Women’s Worlds: Ann-Renée Desbiens Shuts Out Finland, but Canada Needs a Spark

The last time Canada and Finland met was at the Olympics, in a game that had been postponed for several days after a norovirus outbreak hit the Finnish team. When the puck finally dropped, Finland was still short of full strength.

Wednesday’s game at the Women’s Worlds was a different story.

Canada beat Finland 2–0, but the result could have been much different without Ann-Renée Desbiens, who stopped all 25 shots she faced. She was especially busy in the second period, when Finland generated several scoring chances and put three shots on net during a power play. The Finns tested her again late in the period.

It was Canada’s weakest period of the tournament to that point. The Canadians went scoreless and held a narrow 12–10 edge in shots on goal.

Canada struggled to generate scoring chances. Even after Sarah Fillier made it 2–0 in the third period, the Canadians still needed Desbiens to make key saves to protect the lead.

Canada faced its first real test of the tournament against Finland. With the offence struggling to generate chances in the second period, I would have liked to see Kori Cheverie shake things up while there was still time to give Canada a spark.

Call a timeout. Put Daryl Watts back on the top line. Swap Caitlin Kraemer, who I thought was Canada’s best forward, and Rosalie Tremblay to see if it gets either line going. Shorten the bench on defence instead of rotating eight defenders.

Anything, but something!

After three seasons covering Cheverie with the Montréal Victoire, I’ve seen how much she trusts her lines. For better or worse, she tends to stick with them even when the offence stalls.

In a short tournament like this, you have less time for puck possession, quality shots and Grade A chances to turn into goals. A shot off the post is still a shot off the post. Over a PWHL season or a playoff series, you have more time to let the offence come around.

Canada got away with sticking to its plan against Finland. I don’t think it will against the U.S.

Kati Tabin entered Wednesday’s game as the only Canadian skater without a point at these Worlds. She picked up an assist on Caitlin Kraemer’s first-period goal, but I still came away wanting to see more from her. Speed is one of Tabin’s strengths, and I haven’t seen her use it to make much of an impact at this tournament.

Her ice time at the Olympics stood out, too. She played fewer than three minutes in the semifinal and didn’t take a shift against the U.S. in the gold-medal game.

Tabin has averaged 13:54 of ice time per game at these Worlds, the second-lowest mark among Canada’s defenders, just ahead of Sophie Jaques at 13:42.

I understand that Danièle Sauvageau, Kori Cheverie and Caroline Ouellette saw enough in Tabin to bring her to Denmark. Still, I would have liked to see Canada give another defender a look. Micah Zandee-Hart comes to mind. Mae Batherson didn’t get an invite to training camp, but I think her time will come, too.

The previous three times Canada allowed 25 or more shots against an opponent other than the U.S., it was also against Finland. Ann-Renée Desbiens was in net for the two most recent games, at the 2024 Women’s Worlds and the 2022 Olympics.