The championship game had a little bit of everything: it was high pace, physical and exciting. And you know what, it was a hell of a game.

It was Christmas in August for Canadian hockey fans. The Canadian Women’s team had not won the gold medal in the World Hockey Championship since 2012, but all of the that changed as Team Canada put an end to the American’s run for five straight championships. The championship game had a little bit of everything: it was high pace, physical and exciting. And you know what, it was a hell of a game. 

Let’s look at some of the strengths that pushed Team Canada to a 3-2 overtime victory over the United States this past Tuesday.

Defensive Zone 

“In your face” would be the wording used to describe Team Canada’s defensive zone. They applied pressure everywhere, and their anticipation was great. Not only was D1 hunting the puck hard, but the second quick was right there for support, and if the opponent moved the puck, they already had a third player anticipating the play. It’s so hard to play against this style because you don’t have the time to make a play and think. 

Another great thing they did in the defensive zone was releasing the pressure below the goal line. They were good enough to recognize the pressure and rimming the puck on the opposite side to relieve it. By doing this, they had more time and space and created less turnovers and giveaways. 

Faceoff 

The Canadians had the advantage in the faceoff circle, however, I am not looking at the percentage, but more at what’s next. We will see in later videos when they lost the draw, but for this one, let’s focus on the defensive and offensive zone. They had a plan and wanted to execute it. The plan in the d-zone was to beat the pressure by using a reverse, a d-to-d, or only getaway. In the offensive zone, we can see them talking before the drop of the puck and its shows. They scored some goals during the tournament and one big goal in the final right off the draw. 

Forecheck 

We’ve talked about faceoffs. Look at how the Canadians wanted the puck and knew what to do. The pressure was straight from the faceoff, and if not, they already knew what the Americans wanted to do. They were anticipating the play and shut down a lot of plays. I will say they were more ready on the faceoff, and it was noticeable. 

Hunting the puck and establishing the forecheck was probably written in bold in the locker room. If you observe, not only do they try to be first in on the forecheck, but they are going straight forward to the puck, no-curl, nothing, just straight forward. They try to push the defence to their backhand, and they are going so hard that they finish their hit every time and win possession of the puck. 

Rush 

As a coach, I will use this video every year to show my players what it is to go hard to the net, have your stick on the ice, and stop at the net. A “net presence,” like Andre Tourigny loves to say, is what the Canadians were doing. Always having someone crashing the net hard and stopping there. Sometimes they even finish with four players around the goalie. 

The Americans were good when tracking and went hard after the Canadians. But Team Canada was able to generate offensive on the rush with some delays. Allowing them to slow down the play, wait for a teammate, or just to create space for themselves. 

OZP 

We saw two different ways of positioning your F3 during the tournament. Team Canada created some chances by working with their F3 in the soft zone. Allowing them to make a pass and one-timing the puck. This also allowed them to have quick pressure on the wall if they lost the puck. 

On the flip side, their bread and butter was having their F3 high, sometimes between the defencemen or a bit lower. This helped them create offence from a low to high play, d-to-d or just F3 getting high to support. They were good in the first game against Team USA, and they were still good enough for the gold medal. Look at how much space they could create on top and how the defensive zone coverage was not great because of that, allowing more options down low. Well done, Team Canada. 

Save of the game? End of the 3rd period, a clutch/key save is what kept Team Canada alive. What a save to keep the score at 2-2.  

And let’s watch, not the Sidney Crosby of woman’s hockey – she deserves way more than that. Let’s watch, the one and only, the unique one, Marie-Philip Poulin, scoring her second Golden Goal. She deserves all the credit in the world and has been an amazing role model for hockey players of all ages around the world.

Congratulations Team Canada on winning gold at the World Hockey Championship, very well deserved!