Thew scoreline of Team Canada's Olympic women's hockey win over Finland on Thursday doesn't tell the whole story. If the Canadians want to have a chance at the gold medal, their coaching staff must adapt.
Team Canada played a second game in a row, without its star player, Marie-Philip Poulin, well, almost a third, since she hardly played against Czechia before being injured, and the result was much more positive than against Team USA.
The Canadians secured a 5-0 win over Finland, but the scoreline doesn’t tell the whole story. It wasn’t a walk in the park, far from it, for long stretches, the Finns actually dominated and looked threatening around Ann-Renee Desbiens’ net, but she stood tall and stopped the 17 shots she faced. Meanwhile, Canada took 23 shots on Sanni Ahola’s net and made the most of their opportunities, but it feels like the Canadians managed a win despite its coaching staff rather than because of it.
A Win Despite The Coaching Staff, Not Because Of It
The fourth line, formed by Julia Gosling, Kristin O’Neil, and Jenn Gardiner, was the driving force behind the win, producing two goals, including the all-important first goal. Their performance was nothing short of extraordinary, but looking at their ice time, Canada coach Troy Ryan still sees them as his fourth line. Gosling had just 9:33 of ice time, Gardiner 10:01, and O’Neil only 11:40. Last year, Gardiner won an accuracy shooting contest against all of the Montreal Canadiens players and Poulin, that's quite a feat. She also finished second for Canada, behind only Poulin, in scoring at the 2025 World Championships playing on Canada's top line, a role she's yet to be auditioned at since that tournament.
Meanwhile, the line formed by Emma Maltais (18:13), Sarah Nurse (17:22) and Nathalie Spooner (19:08) failed to generate anything offensively but saw much more ice time. What do those three players have in common? They are, or were, members of the Toronto Sceptres. Granted, these are players that the coach knows very well and that have accomplished a great deal in the past, but the last two are not getting any younger, and it shows.
Time waits for no man, or woman, it seems. Both Nurse, who’s 31, and Spooner, who’s 35, have suffered serious injuries in the last couple of years, and it’s hardly surprising that it has slowed them down. Is it time to wonder if the national team coach should be independent and not affiliated with a PWHL side? The remainder of this tournament will tell us.
Furthermore, O’Neil led the team in faceoff wins, with nine wins on 12 draws, a 75% success rate. Meanwhile, Brianne Jenner only won three of 10 (30% success rate), Nurse won six of 16 (38% success rate), and Blayre Turnbull could only manage three wins in 10 duels (30% success rate). Puck possession is vital in hockey; you have to play the hot hand.
It’s time for Troy Ryan to face the facts: Team Canada’s brass made a mistake by leaving so many of its young players off this Olympics roster (Nicole Gosling, Danielle Serdachny, and Chloe Primerano spring to mind amongst others), but it’s not too late to allow those who made it to have the opportunities they have earned. Or is “Ice Time Earned” just a PWHL thing?
Gardiner, Gosling, O’Neil and Sarah Fillier have shown that they can step up in Marie-Philip Poulin’s absence; it’s time that Ryan put his chips on the right horses.
If the coach keeps going and Canada makes it to the gold medal game, the result will be the same as in the preliminary round. Canada will be beaten by a younger and faster Team USA, with or without Poulin. Her presence might make them a bit more lively and combative, but one player cannot make that much of a difference.
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