Friday Faceoff: Who was the unsung hero of the women's World Championships?

Friday Faceoff is a weekly feature where Erin Brown and Ian Kennedy discuss, and sometimes debate, topics in women's hockey. This week the pair discuss who they believe were the unsung heroes of the recent IIHF women's World Championships. 

Ian Kennedy: We sat together watching numerous days of the women’s World Championship in Brampton, and although players like Caroline Harvey and Sarah Fillier justly got credit where credit was due, the tournament was also filled with a handful of players who deserved more love than they got. I’m wondering if anyone stuck out to you as an unsung player?

Erin Brown: Jamie Lee Rattray. For someone who is a “13th forward,” she sure does a lot of damage. I’m still trying to figure out why she’s not higher up on Canada’s depth chart. She does everything — tough to play against without being a liability, always in your face. And then in the shootout win over the U.S. she showed off skill with the nice move to her backhand against Aerin Frankel. She only averaged nine minutes a game, yet scored four points (1-3) and that shootout winner. It doesn’t make sense to me. Who stood out to you?

Ian Kennedy: It’s hard to argue against Rattray. You noticed her impact every time she was on the ice. Unfortunately, she was one of only two Canadian players, as you mentioned, to average less than 10 minutes per game on ice. It was frustrating to watch how Canada deployed her in the tournament. For me, most of Czechia’s roster went unsung. They won bronze without a single player in the top 35 in tournament scoring. That’s depth and balance. I’m going to throw out two names that impressed me all tournament. Dominika Laskova played 24:29 per night, and was not only an imposing physical competitor on the blueline, but her ability to evade checkers and transport the puck up ice was impressive. The other for me was forward Natalie Mlynkova. Still an NCAA player, she did all the little things right. I can still see her blocking two big shots on a 5-on-3 up by a goal in the third of the bronze game, and then pinning the puck out of trouble in the dying seconds. At 21, the best is yet to come for her. Speaking of young players, I know there was another youngster you thought should have got more love at the tournament.

Erin Brown: Definitely — Hilda Svensson was phenomenal! You don’t expect 16-year-olds to share or hold a team lead in scoring at the senior level, yet she did. What stood out to me is how easy she made it look. Need a clutch goal against Canada to force OT? Of course it was Svensson, who always seemed to be in the right place at the right time — a Swedish Sarah Fillier perhaps? I admittedly did not see many Sweden games at the U-18 tournament, but the ones I did, Svensson was a non-factor. That she found her spark at the senior level is very impressive. I also enjoyed watching Mira Jungåker. She stood out at the U-18s and here as well. The points weren’t there, but her booming shot and tough play were. It was stunning to watch her give Marie-Philip Poulin fits. On one play she laid her out next to the net. You just don’t expect that from a 17-year-old.

Ian Kennedy: Perhaps Svensson needed a bigger challenge, and to be surrounded by more skill. As for another unsung hero, I feel it would be impossible to end this conversation without mentioning someone from the gold medal Americans. She might not be completely unsung having scored nine points in seven games, but on a team where Hilary Knight and Taylor Heise get a lot of offensive props, I think Abby Roque deserves more praise. Her physical presence makes a difference. If there’s a puck battle in the corner, or traffic needed out front, there’s a good chance Roque is involved. In terms of driving possession for USA, Roque also led the tournament in face off percentage, winning an incredible 66.67%. It’s a lot easier to win games when you start with the puck. OK, so to close this out, if you had to pick one unsung hero, or unheralded player from this tournament, who do you go with?

Erin Brown: I should probably go with an American since winning only elevates hero status. I’ll go with Aerin Frankel. Coming into the tournament I expected the U.S. would ease her into the starting role as the heir apparent, not have her start six of seven games. She faced the up-and-coming Czechs and always dangerous Canadians twice apiece, and still posted a respectable .931 save percentage and 1.48 goals-against average. It can’t be overlooked that she was perfect in the third period of the gold-medal game. The American youth movement is further ahead than we expected, Frankel included.