2017 IIHF Women's Hockey

[Mowich]

CALGARY, Alta. – Twenty-three players have been selected to represent Team Canada at the upcoming 2017 IIHF Women’s World Championship, March 31-April 7 in Plymouth, Mich.

Canada’s National Women’s Team roster was selected by head coach Laura Schuler alongside Melody Davidson, Hockey Canada’s general manager of national women’s team programs, and included support from Hockey Canada regional scouts, assistant coaches Dwayne Gylywoychuk and Troy Ryan, and goaltending coach Brad Kirkwood.

“This is a determined group of players that have been chosen to wear the red-and-white on the international stage,” said Laura Schuler, head coach of Canada’s National Women’s Team. “As our evaluation process continues leading into the selection of our Olympic centralization roster later this year, we’re confident this group will make Canada proud in Plymouth and we’re looking forward to building on our successes from the 2016-17 season.”

Team Canada’s coaching staff will also be joined by Caroline Ouellette (Montreal, Que./Concordia University, RSEQ), a four-time Olympic gold-medallist, who has been named an assistant coach alongside Gylywoychuk and Ryan for the championship.

Canada’s National Women’s Team for the 2017 IIHF Women’s World Championship includes:

• 18 players who were victorious in the two-game 2016 December Series against the United States with Canada’s National Women’s Team (Agosta, Ambrose, Clark, Fortino, Irwin, Jenner, Johnston, Krzyzaniak, Larocque, Maschmeyer, Mikkelson, Potomak, Poulin, Rougeau, Spooner, Szabados, Turnbull, Wakefield);

• 16 players who won a silver medal with Canada’s National Women’s Team at the 2016 IIHF Women’s World Championship (Agosta, Bram, Clark, Davis, Fortino, Jenner, Johnston, Krzyzaniak, Larocque, Maschmeyer, Mikkelson, Poulin, Rougeau, Spooner, Turnbull, Wakefield);

• 13 players who won a gold medal with Canada’s National Women’s Team at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia (Agosta, Fortino, Irwin, Jenner, Johnston, Lacasse, Larocque, Mikkelson, Poulin, Rougeau, Spooner, Szabados, Wakefield);

• Four players who will make their world championship debut with Canada’s National Women’s Team (Ambrose, Fast, Potomak, Stacey).

Canada will open the 2017 IIHF Women’s World Championship against the United States on March 31, and also faces Finland (April 1) and Russia (April 3) in the preliminary round. A complete tournament schedule can be found here.

All of Canada’s games at the 2017 IIHF Women’s World Championship will be broadcast by TSN and RDS, the official broadcasters of Hockey Canada. Visit TSN.ca and RDS.ca for broadcast times.

The 2017 IIHF Women’s World Championship is the 18th since the tournament’s 1990 inception. Canada’s National Women’s Team has appeared in every world championship gold-medal game, winning 10 gold medals (1990, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2012) and seven silver (2005, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2016).

Players in Canada’s National Women’s Team program will continue to be monitored with their club teams leading into and during the 2017 IIHF Women’s World Championship by Hockey Canada scouts, along with the coaching staff, prior to the announcement of Canada’s National Women’s Team Olympic centralization roster this spring.

Canada

 

[gopher]

Gotta check that out - sounds like a great series to watch.

 

[Mowich]

Gotta check that out - sounds like a great series to watch.

I'm looking forward to it, gopher. Hopefully the US Women's team will settle their salary dispute and be ready to play - they haven't much time left though.

 

[Mowich]

Good news, gopher..........looks like the US Women's team have come to a tentative agreement on the salary dispute. Hope they've been on the ice practicing as they only have two days until they play Canada.

 

[TenPenny]

I'm looking forward to it, always a fun tournament to watch.

 

[Mowich]

Wonderful game by the American ladies tonight. Very emotional win by the team and very well played as they shut-out our Canadians 2 - zip in the opening game of the WWHC tonight. The score should have been much higher but for the many wonderful saves by our goalie Shannon Szabados. Team Canada had its chances but the Americans were the better team tonight and I congratulate them. Nice win ladies.

I fully expect our team to bounce back from this loss and improve as the championship continues. They gave the Americans a good if not great game.

 

[gopher]

Great hockey game. Glad that salary matter was solved and that our girls are back on the ice. The rest of the series should be just as exciting.

 

[Mowich]

Was able to catch the Canada vs Finland semi-final today as it aired after curling. Our gals looked sharp out there today and Finland had no answer as Canada shut them out 4 - 0. Our goalie stopped 23 SOGs while the Finnish goalie stopped 31. Canada now advances to the Gold Medal round which will probably be played against the US as those ladies are burning up the ice. Watching them play Germany in their group semi-final and the Americans are up 2 - 0 late in the 1rst P.

15:37 in the 2nd and the Americans just got their 6th goal. Canada will play the Americans for Gold and they better be on their toes cause these gals are something to behold.

 

[spaminator]

WOMEN'S HOCKEY
Police officer and hockey star, 'tough' Agosta lives in two worlds

By Michael Traikos, Postmedia Network
First posted: Thursday, April 06, 2017 08:37 PM EDT | Updated: Thursday, April 06, 2017 08:51 PM EDT
PLYMOUTH, Mich. — The stabbings are really what sealed the deal.
Sure, Meghan Agosta always knew she wanted to be a cop. As a kid, she would hear sirens and “be curious to know what was happening.” But two years ago, it became more than just a childlike fantasy when she was invited on a ride-along.
For wannabe cops, this is often the moment of truth. Agosta was taken to Downtown Eastside in Vancouver, an area notorious for its drug and sex trade, homelessness and mental illness for an overnight shift. If she had any doubts about what it really meant to be a cop, they would surface here.
“We had two stabbings that night,” said Agosta. “It definitely was an eye-opener.”
The experience might have scared away other potential candidates. But three months later, Agosta officially became a sworn member of the Vancouver Police Department. That she is still a member of Canada’s national women’s hockey team — a juggling act that few other players can appreciate — might give new meaning to the term ‘on-ice policeman.’
Agosta is technically on a vacation leave this week as she participates in the women’s world hockey championship. When the tournament is over, she goes back to shift work as a police officer, squeezing in hockey games whenever she can.
“I don’t go on vacation,” said the 5-foot-7 forward. “All my annual leave goes to Hockey Canada. And when all my annual leave is up, I leave without pay. But that’s a sacrifice that I’m willing to make. Come May, if I’m one of the 27-28 girls to get centralized (for the Olympics), I’m going to take a leave of absence. I have the support from the chief all the way down.”
In the beginning, Agosta was worried that she would have to make a choice between hockey and policing. While she always figured she would eventually work as a cop — she chose to attend Mercyhurst University for the sole reason that it had the best criminal justice program — she didn’t think it would happen so soon.
Once the opportunity to become a police officer presented itself, she couldn’t afford to say no. But with a goal of winning a fourth Olympic gold medal in 2018, she also didn’t want to hang up her skates.
“My biggest fear was going to Mel (Davidson, the women’s national team’s general manager) and saying I needed a year off to pursue my career and her saying I had to choose one or the other,” said Agosta, who is 30 years old. “I didn’t want to give up hockey, because I know there’s so much more I have to give and can help Canada be successful.”
Though other players have jobs, being a police officer brings with it different challenges, especially with where Agosta works.
There are no professional women’s teams in British Columbia. Even if there were, Agosta’s schedule makes committing to a league pretty difficult. She works in shifts, rotating four days on and four days off, either in the morning, afternoon, night or overnight.
As a result, Agosta’s had to find ice time whenever she can. Sometimes she plays in a senior men’s league (“it’s not really beer league hockey,” she said, smiling), or practices with a triple-a boys team. Most often, she simply grabs her gear and plays shinny.
“I had to prove to Hockey Canada that I’m still a go-to player,” said Agosta, who was named the tournament MVP at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. “I would never make any excuses for anything. I take a lot of pride in that, because it is a challenge. To have two years under my belt in my career and still be playing the game I’ve loved since I was a little girl is an unbelievable accomplishment.”
If anything, Agosta believes being a cop has made her a better hockey player, and vice-versa. She might not be an enforcer — and with her French manicured nails, she is probably the last person you would guess is a cop on the team — but she someone whose leadership skills are valued.
“She’s tough, for sure,” said head coach Laura Schuler. “She’s always kind of been that mother figure, where she takes the rookies under her wing. She’s such a good person, she makes everybody feel important.”
“Both careers, the biggest thing is team work,” said Agosta. “In policing, you go into situations together. With hockey, it’s leadership. Being the oldest vet here, it’s bringing that leadership here. I take pride in it. It’s fun to be able to come here and take my mind off work and do something that I absolutely love.”
Indeed, being a police officer is not just any job. There are risks involved, risks that Agosta said she does not take lightly. When asked if she’s had to use her firearm, Agosta stops smiling and takes a breath before answering.
“I’m not going to say that I have or I haven’t,” she said. “But if you’re asking if I’ve pulled my gun out, well, for instance I went on a gun call and if you’re out on a gun call of course you’re going to pull out your gun and assess the situation. Policing is a very dangerous career and I’m basically putting my life on the line every day.
“That’s why I don’t take anything for granted when I come here.”
BEST TO COME?
Meghan Agosta has one goal and one assist in four games for Team Canada at the women’s world hockey championship. But for the 30-year-old veteran, the best is usually still to come.
It was against the U.S. in the final of the 2012 world hockey championship when Agosta scored the tying goal with two minutes remaining, and then assisted on the overtime winner. Two years earlier, she scored nine goals and 15 points in five games at the 2010 Olympics, winning gold and being named MVP.
In 30 career world hockey championship games, Agosta has scored 13 goals and 30 points. She also has scored 15 goals and 23 points in 15 games at the Olympics.
mtraikos@postmedia.com
Meghan Agosta stands in front of a Vancouver police car. (Supplied by Meghan Agosta)

Police officer and hockey star, 'tough' Agosta lives in two worlds | HOCKEY | Ho

 

[Mowich]

One guess as to who scored Canada's first goal, spam.............yep, Megan Agosta. The Americans got one of their own and the score is tied one apiece after the 1rst P. Great game so far, lots of back and forth and great SOGs on both sides.

GO CANADA, GO! :canada:

 

[gopher]

Darn - couldn't find an online stream for the game. Will try to see a replay perhaps on YouTube.