The Penalty Box Post
Saturday, August 28th
IIHF Women's World Championship Update: Zumwinkle, Murphy score first goals; Canada defeats USA in preliminary round
Host team Canada claimed the top spot in Group A and the #1 seed for the playoff round of 2021 IIHF Women's World Championship by defeating Team USA 5-1 in their preliminary round meeting on Thursday. Melodie Daoust and Renata Fast put the Canadians up 2-0 after one period, Jamie Lee Rattray doubled the lead with a pair of goals, and Sarah Nurse extended the advantage to 5-0 before the second intermission. Lee Stecklein broke up the shutout attempt with a blast early in the third period for the Americans, but they could get no closer and lost 5-1.
Both Canada and the U.S. were undefeated leading into Thursday's game. The Americans showed stout defense and goaltending, shutting out Switzerland and Finland by matching 3-0 scores and rolling over Russia, 6-0. Team Canada was challenged early by Finland, trailing 2-0 after 20 minutes, but came back with five goals of their own to win 5-3; they followed it up with a 5-1 win over Russia and a 5-0 shutout of Switzerland. After dropping their first two games, the Finns came back to claim 3rd place in the group with shutout wins over Russia and Switzerland, 4-0 and 6-0. The Russians won their tournament opener, defeating Switzerland 3-1, but their three losses placed them fourth in Group A, with the winless Swiss in 5th.
The Czech Republic went undefeated to take the top spot in Group B and earn the #6 seed for the playoff round, winning over Denmark 6-1, Hungary 4-2, Japan 4-0, and Germany 2-0. The Japanese took second in the group with a 1-0 shutout of Denmark, a 4-1 victory over Hungary, and a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Germany. The Germans got wins over Hungary and Denmark, 3-0 and 3-1, to claim third in Group B and the final playoff round spot. Already knowing they did not qualify for the playoff round, the Hungarians and Danes squared off in the final game for both at the tournament, with Hungary earning their first-ever win in the Top Division, 5-1.
Playoff Round Quarterfinals – TODAY (Saturday, 8/28)
#4 Russian Olympic Committee vs. #5 Switzerland – 11 a.m. CT
#2 USA vs. #7 Japan – 2:30 p.m. CT
#1 Canada vs. #8 Germany – 6:00 p.m. CT
#3 Finland vs. #6 Czech Republic – 9:30 p.m. CT
The USA-Japan and Canada-Germany games will be broadcast live in the U.S. on NHL Network.
Gophers at the World Championship – Both playing in the first World Championship with Team USA, Abbey Murphy and Grace Zumwinkle have each scored goals for the national squad. Zumwinkle netted her first goal in Team USA's opener against Switzerland, also lit the lamp against Finland, and added a pair of assists against Russia; she is tied with fellow Gopher Lee Stecklein (2g, 2a) for the most points by any American (4). Murphy netted her first goal against the Russians. Two other Gophers have also recorded points on the scoresheet, as Kelly Pannek has lit the lamp twice and added an assist while Megan Bozek has dished out two helpers.
WWC records set – We also recognize long-time U.S. National Team members Hilary Knight and Brianna Decker. Knight's two goals in this year's World Championship gave her a new all-time record of 45 in WWC play, breaking the former mark of 44 set by Cammi Granato. Decker recorded her 38th and 39th career World Championship assists, setting a new American record.
Big Ten Conference makes two key announcements
The Big Ten Conference, together with the ACC and PAC-12, announced an alliance “on a collaborative approach surrounding the future evolution of college athletics and scheduling.” As noted in the announcement this past Tuesday, “the alliance will be guided in all cases by a commitment to, and prioritization of, supporting student-athlete well-being, academic and athletic opportunities, experiences and diverse educational programming. The three conferences are grounded in their support of broad-based athletic programs, the collegiate model and opportunities for student-athletes as part of the educational missions of the institutions.”
The alliance includes a scheduling component for football and men's & women's basketball, with options to “create new inter-conference games, enhance opportunities for student-athletes, and optimize the college athletics experience for both student-athletes and fans across the country.” The announcement also indicates that “the three conferences will also explore opportunities for the vast and exceptional Olympic Sports programs to compete more frequently and forge additional attractive and meaningful rivalries.”
It is currently unknown if and/or how the alliance will impact either men's or women's ice hockey.
Big Ten forfeiture policy clarified – On Monday, the Big Ten made a media statement clarifying its forfeiture policy as it relates to COVID-19, saying: ”The conference has determined that if one of its member institutions is unable to play a conference contest due to COVID-19, that contest shall be declared a forfeit and will not be rescheduled. That contest shall be considered a loss for the team impacted by COVID-19 and a win for its opponent in the conference standings. If both of the two competing teams are unable to participate in a scheduled Conference competition due to COVID-19 and as a result the competition is unable to occur on the calendar day on which it is scheduled, the competition shall be considered a ‘no contest.'”
Though not explicitly stated, the forfeiture policy is assumed to apply to all sports overseen by the Big Ten, including men's ice hockey. No official statement has been made to-date by the Western Collegiate Hockey Association with regards to its Women's League.
Gopher Women's Hockey single-game tickets now on sale!!
In case you missed the posts on social media, Gopher Women's Hockey single-game tickets and 5-for-$25 mini-plans are now on sale on GopherSports.com or by calling 1-800-U-GOPHER. Mini-plans let you combine single tickets for 5 games for a discounted price of $25. Single-game tickets are $10 for reserved chairback seats and $8 for general admission bench seating.
Games in Madison – weekend of December 3-5 – We also share that single game tickets for the road games at Wisconsin will go on sale from the UW Ticket Office at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, September 14, but they will go fast. Tickets will be available online at UWBadgers.com or over the phone at 1-800-GO-BADGERS. The final details for those games are not yet set, but the series is scheduled for the weekend of December 3-5.
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Follow the Gopher women's hockey team and all Univ. of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics at www.gophersports.com. You can also find the Gopher women's hockey team on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GopherWomensHockey and on Twitter at twitter.com/GopherWHockey.