Just one week following the All-Star Game which saw eighteen women make history in St. Louis, the historic matchup continued on Monday when the two sides met in game three of the Rivalry Series.
However, there were obvious differences for Hockey Canada as they entered Victoria with a new head coach in Canadian Troy Ryan and a brand new assistant in the Rams’ Kori Cheverie. Ryan and Cheverie both are originally natives of Nova Scotia.
The change in leadership for Canada comes on the hands of Perry Pearn’s firing after he was relieved of his duties in January following the first two games of the annual Rivalry Series. That would see a loss in game one before dropping game two three days later in Moncton.
Following Perry Pearn’s firing, Gina Kingsbury commented on the coaching change where she said to The Canadian Press that a change in leadership style was required. This of course being the case just three months prior to the women’s world championship. This year, the series will be hosted in Nova Scotia, split between Truro and Halifax.
In a statement from Gina Kingsbury, Hockey Canada’s director of women’s national teams, the former Olympian told The Canadian Press, “Sometimes you respond differently to different leaders and I think this was the change this particular group needed.”
Taking a look the time that Perry Pearn served as head coach for Team Canada, the former Canadiens assistant coach went 10-7 after joining last season. On the national stage, the Canadians struggled, only winning two games while dropping four others. This ended Perry Pearn’s tenure with a lack of production against USA Hockey. Speaking of which, the Americans, constructed of Olympians, were the reigning world champions.
A considerable factor in Pearn’s time with Team Canada happened just last year after falling to Team Finland. This upset at the women’s world championship would eliminate the Canadians in the semifinal round. As a result, for the first time in tournament history, the Canadians did not play the United States for gold. Instead, they would battle Team Russia in the bronze medal game where they would finish in third.
When speaking to the skill and experience that Perry Pearn brought to the National Women’s Team, Kingsbury said to The Canadian Press, “Perry had brought a tremendous amount to our program, experience, a ton of hockey knowledge. He’s changed some of our identity of a group. He’s brought some great ideas to the forefront. We certainly don’t regret having him on board for the past year and a half. Sometimes, someone else needs to be crossing the finish line.”
When speaking as to the losses that Canada took in both Hartford and Moncton, Kingsbury said about the drop in performance, “Results always play a factor if our athletes are responding the way we want them to respond. Obviously the Hartford-Moncton series definitely didn’t go our way. I don’t want to compare because they were two separate events, different athletes were part of it and were under different circumstances.”
Fast forward to January 9th, Perry Pearn was fired and replaced by Troy Ryan. Ryan, a Spryfield native, took over on Monday as head coach of Team Canada. According to Gina Kingsbury, not only would Ryan coach the final three games of the western road swing, but he will also remain as bench boss for the women’s world championship being played in his home province. The one-week series on Canadian soil starts on March 31st and goes through to April 10th.
Ryan, an associate coach, got his first real taste of the National Women’s Team when they squared off against USA Hockey in a one-week series played in Pittsburgh in November. Hockey Canada named Ryan Pearn’s assistant for the two games played to replace the 4 Nations Cup. Adding a bit of a flare to the bench, Team Canada took the first 4-1 while taking game two by a 5-2 final.
Speaking of Ryan being named, Gina Kingsbury said of the gap being filled, “We’ll re-evaluate after this year to see what it looks like for Beijing in 2022. We would like to name our coaching staff after this world championship for Year 3 and Year 4, so we have some consistency moving into the Olympics.”
That’s where leg two of the Rivalry Series becomes an important one with three games to play. With Kingsbury just one of many monitoring the women’s team, the western road trip is a crucial first selling point to get a good feel for what works and what doesn’t. When speaking as to the focuses that will play a large role as this series concludes, Kingsbury said, “We’re looking at the next four months and trying to get this team as prepared as possible to compete on home soil at a world championship.”
Part of this preparation includes an always tough battle against USA Hockey. With the women’s world championship upcoming, Team USA has won eight world titles while only losing two of the last ten they’ve played in. This includes five gold medals to date after Canada won back in 2012.
With Ryan now pulling the reigns, Team Canada will look to limit that success with a brand new playing style he will look to install. Perhaps the two games in Pittsburgh didn’t finish with ideal results, however, it was his first task with the women, one suddenly sprung, but he didn’t let up.
When discussing the two games in Pittsburgh, Kingsbury said of the chemistry with Ryan, “I do think our athletes responded really well to Troy’s style of managing them on the bench and I really love the way we did play in Pittsburgh. I just think there’s something there with Troy that will really allow us to bring this group to the next level.”
While Perry Pearn has been in charge since joining the National Team in 2018, Ryan has been an associate on the women’s team’s coaching staff since 2016. With this being said, the 47-year-old brings a wealth of experience, including the 2018 Winter Olympics where Canada won silver in a loss to the U.S.
That effort in Pyeongchang was led by Kendall Coyne Schofield and Hilary Knight. Fast forward to Monday in Victoria, Troy Ryan made sure a different story would be written. Meeting for the first time since January 12th at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, it was a thriller from start to finish as HockeyCanada put the game away in overtime.
Starting from the opening draw, it was HockeyCanada putting on a display as they were quick to the game’s first power play which saw Laura Stacey make her return to the National Team. While looking to get on the scoreboard, Blayre Turnbull would attempt to start it, making the rush down to Nicole Hensley, but hitting her pads before deflecting back out.
With a flurry of defence surrounding, Turnbull would take the puck from the point with an empty path, but stopped once again before scooping it out and passing it up to Emily Clark. Clark, from Team USA’s blue line, would attempt to handle it around the Americans, but after considering all viable options, would take one of her own with Blayre Turnbull nearby.
However, with the heat turned up between Hockey Canada and the U.S. early on, this would see Megan Keller dive before Nicole Hensley who was out of position with the net wide open. After another quick sprawling save on a shot closer in off the stick of Clark, the Americans converted on the play near the net, taking the puck up the ice towards Ann-Renée Desbiens.
After a light last six minutes of play with the pace died down despite high intensity, the first period would be brought to a close with Team USA tied with Team Canada held scoreless. Moving along to the second which would see more of the same after twenty minutes, Troy Ryan’s defence would hold things down, not allowing the Americans to see many clean breakouts. While also unable to establish a forecheck, Team Canada’s offence would work well around this, dialling up the aggression and ultimately start dominating.
With that being said, as the second resumed after intermission, it was centreman Brianne Jenner stepping it up, making no room for Hensley as she banked the first goal. The shot, shorthanded from the red line, would very quickly give Canada the early 1-0 lead. The goal, scored at 14:28, would be unassisted while doing so on the breakaway.
Moving along six minutes later with HockeyCanada back on the penalty kill, Alex Carpenter, from behind Nicole Hensley, would send the puck to the right-side circle. This would find Hilary Knight with plenty of room in Team Canada’s zone, sending a missile to net from the point which would bet Desbiens to tie the game up at one. For Knight, her 113th goal would also be her 200th point with the Women’s National Team. After a battle from Team Canada to tie it, the second period would come to a close with USA Hockey leading after forty minutes.
Now in the game’s final frame, Team Canada would look to kick it off with a bang as Renata Fast would partake a foot race with Melodie Daoust along the boards early on. While going up against Amanda Kessel en route to the net being guarded by Hensley, Fast would awkwardly fall all up along the boards, though able to stand and remain in the game.
Jumping ahead midway through with just 12:40 left to play on the clock, Dani Cameranesi, coming up from the boards, would send the puck through to Savannah Harmon. Harmon, from the hashmarks out-front, would act fairly quickly on the pass from the boards, retrieving the puck through a flurry of traffic and promptly sniping it past Desbiens five-hole. the goal, her first with the National Team, would give USA Hockey the lead, 2-1.
Moments later, following a tripping call on American forward Dani Cameranesi, HockeyCanada would go on the power play in hopes of knotting the game up at two. To make matters that much worse after 18 seconds of four-on-four action, this would see the hopeful Canadians gain a two-man advantage now playing five-on-three. With this in effect and many chances being had for 1:20, Bridgette Lacquette would be quick to skate in, taking a shot on Hensley, but kept out and deflected. Lacquette would then try again on a perfect pass from Lauriane Rougeau.
That would allow the defensemen, with 6:46 left to play in the third, to put the game-tying goal in the net right by Hensley, the goal being scored from the point on the power play. After enjoyable back-and-forth action, the siren would sound and send the game into overtime.
With the extra frame now in effect and three-on-three action for a five-minute frame, it would see Team Canada and the U.S. going at it while both playing hard, seeking victory in game three. As such, the performance would mirror the hard fought contest played in regulation, but in the end, it was Victoria Bach with the game-winning goal with an assist from Blayre Turnbull.
The goal, scored at 3:22, would give HockeyCanada the 3-2 win in game three. After the game, head coach Troy Ryan spoke about his team’s performance against the Americans where he said with regards to the offence displayed, “I don’t ever get too high or too low in the game, but I thought we played well. The first period was really good, I thought we came out playing on our toes. In the second we stepped back a little bit, were a bit more passive, and I thought we picked it back up in the third.”
Victoria Bach was next, discussing the crowd and the thrilling victory where she said in regards to the win, “We got that first goal quick, they got two goals and we just kept fighting back. It just shows the nature of our team; we’re a hard-working team, we’re going to compete and give it our all. Every single time we get to play the U.S. it’s a good rivalry between us, and we just have to go out and give it our all. It was especially nice to get the win in front of all these fans on home soil.”
Lastly, Ann-Renée Desbiens would reflect on the atmosphere and home crowd support where she said of the help and the impact it had as she finished the night having made 20 saves, “I think the fans were pretty excited; they were here about an hour and a half watching us for off-ice warm-up, so they’re definitely dedicated. It was fun, they were super loud and they were like the seventh player out there. We enjoyed playing for them and we’re glad to get the win for them.”
In front of a sold out crowd where the Canadians came from behind for the overtime victory, they did so outshooting the Americans by one and sealing the deal before 7,006 fans. With the third of five games in the books, Team Canada looks onto game four on Wednesday as the series shifts gears, heading out to Vancouver where puck drop is scheduled for 10:00pmET. The game is available for viewing on TSN 1, 3 and TSN GO, meanwhile, the game in the states can be seen with the feed shown on NHL Network.