Ice Hockey 2015 - 2016 Discussion Thread

[Finnator123 292]

USA wins WC Gold!

[hckošice 13,626]

Russia - Finland  1-0 (GWS)

 

[hckošice 13,626]

Sosina shoots to thrill!

Russia edges Finns for its third bronze ever

Russian players look on during the national anthem following a 1-0 bronze medal game shoot-out win over Finland at the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship.

 

 

Olga Sosina scored the shootout winner as Russia edged Finland 1-0 in the 2016 bronze medal game. It is Russia's third Women's Worlds bronze medal of all time.

 

Sosina went to her backhand and lifted the puck past Finnish goalie Meeri Raisanen on the stick side, sparking a wild celebration as the Russians mobbed their heroine.

Sosina said her familiarity with Raisanen as a former SKIF Nizhni Novgorod teammate may have helped, as they used to practice shootouts together after practice. "I wasn’t sure if she still remembers my move or not," said Sosina.

The Russians bounced back admirably after a tough 9-0 semi-final loss to the U.S. Their previous bronze medals came in 2001 and 2013.

"It feels great, amazing," said Russia's Iya Gavrilova. "This never gets old, you know? We won the bronze three years ago [in Ottawa], and now again in Canada. I guess Canada is a lucky country for us!"

There was also an element of revenge. Last year in Malmo, Finland defeated Russia 4-1 for bronze.

The Russians chose the right moments to shine in Kamloops. They lost three straight in the round-robin, but stepped up to beat Sweden 4-1 in the quarter-finals. On Monday, they stepped up again.

It was the third consecutive Women's Worlds at which Russia has played for a medal. That reflects the progress the Russian program has made since injecting more funding, ice time and support in the run-up to the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.

Finland outshot Russia 32-23. The Russians prevailed despite failing to convert on five power play opportunities, compared to Finland's two.

Russian goalie Nadezhda Morozova recorded her first shutout of the tournament.

"She’s just the best," Sosina said of Morozova.

Despite coming fourth, the Finns can take pride in their performance in Kamloops. They battled hard in losses to both finalists, falling 2-1 to the U.S. in the round-robin and 5-3 to Canada in the semi-finals.

"I’m really proud of my team," said disappointed Finnish captain Jenni Hiirikoski. "We really worked hard and played together. We put it all out there today, but Russia was one goal better."

Both teams came out skating. Raisanen felt the heat early on as Russia barely failed to convert two glorious chances generated by forward Elina Mitrofanova.

Finland took the first penalty at 7:39, but generated better opportunities than Russia while shorthanded, with Michelle Karvinen and Riikka Valila dancing around the Russian net. Their linemate, 16-year-old Petra Nieminen, was also dangerous as the Finns carried the play as the period wore on.

About two minutes into the second period, Russia’s Yelena Dergachyova had a wide-open net but bounced the puck off the inside of Raisanen’s left post. Teammate Valeria Pavlova raised her arms in premature celebration.

In the third period, Raisanen foiled Russian assistant captain Yekaterina Smolentseva from close range with her right pad late in a subsequent Russian man advantage.

Nieminen came close on another solo rush through Russian defenders, but couldn't tuck it past Morozova's right skate. Raisanen was shaken up on a collision late in regulation, but remained in the game.

With 1:37 to play, Pavlova hauled down Finnish speedster Sanni Hakala coming down left wing, and Finland got just its second power play of the game. Finnish head coach Pasi Mustonen called his timeout. The Finns were all over Russia, but couldn't cash in before the end of regulation.

"Mentally, we were so close in the Canada game," said Raisanen. "We didn’t play our best game tonight."

Russia had the better chances in overtime. Smolentseva shot wide on a breakaway, and Raisanen stymied Sosina from right in front just before the horn.

Reflecting afterwards, Gavrilova said: "For Russia, it’s great for women’s hockey. We wanted to do it for all the girls who are watching right now. More attention, more promotion for women’s hockey. It’s not just about Russia, it’s the whole world. This was a good intense game. So hopefully everyone enjoyed it and more girls are going to come to women’s hockey."

 

[hckošice 13,626]

United States - Canada  1-0 (OT)

 

[hckošice 13,626]

Pure gold for America

U.S. wins third straight world title in OT

USA players and staff celebrating after a 1-0 gold medal game overtime win over Canada at the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship

 

 

Climaxing a tense final, Alex Carpenter scored at 12:30 of overtime as the U.S. beat Canada 1-0 to win gold at the 2016 IIHF World Women’s Championship.

 

Carpenter popped the puck behind Canadian goalie Emerance Maschmeyer in a wild goalmouth scramble. The goal came just after a 4-on-3 U.S. power play had expired, with defender Halli Krzyzaniak off for holding. The Americans killed off two Canadian 4-on-3's in overtime.

Of her goal, Carpenter said: "The building just got pretty quiet. I wasn’t really sure if it went in. But I was right there – I watched myself put it in.  I wasn’t sure if [Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson’s] original shot went in. But regardless, it went in and that’s what counted."

It was the 17th straight final between the North American superpowers, dating back to the first Women’s Worlds in Ottawa in 1990. Contested in front of 5,850 fans at a sold-out Sandman Centre in Kamloops, Canada, it was also another thrilling showcase for women's hockey: speed, finesse, playmaking, guts, and excitement.

"I'm so proud of our players and how hard we competed from start to finish," said U.S. head coach Ken Klee.

Showing its dominance, the U.S. has now won seven out of the last nine tournaments.

"It’s always exciting to win a World Championship, but to win it against your archrivals in their building just makes it that much sweeter," said U.S. captain Megan Duggan.

"It really hurts," said Canadian captain Marie-Philip Poulin. "Every time you work so hard for something and you get silver, that’s hard."

This was heartbreak for the host nation, which settled for Women's Worlds silver for the third straight time. Canada's last gold was in 2012. However, Canada has won the last four Olympics, dating back to Salt Lake City in 2002.

This is a significant milestone on the road to the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, and the Americans can take heart from that after losing in overtime to Canada in Sochi in 2014.

The U.S.'s Alex Rigsby won the goaltending duel with Maschmeyer, but both of them were excellent. Shots favored the U.S. 34-32.

"It’s really frustrating because we played so well and our team deserved to win," said Maschmeyer, named the tournament's Best Goalkeeper. "But we didn’t get the bounces."

This tight battle was a whole different beast from the 2015 final, a wild 7-5 U.S. victory in Malmo. And even though it was low-scoring, it wasn't an argument for bigger nets or smaller goalie equipment. It was just an awesome hockey game.

The teams came out at a blistering pace, playing the first five minutes with no whistles. Canada’s Bailey Bram got the first good chance, nearly surprising Rigsby with a bad-angle shot. Then Jillian Saulnier busted down right wing, getting past U.S. defender Megan Keller, and took it hard to the net.

About six minutes into the second period, Meghan Agosta pivoted on the right-side boards and found a pinching Laura Fortino on the doorstep, forcing Rigsby to make a superb pad save.

"My main objective going into the game was just to make sure I took it one shot at a time," explained Rigsby. "Someone gave me that advice recently and it helped a ton."

Canada went back to the power play near the halfway mark when Brianna Decker was sent off for a hook on Saulnier. The U.S. got the best chance, though, as Alex Carpenter was stoned by Maschmeyer on her shorthanded breakaway.

Canada put the Americans under siege in their own zone to open the third. But after killing off a penalty to Duggan, the Americans went on the offensive on their own power play. Maschmeyer was sharp to deny a pair of hard Kacey Bellamy one-timers from the right faceoff circle.

The Canadians mounted one last rush in regulation, and Brianne Jenner came within a heartbeat of banging it in at the side of the net before the horn. But there was a payoff for the host nation, as Monique Lamoureux was dispatched to the sin bin for hooking at 19:52.

Agosta had two brilliant chances to finish it off during the first 4-on-3 power play in overtime, but couldn't finish. She put one past the post, while Rigsby got her blocker on the other. The U.S. goalie also came up big on a Poulin one-timer from the right faceoff circle.

The Canadians also failed to score with U.S. defender Lee Stecklein off for hooking seven minutes later. In all, the red-and-white team was 0-for-6 on the power play.

Of winning a third straight gold, Carpenter said: "I think it means we’re heading in the right direction as a program. We’re not really concerned with what other people are doing. We’re focused on where we’re going as a group."

This is the first time in history that both the gold medal game and the bronze medal game have finished 1-0. (Russia beat Finland 1-0 in a shootout for bronze earlier.) The last time a team won gold by that score was when Angela Ruggiero's shootout goal gave the U.S. its first title ever in 2005.

The U.S. will look to defend its world title at the 2017 IIHF Women's World Championship in Plymouth, Michigan.

"I’m sure those guys will be looking to get some revenge on us," said Duggan of Canada.

 

"I guarantee we’ll spend this entire summer and the entire next year training so that when we play them on their home turf, we’ll be ready," said Canada's Meaghan Mikkelson.

 

 

[bestmen 2,637]

incredible scores only 1, how can the goalkeeper stop this metal bug

[hckošice 13,626]

MVP goes to Knight

Two Americans, two Finns on all-star team

Hilary Knight was named Most Valuable Player, Best Forward of the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship and made it to the All-Star Team.

 

 

The IIHF announced its 2016 Women's World Championship media all-star team, as well as its Most Valuable Player (MVP) and tournament directorate awards.

 

Goal: Meeri Raisanen
Defence: Monique Lamoureux 
Defence: Jenni Hiirikoski
Forward: Hilary Knight
Forward: Rebecca Johnston
Forward: Christine Huni

Best Goalkeeper: Emerance Maschmeyer
Best Defenceman: Jenni Hiirikoski
Best Forward: Hilary Knight

MVP: Hilary Knight  

 

[hckošice 13,626]

5 minutes ago, bestmen said:

incredible scores only 1, how can the goalkeeper stop this metal bug

 

that´s not metalic. it´s a  rubber, but yeah, trust me it hurt when you receive a good shot (personal experience, once I got one from very near distance into my unprotected part of my leg, and I couldn´t walk for a while, and one my friend got it in the head, that wasn´t cool at all)

[Pavlo 73]

great results for us and...Romania, now 2 key matches with Romania in men`s u-18 and UK in woman`s division, though Korea seemed to be better than GB, still it will be tough

[Finnator123 292]

8 hours ago, hckosice said:

MVP goes to Knight

Two Americans, two Finns on all-star team

Hilary Knight was named Most Valuable Player, Best Forward of the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship and made it to the All-Star Team.

 

 

The IIHF announced its 2016 Women's World Championship media all-star team, as well as its Most Valuable Player (MVP) and tournament directorate awards.

 

Goal: Meeri Raisanen
Defence: Monique Lamoureux 
Defence: Jenni Hiirikoski
Forward: Hilary Knight
Forward: Rebecca Johnston
Forward: Christine Huni

Best Goalkeeper: Emerance Maschmeyer
Best Defenceman: Jenni Hiirikoski
Best Forward: Hilary Knight

MVP: Hilary Knight  

 

Räisänen was amazing