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2022 OLYMPIC WOMEN’S HOCKEY: GROUP A PRELIMINARY ROUND
CANADA (0-0-0-0) vs SWITZERLAND (0-0-0-0)
NATIONAL INDOOR STADIUM, BEIJING, CHINA
8:10 PM PST
Expectations are always high in this country when it comes to hockey, and when we’re talking about Team Canada’s women’s program, gold is always the goal. After a shootout loss to their archrivals USA in Pyongchang, South Korea in 2018, Canada has put together a team that they feel can take on all comers, and specifically the United States as they try to return to the top of the podium.
LINEUPS
TEAM CANADA
3 LAROCQUE Jocelyne
6 JOHNSTON Rebecca
7 STACEY Laura
10 FILLIER Sarah
11 SAULNIER Jill
14 FAST Renata
15 DAOUST Melodie
17 SHELTON Ella
19 JENNER Brianne
20 NURSE Sarah
21 BELL Ashton
23 AMBROSE Erin
24 SPOONER Natalie
26 CLARK Emily
27 MALTAIS Emma
28 ZANDEE-HART Micah
29 POULIN Marie-Philip
35 DESBIENS Ann-Renee
38 MASCHMEYER Emerance
40 TURNBULL Blayre
42 THOMPSON Claire
47 RATTRAY Jamie Lee
50 CAMPBELL Kristen
TEAM SWITZERLAND
3 FORSTER Sarah
7 STALDER Lara
8 QUENNEC Kaleigh
9 SIGRIST Shannon
12 RUEDI Lisa
14 RASELLI Evelina
15 ZIMMERMANN Laura
16 VALLARIO Nicole
17 CHRISTEN Lara
18 WETLI Stefanie
20 BRAENDLI Andrea
21 ENZLER Rahel
22 LEEMANN Sinja
23 BULLO Nicole
24 RYHNER Noemi
25 MULLER Alina
26 RUEGG Dominique
28 MARTI Alina
29 MAURER Saskia
39 SPIES Caroline
71 LUTZ Lena Marie
88 STAENZ Phoebe
98 MOY Keely
Canada has a very experienced team, with 13 players who have Olympic experience. Led by Captain Marie-Philip Poulin, defending World Championships and Olympic MVP Melodie Daoust, Jocelyne Larocque, Ann-Marie Desbiens, and Jamie-Lee Rattray, they hope to repeat their performance from last summer’s Worlds in Alberta, as they won gold in overtime against the USA and were dominant throughout the tournament.
Switzerland is a program that is on the rise and looking to continue to be more competitive against the game’s superpowers. Led by Alina Muller, Lara Stalder and goaltending sensation Andrea Braendli, the Swiss made it to the semifinals of the 2021 Worlds, and even more impressively, did it without Muller, who had been knocked out of the tournament with a lower body injury. They have some skilled players for sure, and this is a big test to see how they match up in the tougher of the two groups.
After this one, Canada will face a tough Finnish squad on Friday, the Russian Olympic Committee on Sunday (assuming they can get their current COVID issues under control) and then the game everyone’s waiting for: Canada vs the USA on Monday Feb 7th.
For in-depth coverage of the Olympic tournament and everything Women’s Hockey, please check out our friends at The Ice Palace. They do an amazing job of covering all aspects of the women’s game.
Enjoy the game, and Go Canada Go!
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