Relaxed bodies, prepared minds, is the goal of the Canadian women's team

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UTICA, N.Y. – Rested bodies but prepared minds were the goal for Canada's women's hockey team on Friday.

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The Canadians didn't leave the ice, but had intense discussions with the chalk in the boardroom ahead of Saturday's World Cup semifinal against the Czech Republic, as well as Sunday's gold-medal game.

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“You always think about the day you win the gold medal,” Canadian head coach Troy Ryan said. “It's always a juggling act between what's best for you today and tomorrow and how does that affect or potentially affect your gold medal?”

The defending champion United States will face Finland in the semifinals on Saturday afternoon, followed by Canada and the 2022 and 2023 bronze medalists the Czech Republic in the evening (7 p.m., TSN).

With Sunday's medal games, Canada will complete the tournament with back-to-back games less than 24 hours apart.

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The Canadians will also play two games in as many days for the third time in the tournament. Friday was their fourth day without skates since the 12-day tournament began.

“If you're tired, you don't have a head,” said the head coach. “You get more out of a well-rested athlete who has a clear mind, understands the concepts we want to teach, or tries to get out of our games than a tired athlete who has 20 workouts. minute”.

Instead of a team meeting, the coaches met separately with the forward lines and defensive pairings to break down the details.

“It can be a little bit more focused, so the situations we're talking about are not just team concepts, but things that they've experienced over the course of this story,” Ryan said.

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The Czech Republic is coached by Carla McLeod, a former defender of the Canadian national team.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist will coach against his former team for the first time in a World Cup playoff game on Saturday.

Canada defeated the Czechs 5-0 in their Group A match, with Anne-Rene Desbiens netting 13 goals.

“I found that parts of the Czech game were what we wanted from our players,” Ryan said.

“There were parts where there was relentless pressure on the puck, like hunting and good stick pieces, but once we got possession it seemed like there was a little bit of a lull or patience with it.”

Emerans Maschmeyer scored a 5-1 quarter-final win over Sweden, with Kristen Campbell backing him up, with Desbiens expected to start both games at the weekend.

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Canada's scoring is spread among dozens of players. Christine O'Neill led the team in scoring with two goals and three assists. Defender Renata Fast leads the way with three goals.

Canada outscored their opponents 17-3, but lost to the USA 1-0 in overtime and gave them 30 shots, showing they needed more as the defending champions reached the limit to close out the preliminary round.

The Canadians finished second to the U.S. in shots on net, but the Americans' field goal efficiency was 11.5 percent to Canada's 8.81. Canada's power play ranks second among the 10 nations at 1-for-14.

“We have a lot of work to do and we know we can do better,” Canadian forward Laura Stacey said.

“Being a unified team, being a strong team from top to bottom, you win championships.

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“We've talked a lot about being a successful team from different parts, whether it's scoring from defense, shooting down the goal line, finding different ways to attack and then finding ways to keep the puck out of our own net. too.”

Marie-Philippe Poulin's line, 2023 tournament MVP Sarah Fillier and 2022 Olympic tournament MVP Brian Jenner have yet to advance with two goals in five games.

Poulin missed three PWHL Montreal games with an undisclosed injury before the international break. Ryan gradually increased his captain's minutes, posting a tournament-high 17:22 in the quarterfinal win over Sweden.

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