Hockey Canada Cup G5/G6: SWE 3 - FIN 1, USA 4 - CAN 2

Yesterday wrapped-up the preliminary round of the Hockey Canada Cup, with Sweden defeating Finland 3-1 and the US defeating Canada 4-2. Hilary Knight had 1 goal and 2 assists, Kerry Weiland had 1 goal, Molly Engstrom had 1 assist, and Jinelle Zaugg-Siergiej had 1 assist. Jessie Vetter did not play.

SWE 3 - FIN 1
hockeycanada: recap

USA 4- CAN 2
usahockey: game notes, recap, photos
hockeycanada: recap
Canadian Press: Canadian women put loss to US at Hockey Canada Cup in perspective
The Globe and Mail: United States beats Canadian women
ADN: Weiland helper aids US women

"I really liked the way we competed from start to finish. We played with a sense of urgency and scored some great goals in the third period. A lot of good things came out of that game and we look forward to continuing on Saturday." -- Mark Johnson

"I thought it was a very entertaining game. It looked like it would be a goaltending dual for those first 40 minutes." -- Mark Johnson

"Whoever plays, we know we can beat Canada. It's going to be a battle all year long." -- Molly Schaus, regarding the US's situation in net.

Here are the records from the preliminary round:
USA 2-1-0
CAN 2-1-0
SWE 1-2-0
FIN 1-2-0

The US will now get another shot at Finland, to whom they lost 3-2 in G1, in the early semifinal on Saturday. Here's the remaining schedule:

Sat 9/5
G7 - Semifinal 1 - 5 PM CT - USA v. FIN
G8 - Semifinal 2 - 9:30 PM CT - CAN v. SWE

Sun 9/6
G 9 - Bronze - 5 PM CT - L7 v. L8
G10 - Gold - 9:30 PM CT - W7 - W8

Here are a few other links from the Hockey Canada Cup that I haven't posted yet:

usahockey: Molly Engstrom's photo album
hockeycanada: Canada and US women in Olympic state of mind at Hockey Canada Cup
Canwest: Finland upsets US in women's hockey
AP: Finland upsets US women's hockey team in Canada Cup
dailycardinal: Two Badgers selected for Team USA, could be headed to Olympics

Hilary Knight gets a nice mention in this IIHF article: Changing of the guard? Youngsters aplenty for women's national teams

“I've had Hilary since she was a freshman down at Wisconsin, and in the last 15 or 18 months she's really grown as a player. People have seen that who've been around our program and the international game. She scored a nice goal, and she plays well with Jenny [Potter] out there.” -- Mark Johnson

"I thought it was a very entertaining game. It looked like it would be a goaltending dual for those first 40 minutes." -- Mark Johnson

Whoever plays, we know we can beat Canada. It's going to be a battle all year long. -- Molly Schaus, regarding the US's situation in net.

Hockey Canada Cup G4: CAN 10 - FIN 2

Last night, Canada defeated Finland 10-2. Badger blueliners Carla MacLeod and Meaghan Mikkelson were held of the scoresheet.

hockeycanada: recap

The preliminary round wraps up tomorrow, with SWE v. FIN at 5 PM CT and USA v. CAN at 9:30 PM CT.

Hockey Canada Cup G3: USA 7 - SWE 0

The US defeated Sweden today by the same score as Canada did last night, winning 7-0. The US outshot Sweden 43-12.

"I'm certainly happy with the energy we brought," said Team USA Head Coach Mark Johnson. "We played a full 60 minutes, competed the whole time and were rewarded for a very good team effort."

usahockey: game notes, recap, photos
hockeycanada: box

Hilary Knight scored 2 goals, and Molly Engstrom scored 1 goal. Jinelle Zaugg-Siergiej and Kerry Weiland each had an assist. Jessie Vetter did not play.

Next up for Team USA: Thursday 9/3 at 9:30 PM CT -- Canada

Hockey Canada Cup G2: CAN 7 - SWE 0

On the heels of Finland's upset of the US, Team Canada didn't leave anything to chance, defeating Sweden 7-0 while outshooting them 38-6.

“We had people texting us to tell us the scores and when we'd just come out of the team meeting and heard it,” Canadian head coach Melody Davidson said. “You could see in their faces they were shifting gears a little bit here to remember to not take it for granted.”

Badger blueliners Carla MacLeod and Meaghan Mikkelson each had 1 assist.

hockeycanada: game notes, recap

About Sweden's play last night, Canadian forward Hayley Wickenheiser said:

"They weren't very tight in their zone or organized in anything, but I know that's not the best we've seen from them or the best we will see."

Next up for Team Canada: Today 9/1 at 9:30 PM CT -- Finland

Hockey Canada Cup G1: FIN 3 - USA 2

Hilary Knight tries to make a move to get by a Finnish defender. Photo by Dave Holland / Hockey Canada

The Hockey Canada Cup commenced earlier today, and Team USA lost the opening game of the tournament 3-2 to Finland, the bronze-medal team in the most recent IIHF Women's World Championship (April 2009).

Meghan Duggan scored the 2nd US goal. Jessie Vetter stopped 20 of 23 SOG.

"We ran into a goaltender that played exceptionally well, while not capitalizing on the opportunities we had," said Team USA Head Coach Mark Johnson. "It wasn't the way we wanted to start the tournament but all we can do is bounce back and play well against Sweden tomorrow. We'll take the lessons we learned and move forward from here."

usahockey: game notes, recap, photos
hockeycanada: box

Next up for Team USA: Tuesday 9/1 @ 4 PM CT -- Sweden

(FWIW, as I write this, Canada is leading Sweden 3-0 after 1 period, with CAN outshooting SWE 20-2. Yikes.)

2009 Hockey Canada Cup begins Monday

The Hockey Canada Cup, an exhibition tournament which is serving as a test event for the 2010 Olympics, kicks off tomorrow in Vancouver. The tourney includes the top teams in women's hockey: the US, Canada, Sweden, and Finland.

The IIHF announcement tells you a bit more about the event, as does the Hockey Canada announcement. The games will be webcast (available for a fee) on hockeycanada.ca.

The US opens the tourney Monday evening at 5 PM CT v. Finland; Canada takes on Sweden at 9:30 PM CT. The preliminary round runs 8/31 - 9/3, with the semifinals on 9/5 and the medal games on 9/6. Here's the full schedule.

Team USA, coached by Badger Women's Head Coach Mark Johnson, includes Badgers Kerry Weiland, Molly Engstrom, Jinelle Zaugg-Siergiej, Jessie Vetter, Erika Lawler, Angie Keseley, Meghan Duggan, and Hilary Knight. Team Canada includes Badgers Carla MacLeod and Meaghan Mikkelson.