Canada 7 - China 1 Canada 12 - Norway 0 Canada 8 - Sweden 2 Canada 4 - Finland 1 Canada 6 - USA 3 Winner of Gold Medal Team Canada has a wonderful group of players. Their talent level sets the standard for everyone else. The skating skills of the Canadians is fantastic. The mobility and speed they have on the ice is that much better. Add to that brilliant passing and playmaking skills and you have a lethal team. They just seem to have a pack of players who can rise to the occasion. Head coach Les Lawton, along with assistants Shannon Miller and Melody Davidson prepared their team extremely well. Lawton I feel is a smart head coach because he listens to his assistants. For example, in practice all the coaches run drills. I felt Miller ran the most complex learning drills. When Canada was preparing for Finland, Miller ran a series of drills with extra turns into the boards. That was very intelligent as Finland had been running a swarm attack that would require a lot of turning to stop. I felt the main strength of the Canadian coaches was details. They saw to everything: whether it was the finer points of taking a face-off, or putting in a variant offense that would post-up on a loose box, or just making sure "team unity" was going well. On the down side, I would have liked Canada to use a more interesting offense. The went with a flat/power game. I believe with the skillful intelligent players they have, that they could have run an even more exciting attack. Goalies: Manon Rheaume was pretty strong in net. Her main fault would be that she tends to go down early on one knee, and leaves high near side and all the far post open. The other teams seemed to know that and that is where they often scored. However with the team she has in front of her, she just did not face many shots. Comparing her to Erin Whitten (USA, UNH 93) I would say Whitten played better last week. She made the tougher saves. Leslie Reddon played in a few games and I thought was a very solid netminder. She stands up and covers her angles well. Defenders: I have to start with the most dynamic force on the ice: Geraldine Heaney. Her skating is incredibile! Her defensive skills are im- peccable. Heaney can make the great pass, or join the attack with her speed. She is the perfect team player always anticipating just what is needed by her mates. Some coaches would say that she takes too many chances. I would say, look at the results. She set up the two big goals in the final: sending in Goyette to tie the game at one, and playing her part in a nice triangulation passing play to re- establish a 2 goal lead in the third period. Heaney is just a smart player who teaches others on the ice and listens also! While I still love the fluid skills of Harvard's defender Ashlin Halfnight, he would become a better player if he attended one of Heaney's camps. Judy Diduck was another outstanding defender. She was just impossible to get around. Therese Brisson was Canada's other top notch defender. Like Heaney she liked to join the attack, but was tough in her own end. Cassie Campbell was a newcomer who played very well. Nathalie Picard and Cheryl Pounder rounded out a defense that just did not give you many chances to shoot, let alone be in their end. Attackers: Dan Goyette was a fantastic striker. Her swooping speed let her walk around defenses. Add to that some marvelous moves and stick skills and you have goal scoring at its highest level. I just loved watching her play! Her linemate Nancy Drolet was also highly skilled. More of a digger Drolet helped maintain pressure, but at any moment could also burst out on her own run. Karen Nystrom was an elegant player with great speed and moves. She was always dangerous on the ice. She had a stellar match against Sweden. Margot Page was Canada's main digger. An excellent face-off artist, she would lock on in the corners and usually come out with the puck. While I think of her as a back-checker, her fluid moves also produced many goals. Stacy Wilson was one of the reasons Canada is so good. What you would think of as an average player, but putting out so much effort that she pulls off the big play. Angela James is a forward dripping with talent. Her two marvelous oh- la-la solo goals in the final is what broke the USA. You never knew when she would ignite, but when she did, look out. France St. Louis was Canada's captain and truely a team leader. She along with linemates Laura Leslie and Marianne Grnak often set the pace and just made it too tough for the other teams to do anything against Canada. That line put in tons of skating and also was able to string together some wonderful passes. It was a shame that Andria Hunter (UNH 90) and Hayley Wickenheiser (Harvard/NU 01?-please!!) had injuries. Hunter came back and played an exceptional game against Finland. Wick hurt her ankle on about her third shift in game one. She played the semifinal and final, and I thought was just about to let-it-rip towards the end of the final. I can't wait to see her in 96! What makes Team Canada Women go: 1) speed - they just are great skaters. 2) intelligent playmaking - they use a simple attack, but are clever when they make up their own plays. 3) the diggers - they just have a group of back/fore-checkers that lock on when they don't have the puck, and they get it back. 4) teamwork - all the players help each other and realize who is hot, and use that person. They just are a very unselfish team. Team Canada is just a special team who thrilled my senses. _____________ / good shooting rhun _____________/