Utica, N.Y. — Not knowing her next opponent yet, Taylor Heise took the diplomatic approach in saying she didn’t have a preference who the United States would face in the women’s world hockey championship gold-medal game.
And yet, when offered the chance to say anything derogatory about Canada, Heise laughed and said, “nope” three times on Saturday before adding: “We’ll keep that to the ice if we need to.”
And it’s on the ice where one of global sports’ and women’s hockey’s fiercest and longest-running rivalries – U.S. versus Canada – will be settled yet again on Sunday, when the bordering nations meet for gold for the 22nd time in 23 tournaments since the championships were established in 1990.
The Canadians were far more vocal in looking forward to a rematch, especially a year after the Americans beat them 6-3 to win gold at the tournament held outside of Toronto. It’s not lost on the Canadians having a chance to return the favor with the championships being held in central New York.
“I think it would feel a little bit special considering they beat us last year on home soil,” Canadian assistant captain Blayre Turnbull said. “So yeah, I think, it’s a big game and it’s one that we’re ready for and one that we can’t wait to get started.”
The Americans advanced on Saturday with a 5-0 win over Finland, in an outing Laila Edwards scored a natural hat trick and Aerin Frankel stopped 15 shots to set a single-tournament record with her fourth shutout. Plymouth’s Kirsten Simms had two assists and was plus-2 and Farmington’s Megan Keller was plus-2.
The Canadians followed with 4-0 win over Czechia, more widely known in English as the Czech Republic. Emily Clark and Jocelyne Larocque had a goal and assist each, and Ann-Renee Desbiens stopped nine shots for her second shutout of the tournament.
Desbiens, for one, hasn’t forgotten the 6-3 loss in last year’s final.
“You always want to beat them. Whether it’s a Rivalry Series, world championship, it doesn’t change,” Desbiens said. “Obviously, I remember last year, I remember what happened. And, we want this story to be different this year.”
In the meantime, Czech coach and former Canadian national team player Carla MacLeod made a point to emphasize how much the gap is beginning to close between the rest of the world and the sport’s two dominant North American teams.
“There was some animosity out there, and I…
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