UTICA, N.Y. (AP) â Not knowing her next opponent yet, Taylor Heise took the diplomatic approach in saying she didnât have a preference who the United States would face in the womenâs world hockey championship gold-medal game.
And yet, when offered the chance to say anything derogatory about Canada, Heise laughed and said, ânopeâ three times on Saturday before adding: âWeâll keep that to the ice if we need to.â
And itâs on the ice where one of global sportsâ and womenâs hockeyâs fiercest and longest-running rivalries â U.S. versus Canada â 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 at the tournament held outside of Toronto. Itâs not lost on the Canadians having a chance to return the favor with the championships being held in central New York.
âI think it would feel a little bit special considering they beat us last year on home soil,â Canadian assistant captain Blayre Turnbull said. âSo yeah, I think, itâs a big game and itâs one that weâre ready for and one that we canât wait to get started.â
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.
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, hasnât forgotten the 6-3 loss in last yearâs final.
âYou always want to beat them. Whether itâs a Rivalry Series, world championship, it doesnât change,â Desbiens said. âObviously, I remember last year, I remember what happened. And, we want this story to be different this year.â
In the meantime, Czech coach and former Canadian national team player Carla MacLeod made a point to emphasize how much between the rest of the world and the sportâs two dominant North American teams.
âThere was some animosity out there, and I take that as a compliment to Czech,â MacLeod said of an outing that featured several big hits and a shoving match that resulted in roughing penalties issued to Canadaâs Marie-Philip Poulin and Czechiaâs Noemi Neubauerova in the third period. âIf the Canadians and Americans are getting frustrated playing against us, weâre doing something right.â
In a tournament where the Czechs, Finns and Germany displayed signs of beginning to close the competitive gap, the one marquee matchup remains U.S.-Canada.
The final will be a rematch of a physical, fast-paced, end-to-end preliminary round outing on Monday, which the on Kirsten Simmsâ overtime goal.
Edwards joins Simms in being among the four U.S. players making their tournament debuts.
âShe stepped up in a way that not a lot of people can. And Iâm very proud of her,â said Heise, who set up Edwardsâ final two goals. âIâm glad that she could prove that to herself. Because sometimes when youâre young and you get picked to a team like this, sometimes it takes a goal like that to prove to yourself that youâre here for a reason. But we all knew that before.â
The 6-foot-1 Edwards is from Cleveland and the first Black hockey player to make the U.S. national team roster. Coming off her sophomore season at Wisconsin, she is one of four Americans making their tournament debuts and now has five goals to share the tournament lead with teammate Alex Carpenter.
âItâs pretty good, Iâd say,â Edwards said of her growing confidence. âJust confident in the team. So that always helps with my individual confidence. When our teamâs rolling and everyoneâs playing at their best and sharing the puck and just doing all sorts of things really helps with my confidence.â
Hannah Bilka and Savannah Harmon also scored for the Americans, who kept their perfect run intact in having appeared in every world championship final since the tournament was established in 1990.
The two womenâs hockey global powers have met in 21 of 22 world tournament finals, with the only exception 2019, when host Finland beat Canada in the semis before losing to the U.S. in a 2-1 shootout.
The Americans have won 10 world gold medals to Canadaâs 12. The U.S. is 18-17 overall against Canada in tournament play, with both teams scoring 98 goals against. Canada, meantime, has the edge in Olympic play in having won five gold medals to the Americansâ two.
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AP Womenâs Hockey:
John Wawrow, The Associated Press
