to the rink, asked Tigers athletic therapist Mikki Lanuk who was healthy and proceeded to make out the lines for that day.

    That campaign was one of Clouston’s best coaching performances as the Tigers managed to post the fifth best record in the WHL’s regular season at 46-18-4-4 despite all the injuries. Medicine Hat advanced to the Eastern Conference Championship series before being swept by the Kootenay Ice.

    The Tigers were in a great position to contend for the WHL title again in the 2016-17 campaign, when the club posted the second best regular season record in the league at 51-20-1.

    In the second round of the playoffs, the Tigers fell in a series-deciding Game 7 to their archrivals the Lethbridge Hurricanes 5-4 in overtime. Hurricanes captain Tyler Wong scoring the winner in extra time.

    Had the Tigers won that game, it might have given them a momentum shot to ultimately win the league title.

    As the years progressed, the vocal critics of Clouston came out of the woodworks in Medicine Hat because the Tigers didn’t win enough. With that said, there are a lot of teams in the WHL that wish they had the record the Tigers did with Clouston as head coach.

    It seemed the critics would harp heavily any time a player came up with a trade request for not getting enough ice time. Clouston handled all of those situations honestly saying exactly how they came up.
    The critics were silent when a large host of former players and current players congratulated Clouston when he became the Tigers all-time leader in regular season coaching victories. The number of players passing on congrats made the number of players looking for a trade look really small.

Shaun Clouston tracks play in the centre ice zone.

    Even when Clouston parted ways with the Tigers on Thursday, he received well wishes over social media lines from a number of former players.
    He cared about the players he coached and hoped he could help them become better people. I remember how tough it was when he traded Boston Leier in his overage year in 2013-14, which was the correct move to make at the time regarding roster composition.

    Leier was a favourite in the dressing room and amongst the team coaches and staffers, and I recall Clouston saying he didn’t feel good making that deal.

    Away from the rink, Clouston is a star father to his children. He cherishes time he could spend with them.

    If you couldn’t call him in the evenings due to his mobile phone being off, he was ensuring he set a boundary so he could focus on being dad.

    Clouston is a great hockey coach. The concept of being a unit of five in all three zones is something that is stuck in my head, because it was something he always went over with his players. A lot of his former players will recall various success factors or goals the team aimed to achieve game in and game out to pile up wins.

    He is also one of the most genuine persons I’ve come across in this world. We had some real good visits at Starbucks talking about all sorts of things in life.

    As for a bonus point, he was the head coach of the Tri-City Americans when they brought Shannon Szabados to training camp before the start of the 2002-03 campaign. I think it would be safe to say most WHL head coaches at that time would view bringing a female player to training camp as unthinkable.

    Szabados was in camp because she deserved to be there. Clouston was able to joke he was doing pretty good in goal one game due to the fact Carey Price and Szabados were his netminders.

    When the Tigers staffing changes were made during Desjardins departure in 2010, McEwen told me how coaches and managers do have expiry dates with teams even when they are successful.
    The Tigers put up a solid 35-27-4-2 record last season despite suffering some key injuries down the stretch. They fell 4-2 in a best-of-seven first round playoff series to the Edmonton Oil Kings.

Shaun Clouston, middle, oversees the Tigers bench in the 2017 playoffs.

    Desjardins was a left a good hand to take the Tigers into their 50^th anniversary season.

    After 16 seasons with the Tigers, Clouston hit his expiry date with the club. In this day and age in sports, to stay with one team for 16 seasons is an eternity.

    This door closed for Clouston, but you can bet others will open. He is too good of a coach and a person to stay out of the sport for long.

    If he wants to continue working in hockey, you can be sure something will materialize for him.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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U.S.A. roars to fourth straight 4 Nations Cup title

Wheels fall off for Canada in 5-2 loss

The United States celebrates a fourth straight 4 Nations Cup title.

    The United States senior national women’s hockey team were too much for Canada to handle in this round of their storied rivalry.

    On Saturday night at the SaskTel Centre, the U.S. romped to a 5-2 victory in finesse type fashion over Canada in the gold medal final of the 4 Nations Cup hockey tournament. The win marked the fourth consecutive year the United States has won the 4 Nations Cup.

    “Any time you can represent your country on a world stage, it is an amazing feeling,” said U.S. right-winger Hilary Knight, who scored twice in the gold medal final. “It is a great rivalry.

    “When you are in Canada, there is a lot more pressure. It is good to gain that experience. It is good to gain that momentum going into the next tournament and the next game.

U.S. RW Dani Cameranesi (#24) is stopped by Canada G Shannon Szabados.

    “There is lots to work on, but I am extremely happy with our squad.”

    The U.S. has been dominate in recent years on the women’s stage. They have taken the last four world championship tournaments and captured gold over Canada at the last Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, held this past February.

    Canada’s last win at a major tournament final against the U.S. was at the 4 Nations Cup in 2014 held in Kamloops, B.C.

    At this year’s 4 Nations Cup, the U.S. finished at 4-0. Canada had a 2-2 record with both losses coming to the U.S.

    The United States took the preliminary round encounter 2-1 on Wednesday with a late third period goal.

Hilary Knight celebrates her second of two goals for the U.S.

    Canadian captain Marie-Philip Poulin said it feels like it has been a long time since Canada beat the U.S. in a major tournament final. She believes that will be something that keeps getting the players on her squad motivated during training.

    Following the loss on Saturday, Poulin said the players on the Canadian team need to do more self-reflection.

    “I think we just have to take a look in the mirror,” said Poulin. “I think for us we all go back to our individual teams now, and I think for us we have to move forward.

    “Obviously, it is disappointing. You never want to lose on home soil. We are going to have a hard look in the mirror and really look at what we have to do to move forward and take more pride in wearing that jersey.”

Captain Marie-Philip Poulin breaks into the offensive zone for Canada.

    The United States went ahead 1-0 just 88 seconds into Saturday’s game, when Knight wrapped home a goal on Canadian star netminder Shannon Szabados.

    Canada responded just over two minutes later, when defender Laura Fortino drove home a point shot to tie things up at 1-1.

    With 3:29 remaining in the first, the U.S. went ahead 2-1 on a perfectly executed 2-on-1 rush. States centre Kelly Pannek drove down the right wing and fed a perfect pass across the front of the Canadian goal to linemate Melissa Samoskevich, who fired home the go-ahead tally.

    “I thought we played really well,” said U.S. left-winger Dani Cameranesi, who had two assists in Saturday’s win. “We came at them hard and fast, which is what we wanted to do.

    “We made a few adjustments to our game from the previous games and especially the last game against Canada. I thought it turned out in our favour.”

Sidney Morin starts a rush up ice for the U.S.

    The U.S. continued to take it to Canada going ahead 4-1 in the second frame scoring a pair of goals in a span of 24 seconds coming off the sticks of captain Brianna Decker and the second of the night from Knight.

    Decker scored her goal off a beauty setup pass from right-winger Sydney Brodt and Knight tipped home a point shot taken by defender Sydney Morin.

    “Once you get behind 4-1 and you’ve been struggling to score goals, it is a big mountain to climb,” said Canadian head coach Perry Pearn. “I didn’t think that we gave up.

    “What happens is now you think you have to make the perfect shot. You pass up the things that I think you have to do to beat the U.S.

    “You have to take shots, create rebounds, beat them to the loose pucks and get second and third chances. We didn’t do enough of that.”

Jaime Bourbonnais scored for Canada in the third period.

    The U.S. surge didn’t stop there. Just 41 seconds into the third, Kendall Coyne Schofield scored for the States to increase their edge to 5-1.

    Canada pulled Szabados after that tally. She stopped 18 of 23 shots fired her way. Emerance Maschmeyer turned away two shots playing the rest of the way for Canada in relief.

    The SaskTel Centre crowd that has been relatively quiet since the first period did come to life one more time, when 20-year-old Canadian defender Jaime Bourbonnais blasted home a power-play goal just past the midway point of the third period.
    The goal wasn’t enough to spark a miracle comeback.

Alex Rigsby makes one of her 23 saves in goal for the U.S.

    Alex Rigsby stopped 23 shots in the United States net.

    Bourbonnais, who was playing her first games ever with Canada’s senior national women’s team over the past week, admitted Saturday’s final wasn’t the ending her side envisioned for the tournament.

    “I learned that hockey is a very tough game,” said Bourbonnais. “Obviously, the Americans are a very good team.

    “You can’t take a shift off at all. I think (it is about) just moving forward and learning from this and excelling in the future. It is definitely frustrating.

    “I don’t think we had a bad game at all. I thought we put a lot of pressure on them. We just have to learn from our experiences and keep going.”

    For the moment, the U.S. gets to enjoy the distinction of being the dominant side in the rivalry.

Members of the U.S. team get pictured with the 4 Nations Cup trophy.

    While Knight said her team always has to be mindful that they need to keep improving, she will never turn away from a positive result on the scoreboard.

    “It is nice to win,” said Knight. “I won’t complain about that.”

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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U.S.A. stuns Canada on Brodt’s tally at 4 Nations Cup

Sydney Brodt celebrates scoring the winning goal for the United States against Canada.

    The glow radiating from the smile on Sydney Brodt’s face gave away how much it means to players on the United States senior women’s hockey team to win rivalry games against Canada.

    One of the greatest rivalries in sports took centre stage at the 4 Nations Cup women’s hockey tournament on Wednesday night as Canada battled the U.S.A. in a compelling encounter at the SaskTel Centre. 

    With 1:48 remaining in the third period and the two sides locked in a 1-1 draw, Brodt drove hard down the left wing towards the Canadian net and the rebound from a shot taken by linemate Brianna Decker deflected off her chest into the Canadian goal.

Shannon Szabados makes one of her 31 saves in goal for Canada.

    That tally gave the States a 2-1 victory. For the 20-year-old Brodt, who is making her debut with the U.S. senior national women’s hockey during the 4 Nations Cup, the goal provided a big highlight moment.

    “It was awesome,” said Brodt. “I was just in the right place at the right time.

    “My linemate Kendall Coyne (Schofield) kind of retrieved the puck high in the zone and gave it to Decker, who got a nice shot. I was just there on the backdoor.

    “It went right off me and went into the net, so it was fun to get it.”

    Brodt’s goal helped the U.S. improve to 2-0 at the tournament and clinch a berth in Saturday’s gold medal game. The U.S. closes preliminary round play with a 3 p.m. match on Friday against Sweden (0-2).

Hannah Brandt scored the first goal for the U.S. on Wednesday night.

    Canada concludes preliminary round play on Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Finland in a battle of 1-1 teams, where the winner advances to play the U.S. for gold. All games at the 4 Nations Cup are behind held at the SaskTel Centre.

    Canada head coach Perry Pearn said Brodt’s third period goal was a tough one to take, but it didn’t make the difference in the game.

    “It is frustrating,” said Pearn. “I just told the group in the dressing room I didn’t think we lost the game on the last goal.

    “We lost the game on the first goal. We knew we had to have a good start. We talked about having a good first five minutes, and we didn’t.

Loren Gabel scored for Canada in the third period on Wednesday.

    “We kind of gave the U.S. the momentum. When they have the momentum, they play really well. We were on our heels for the first 20 minutes.”

    The States drew first blood just 78 seconds into the contest. During a flurry of action around the Canadian net, U.S. centre Hannah Brandt banged home a rebound to give her side a 1-0 edge.

    Canada was outshot 16-4 over the first 20 minutes and could have been down by a greater margin, but thanks to the stellar work of star netminder Shannon Szabados, the States lead stayed at one goal.

    “They came out early and threw a few pucks on net,” said Szabados. “As the game went on, we looked a lot more comfortable especially in their end.

    “I think we generated quite a bit in the second and a lot in the third there. We just kind of learn from it and carry that moving forward.”

    After an evenly played second period, Canada tied things up at 1-1 at the 3:30 mark of the third, when winger Loren Gabel buried a shot from the front of the U.S. net after receiving a nice centring pass from linemate Kristin O’Neill.

Hilary Knight breaks into the offensive zone for the U.S.

    That set the stage for Brodt’s winner near the end of the frame. U.S. head coach Bob Corkum was pleased to see Brodt get the deciding goal for his side.

   “It was great,” said Corkum. “She has been playing fantastic.

    “She brings a nice speed element along with skill. She is very courageous and competes well on the puck. She is going to be a nice player for us.”

    Szabados made 31 stops in goal for Canada. Alex Rigsby turned away 23 shots in goal for the States.

    Brodt said she enjoyed taking part in Wednesday’s rivalry clash with Canada and is looking forward to the U.S.’s final two games at the 4 Nations Cup.

    “I think we learned a lot of things playing against them just kind of the way they play their systems,” said Brodt. “It was the first time for me playing senior national team, so it was nice to get a feel for the pace and everything and just get better every day as the week goes on.”

    If the highly predicted showdown between Canada and the U.S. materializes in Saturday’s gold medal match, Pearn would like to see his side do a better job at getting pucks deep in the U.S. zone.

The Canadian players contemplate their setback to the U.S. on Wednesday.

    “Against a good defence, I don’t care what level of hockey you are playing you have to put pucks behind them,” said Pearn. “I thought early on we tried to make plays, and now you turn the puck over.

    “Now, you are back on your heels again. The first five minutes, assuming we get a chance to play them again, we have to get pucks behind them and give ourselves a chance to get on the forecheck a little bit and make them go back and find some pucks. I think, when we did that, they looked vulnerable too.”

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Canada smashes Sweden to open 4 Nations Cup

Marie-Philip Poulin (#29) checks Swede Hanna Olsson.

    The tune-up went as good as it could for Canada before the road gets tougher at the 4 Nations Cup.

    On Tuesday night at the SaskTel Centre, Canada’s senior national women’s hockey team opened play at the annual tourney with a 6-1 romp over Sweden, while holding a 52-18 edge in shots on goal. The Canadian side had too much depth for the Swedish side to handle.

    “I think we did play well,” said Canadian right-winger Melodie Daoust. “We do still have things to tighten up.

    “Especially in our D-zone, we just need to be more honest with ourselves and stay D-side a little bit more. I think that is going to come throughout the tournament as we go and learn to play together.

Melodie Daoust (#15) had two goals and an assist for Canada.

    “I think we did a very good job to start the tournament, but obviously, we still need to improve, and that is what Canada is all about. We need to improve every time we are on the ice.”

    Daoust had a pair of goals and an assist for Canada on Tuesday, while linemate Rebecca Johnston had four assists. Daoust netted an absolute beauty at the 6:37 mark of the third period.

    Working in the offensive zone, the Valleyfield, Que., product collected the puck behind Sweden’s net and quickly went backhand to forehand to net her second tally of the game into the open right side of the goal. That marker put Canada up 6-0.

    “I saw the little hole there,” said Daoust about her third-period goal. “I thought I was going to try it, and it worked. It was good.”

Canada celebrates a first period goal from Melodie Daoust.

    Canada methodically built a 3-0 lead in the first period. At the 8:56 mark of the opening frame, Canadian right-winger Laura Stacey banked home a beauty setup pass from defender Renata Fast on a two-on-one short-handed break to give Canada a 1-0 lead.

    Daoust netted her first of the game, and 18-year-old centre Sarah Fillier netted a single to give Canada a 3-0 edge heading into the first intermission. Canada head coach Perry Pearn said the Swedes did make things challenging for his side through the first 30 minutes.

    “We’ve watch Sweden practice, but we haven’t seen them play,” said Pearn. “We weren’t sure exactly what to expect from them.

    “Their first period, I think they impressed me with some of the things they did. They played a very good trap. It took us a little while to adjust to that, but I thought after a while, we handled the trap fairly well.

    “As we did that, we put more pressure on them in their end. I thought our third period was our best period, so I thought we adapted fairly well.”

    Pearn was pleased to get solid efforts from younger players like Fillier, 20-year-old defender Jaime Bourbonnais, 21-year-old winger Loren Gabel and 22-year-old centre Victoria Bach.

Rebecca Johnston had four assists for Canada.

    Due to the flu bug, Pearn said the Canadian side sent some players back to the hotel before Tuesday’s game started.  

    “The lineup went from having one extra forward dressed, having 13 forwards, to finishing off the game playing with 10,” said Pearn. “Certainly, the youngsters handled themselves well.”

    Canada’s lead expanded to 4-0 in the second period on a goal from Laura Fortino. Captain Marie-Philip Poulin scored at the 3:48 mark of the third to increase Canada’s edge to 5-0 and set the stage for Daoust’s second goal.

    Sweden finally broke through on the scoreboard with 3:09 to play in the third with a power-play goal from Emma Nordin, who tipped home a point shot from defender Emmy Alasalmi.

    Shannon Szabados turned away 17 shots to pick up the win in goal for Canada. Lovisa Selander turned away 46 shots taking the setback in goal for Sweden.

    Sweden returns to action on Wednesday, when they face Finland at 3 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    With the tournament opener out of the way, Canada turns its focus to the anticipated heavyweight match with the United States set for Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. 

Sarah Filler, an 18-year-old centre, scored for Canada on Tuesday.

    That encounter will mark the first time Canada and the U.S. have faced each other since the States claimed a 3-2 victory after a tiebreaking shootout in the goal medal final at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, last February.

    Daoust said the Canadian side kept their focus on the opener against Sweden and tried not to get ahead of themselves in thinking about the U.S.

    “We try to stay in the present,” said Daoust. “We just finished our game, so obviously, we’re focusing on the U.S. now.

    “I think recovery tonight is going to be really important for us to play a big game tomorrow. We need to be ready. I think we have the group to play against them.”

Clark issues statement on missing 4 Nations Cup due to injury

Emily Clark seen at the SaskTel Centre last Thursday.

    Saskatoon product Emily Clark issued a statement through Hockey Canada on Tuesday night regarding her disappointment in not being able to participate in the 4 Nations Cup.

    The 22-year-old forward on Canada’s senior national women’s team injured her left leg while playing for the University of Wisconsin Badgers women’s hockey team of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Her injury occurred in the opening minutes of a Badgers 4-2 home win on Oct. 13 against the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs.

    “Although I am disappointed I am unable to play in the 4 Nations Cup, I am far more excited for my hometown and my teammates,” said Clark in the statement. “I could not be more proud to be from Saskatoon, and I’m thrilled that our journey to the 2022 Olympics is starting here.

    “I’ve told me teammates to expect great support from the fans, and I will be cheering along with the rest of Canada and following every step of the way.”

    Clark helped Canada win a silver medal at the Winter Olympics held last February in PyeongChang, South Korea. She is an alumna of the Saskatoon Stars female midget AAA hockey team.

    Before the 4 Nations Cup started, Clark made a public appearance at the home game of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades last Thursday. Last Saturday, she made a public appearance and was on hand for pre-game ceremonies as the Stars played their first Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League regular season contest at Merlis Belsher Place.

    “Our focus and priority is Emily’s health, and in working with Emily and her team, we feel that it is in her best interest to return to school for treatment and to stay on top of her studies,” said Canada’s director for women’s national teams Gina Kingsbury in the statement. “We are disappointed she will not have the opportunity to play in her hometown, but we know she is excited for the experience that is in front of our team.

    “It is always special to put on the Team Canada jersey, play on Canadian soil, and we look forward to the tournament this week.”

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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