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Canada trounces host Japan in women's hockey
12:00 SWE 0-6 FIN
16:00 CAN 13-0 JPN
20:00 CHN 0-5 USA
Canada trounces host Japan in women's hockey
The Canadian women's ice hockey team, gold medal favorite in the debut event at the 18th Olympic Winter Games, on Sunday made an emphatic statement about their objective in Nagano -- handing host Japan a 13-0 drubbing at the Aqua Wing ice arena.
The Canadian women, coming into Nagano as three-time world champions, had raised some eyebrows over their mental preparations when they could only manage a 1-1 tie with Sweden in a pre-Olympic exhibition game last week.
After a relatively calm first period in which they scored three goals, the Canadians cranked it up in the second period scoring six goals against the over-matched Japanese squad to take a commanding 9-0 lead.
Leading the way for Canada on offense was Danielle Goyette with three goals and Haley Wickenheiser who scored two. Canada added four more goals in the third period for the one-sided victory.
For their part, the Japanese women, who are new to the game, played with pride and never gave up. They played well in the first period but were unable to keep up with the bigger and faster Canadians in the second and third periods.
Geraldine Heany, Therese Brisson, Cassie Campbell, Stacy Wilson, Becky Kellar, Judy Diduck, Fiona Smith and France St. Louis also scored for Canada which outshot Japan 64-3.
Finland rolls to easy victory over Sweden
The Finnish women's hockey team, expected to challenge Canada and the United States for the gold medal at the Nagano Olympics, cruised to a convincing 6-0 opening-round victory over Sweden on Sunday at the Aqua Wing.
Playing in the first game of the women's hockey tournament at the winter games, Finland scored two goals in each period on their way to their shutout triumph.
Finland, which has won the bronze medal at the last four world championships, dominated the game with superior offense and solid defense.
After scoring two goals in the first period, Finland went up 4-0 in the second period on goals by Johanna Reima and Riikka Niieminen.
Niieminen showed why she is considered to be among the best women hockey players in the world when she scored Finland's fourth goal on a textbook give-and-go.
The Swedes, meanwhile, were unable to establish their offensive game and were limited to only twelve shots throughout the game.
Sari Krooks scored Finland's fifth goal when she weaved her way through Sweden's defenders, beating the Swedish goaltender Annica Ahlen high on the glove hand side.
Johanna Ikonen put Finland up 6-0 when she scored her second goal of the game in the dying minutes of the third period.
U.S. women break China's great wall in ice hockey
The U.S. women's ice hockey team overcame a great wall Sunday in its opening game of the women's hockey tournament at the Nagano Olympic Winter Games.
Captain Cammie Granato scored two goals in leading the United States to a 5-0 victory for the Americans who are expected to challenge Canada and Finland for the gold medal in the women's hockey tournament.
''Cammie has a knack for being in the right place at the right time so I think it was appropriate that she came up big for us tonight in such an important game,'' said U.S. coach Benjamin Smith.
China's 172-centimeter goalkeeper Guo Hong, nicknamed ''The Great Wall of China,'' made some big saves but also failed to handle a number of shots that gave Team USA to score on a number of rebounds.
In the final period with the U.S. up 3-0, Jennifer Schmidgall picked up a rebound off of Guo's left pad and stuffed it home to send the U.S. up 4-0.
Granato then scored the American's fifth goal with under five minutes left in the game when she banged home a rebound from the slot, beating Guo low on the stick side.
Tara Mounsey put the U.S. up 3-0 in the second period with a long slap shot from the blue line that went through the legs of Guo.
The U.S. went up 2-0 in the first period on power play goals by Granato and Karyn Bye. (Kyodo News)
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Copyright 1998 The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun