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Monday, March 8, 1999
Canada trounces Switzerland 10-0 in opener
Only 250 spectators watched in the secondary arena being used for the eight-country tournament. There are only 500 seats -- none on one side, where long drapes hid advertising of non-event sponsors.
None of this mattered to coach Daniele Sauvageau's players. They ignored the unappealing setting and trounced Switzerland 10-0. Shots were 73-19, which included those off the net.
"We really haven't been tested yet," said Hayley Wickenheiser, who scored two goals. "But this was a good game for us.
"We had a lot of offensive creativity and the puck seems to be going in the net for us."
Nancy Drolet also scored two goals, while Danielle Goyette, Vicky Sunohara, Cassie Campbell, Lori Dupuis, Amanda Benoit, and Jayna Hefford added one each.
Hefford also earned four assists.
"This gives us confidence for the rest of the tournament," said Drolet. "We have to build on these games to reach the final."
Canada plays Germany today, has Wednesday off, and faces its first serious test Thursday when it completes the round-robin phase against Finland.
In other games on the opening day, it was: Finland 9, Germany 0; United States 10, Russia 2; Sweden 3, China 1.
Sauvageau's players were determined to see goaltender Kim St-Pierre get a shutout. In a Christmas tournament, Canada beat the Swiss 8-0 and 9-0.
It also blanked them 6-0 at the previous world tournament, in Kitchener, Ont., in 1997. So, this lineup did not want to be the one to yield a Swiss goal.
"Daniele said before the game that the goal of Team Switzerland was to score a goal against Team Canada so that was kind of an aim of ours -- not to let them score a goal," said Drolet. "It's great to begin to feel that we know each other really well on the ice."
It was the first world championship game for St-Pierre.
"I'm proud of it," she said of the perfect outing. "I didn't get a lot of shots but the ones I saw I stopped and that's the most important thing.
"We are really confident now. We want to be the best offensive team and the best defensive team. We're going for that. Against Germany, we will try to do the same thing -- score a lot of goals and don't allow one. It's going good for us."
Switzerland was in the game early but its good start was ruined by penalties that allowed Canada to score its first four goals on power plays.
Canada was short two skaters for nearly two minutes late in the second, but the Swiss did not threaten.
Nathalie Rivard was ejected when she was assessed a five-minute elbowing penalty. That left only four on defence. Fiona Smith sat the game out as she recovers from a whiplash injury.
The Canadians declined to back off until the final 10 minutes when protecting St-Pierre's shutout became the paramount consideration.
Canada was 4-for-6 on power plays while the Swiss were 0-for-6.
"I'm very pleased," said Sauvageau. "And especially with our power play.
"That's something we've been working on. So far, so good. Right now, our spirits are high and, hopefully, we'll finish with that same spirit."
Canada won all four previous women's tournaments, going 20-0. Now the Canadians want to atone for the gold-medal loss to the United States in the 1998 Olympic final.