he Olympic Women’s tournament nears it’s end as the preliminary stage has finished it’s twists and turns.
Now, these women face off for keeps. Let’s meet our contestants!
USA vs. Italy: A lovely story with an almost certain tragic ending
- Seattle Athletes in this game:
- USA: Hilary Knight, Hannah Bilka, Alex Carpenter, Cayla Barnes
Italy was probably not supposed to be here. Most people thought of them as a cute little inclusion for the tournament that the home team gets, and they’ll show up to get pummelled for four straight games and then go home.
That is not how things played out. Italy has shown up ready to play.
Admittedly, part of it is that they made some
smart naturalizations prior to the tournament; grabbing PWHL/CWHL vets who’d come to europe and raised their skill floor to the point that they could still hang with the better squads, and that has given their own homegrown talent, like Kristin Della Rovere, a chance to shine and shine they have. They weren’t completely dead in the water, but their choice of Swedish Damen League and Italian Women’s league players has allowed Italy the chance to catapult themselves over Japan and France and into these QFs. That in and of itself is probably the best result Italy has had at any level of this game and will almost certainly give Italian girls giving hockey a try some hope. They are a genuinely cool story. They’re fiesty, they’re fun, and they can score highlight reel goals like a great power.
Of course, that all has to end now.
Because now they face something far scarier than Barbarians at the gates; they face the unbridled might of the USA Hockey Women’s program.
Simply put, Team USA showed up with a terrifying roster and made it abundantly clear that it’s the Americans who run the women’s game now, and wrapped that discussion up with a bow in beating a Marie-Philip Poulin-less Canada in such a way that made them look like they were a Division 3 high school team. Team USA went undefeated in groups, surrendered a single goal in that entire time, and buried the competition in goals. The only team who was even close was Sweden. They are built to absolutely run you out of the building; not just with Hilary Knight at the helm, but Alex Carpenter, Abbey Murphy, Hannah Bilka, and especially Caroline Harvey, who’s been quarterbacking a lot of the offense for the States. Put all that in front of Aerin Frankel, who seems to be the pinnacle of goaltending at the moment? It’s made every game against the USA feel like watching a finely tuned engine mash an unsuspecting team into something resembling Nona’s gravy.
The Italians made a great story. They should be genuinely proud of these results.
But outside of the game being cancelled, I can’t fathom the Italians pulling this off. This team is geared up to drop another 6 goals on Canada, and they don’t wanna wait to do it.
Czechia vs. Sweden – Make up Grades vs. All A’s
- Seattle Athletes in this game:
- Czechia: Aneta Tejralová
Sweden traditionally has struggled in Olympic and IIHF competition for some baffling reason, but this seems like the year that Tre Kronor, filled to the brim with PWHL and Damen League talents, have finally gotten their act together enough to be a major threat to medal. All of this with about a quarter of the support of their federation that the men get.
Tre Kronor honestly sleepwalked through Group B, which was considerably weaker than Group A, but it was informative in my opinion of a team realizing they have the talent to make serious noise and actually going and putting in the work to make that real.
Meanwhile, Czechia…has some things to prove.
The Czechs started this tournament in trouble; they played this year’s USA team; a disastrous decision on any day of the week, and then dropped a winnable game against the Swiss in a shootout. They managed to recover in time to beat the plague-ravaged Finns but that’s still way below what was expected of this talented roster. Getting mollywhopped by the US and Canada? Sure. That’s understandable. Dropping the Switzerland game hurts like hell, though. Especially given they led it for a very long time.
Given Sweden’s newfound confidence I’m gonna be honest and state that I don’t expect a helluva lot out of Czechia other than making it interesting, but if they’re a late rising team that can find another gear, now would be a great time to show you know what that shifter can do.
Canada vs. Germany – Canucks vs. Kluge
- Seattle Athletes in this game:
- Canada: Julia Gosling
While you might be forgiven in thinking a the Canadian team would be leading this tourney in points, the story of the Germans has been the emergence of Laura Kluge, who is tied with Caroline Harvey in points and has been the lifeblood of Zee Germans this olympics. Germany has played a bunch of very tight games that have needed Kluge to be a difference maker, and to their credit, she has done that job admirably. They still have some gaps in talent; you certainly should not be going to Overtime with France this year, and they did, but they can at least keep things low-event enough that every decision matters, and Germany has enough good ones to make it worth their time.
Meanwhile, they are playing a Canada that is desperate to make it clear to their audience that they are not, in fact, owned. The fact they’re shrinking into a corn cob is entirely coincidental.
The Canadians had another fine tournament full of blowout wins…but it’s that one loss that everyone is concerned about. Many believed this would be another one game tournament, where Canada vs. USA would determine everything again…and boy did it determine that there are some gaps in coverage for the Red and White. In fact, one could look back even on games that they killed the other team in and see that there were warning signs; they blanked the Swiss, but the Swiss were able to keep that score very tight right up until the third period, and that difficulty in low-event games could come back to haunt them in a big way against a team that looooves chilling things out and playing low-event.
I don’t anticipate that the Germans are going to get away with it; the skill gulf is just too big, but I definitely expect that Canada is going to come out of this sweating bullets.
Finland vs. Switzerland – Alina Muller vs. The World
The Swiss are just Alina Muller and whoever decides they want to be fed a gorgeous pass by Alina Muller today.
It’s a little harsh, but it is largely what the Olympics have devolved into for the Swiss. Muller’s playmaking ability in the PWHL has translated very well to international ice, and frankly it should scare the bejeezus out of any fans of the team that exactly one person can be isolated and their entire offense can be turned off.
Fortunately for the Swiss, they get to play the one team in the tournament who had a worse time objectively than anybody; Finland.
Finland showed up to this tournament as if cursed by a witch. They had a norovirus outbreak that devastated their roster, and played a game or two with a severely depleted lineup to predictable results. They managed to rally however, and while they did get their butts kicked by Canada, they managed to put together one decent win against Switzerland in order to avoid being locked out of the quarters entirely…and are now coming into quarters just having spent a good portion of their tourney puking their guts out. Even if they’re norovirus free, that’s still gotta have some lingering effect on them. Even if they are top-class athletes.
A rematch still has the Finns favored, so if the Swiss want to upset Leijonat, they need to make Alina Muller the most open player in Olympic history. Little else will do.
Good luck to all participants, and go for gold!
