Canada’s Women’s Hockey Team Wins World Championship

​Canada’s star goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens hoists the trophy following the Gold medal win. On the right is Danielle Serdaschny who scored the winning goal--Christine Muschi photo, Canadian Press via AP.

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There is someone out there who keeps saying that Canada is broken.

If every young person in the country felt this way, Canada would indeed be broken. Fortunately, they do not. The Canadian women took the Gold last week in a fabulous overtime victory over the U.S. team in Utica, New York. It is the latest chapter in one of the greatest sports rivalries anywhere.
 
Of course there were the usual victory excesses of Canadian hockey triumphs, the Maple Leaf flags, the ritual parading around of the championship trophy, rubbing the noses of their American counterparts in it. But hell, this was payback time achieved in another country’s barn, as we say in hockey lore.

Last year, the Americans won the gold medal game on Canadian ice in Brampton, Ont. This year’s Canadian win was celebrated by veteran Canadian goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens: “Oh man that feels good to win it on U.S. soil…We owed it to them and owed it to ourselves to win that one.” This was Canada’s 13th gold medal in twenty-three tournaments.

“The longer you stick around, the rivalry just continues to develop,” said U.S. team defender Megan Keller. “It’s fun to be a part of. A little more fun when you’re on the winning side.”
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The Captain of the U.S. Team, Hillary Knight, showed her class by shaking the hand of every Canadian skater lined up on their blue line just after the win.

What is especially nice about the Canadian team is that it reflects so well the multicultural, officially bilingual, character of the country.

Take Danielle Serdachny, from Edmonton, Alberta, who scored the winning goal In Utica. Hockey in Canada runs in families. Danielle’s father was a skating/skills coach for the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. Her oldest sister, Brook, younger sister Jordan, and brother, Noah are all hockey players.

Then there is the incredible Nurse extended family. Sarah, who assisted on Danielle’s winning goal in Utica, is proudly bi-racial. Her brother Isaac was a member of the University of New Brunswick’s historic second undefeated run for this year’s Canadian University Men’s Championship. Sarah’s cousin, Darnell Nurse, is a star defenceman for the NHL Edmonton Oilers.
 
And who could forget Marie-Philip Paulin, “Captain Clutch”, the amazing 33-year-old veteran of the national women’s team, the one they also call “Pau”, who came back from injury to score two goals in the final game. Her coach, Troy Ryan proudly states: “Pau will always find a way to be a difference maker…Tonight was just a whole other level. I could see in her eyes every time we called her name that she was ready to go. There’s very few athletes in the world that can perform in a pressure situation like she can.”
 
Paulin plays a feisty game, but you do not see any of the goonery in Women’s hockey that lingers in NHL hockey. And obviously, the popularity of the women’s game among both men and women, is very clear. A few days ago, the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) drew a record 21,105 fans for a Montreal-Toronto game in Montreal. Paulin received a “deafening chant” of Pau, Pau, Pau and a standing ovation at that game, proving again how popular the women’s game is in all parts of the country.
 
If anything, fighting is experiencing a resurgence this year in the NHL. Gary Bettman, Commissioner of the League, is always prepared to take the league wherever there is a market, whether-or not it is good for the long-term future of the game. Bettman is simply counting the dollars, proven once again by how sports betting now rules NHL broadcasts—bad for the players and for kids watching the games on television.
 
And, with the Canadian women’s world Championship win, will we still hear that fellow out there saying again and again “Canada is broken?” Surely, it is not!!