Story of the week

What a Day! | CONWAY'S RUSSIAN HOCKEY BLOG
on Saturday, Russia’s Under-18 women’s national team opened the 2018 U18 Worlds, at home in Dmitrov just north of Moscow, with a 3-2 victory over Canada.

Russia stuns Canada to open U18 Worlds - The Ice Garden
Team Russia defends home ice with upset win, first time in tournament history a North American team has been defeated by a European squad

It’s sort of old news now, since it happened on the first day of the tournament and by the time this is published the first game of the medal round will likely be over, but the biggest news of the week was very likely Russia’s win over Canada at the Under-18 Women’s World Championships.

The two articles linked above tell the story of the game much better than just raw stats. Team Russia made history as the first European team to beat a North American team at this event. The IIHF article in the international hockey section below talks about how the Russians want “more than bronze”. For at least a few hours after that win, gold must have seemed very possible.

The win was part of an excellent weekend for Russian women’s hockey—something they sorely needed after six members of the 2014 Olympic team were banned from the Olympics for life in mid-December. At the Nations Cup this weekend in Füssen, Germany, the senior Women’s National Team put up a perfect record, beating Canada’s Under-22 team along with Team Finland before cruising to a 4-1 win against Sweden in the gold medal game. It’s worth noting that this is the first tournament where none of the women affected by the doping ban played on the team.

UPDATE: The Russian U18 team has just shut out Finland to move to the semi-finals and are guaranteed the opportunity to be playing for a medal. The semi-finals will be Canada (who beat the Czech Repubic today) vs USA and Russia vs Sweden. For the first time there will be a European team in the finals, largely because of the Russian upset against Canada.

International hockey

U18 Women’s Worlds

U18 women ready - 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women's World Championship - Russia - International Ice Hockey Federation IIHF
Teams set to clash in Russia for first time

Russia aims high - 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women's World Championship - Russia - International Ice Hockey Federation IIHF
The host wants better than bronze

Team Russia at the 2018 Women’s U18 Worlds | CONWAY'S RUSSIAN HOCKEY BLOG
Starting tomorrow, for the first time ever Russia will host a top-division women's hockey world championship, as the 2018 event for the Under-18 age group gets going in Dmitrov, just north of Moscow.

Leading by example
U.S. captain Heise impresses in Dmitrov

Is Dominique Relleen South Africa's Sergei Bobrovsky?
This is from the Division II B qualification tournament in December, and frankly the article’s condescending, but South African women’s U-18 hockey! Super cool.

Nations Cup

Final standings:

  1. Russia
  2. Sweden
  3. Finland
  4. Switzerland
  5. Canada U22
  6. Germany

I’m not willing to panic over the results for Canada just yet — you can see from the NCAA section that there are still players in the 19-22 age range who are pretty damn good. My personal opinion (Annie has the week off) is that for Hockey Canada this year’s U22 team was much more about a last-chance evaluation of the older women than it was about beating anyone. Six of these players will be 22 this year and may be standing at a crossroads between a shot at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and the end of their hockey careers at the international level.

Women’s national team finishes Nations Cup in Füssen on 4th place - swisshockeynews.ch
The Women’s national team has concluded their preparation for the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang with a fourth place at the Nations Cup in Füssen, Germany.

A Very Quick Women’s Hockey Update! | CONWAY'S RUSSIAN HOCKEY BLOG
The senior Russian women’s national team is in action this week in Germany at the 2018 Nations Cup tournament.

Olympics

CWHL

Inferno Weekend Wrap: Je Me Souviens! - Matchsticks and Gasoline
Calgary Swept 2-0 Hosting Les Canadiennes at WinSport

Thunder come back to beat Rays 5-4 (SO) Furies lose 4-2 to Blades - Pension Plan Puppets
The first games of 2018 could have gone better, but they could have gone worse.

CWHL Recap: Goodbye losing streak! - Pension Plan Puppets
Emily Fulton and Carolyne Prévost score, Furies beat the Blades 2-1

Should the Toronto Furies give Megan Bozek a call? - Pension Plan Puppets
The CWHL’s Toronto franchise could use some help and the USWNT defender might be the answer.

Inferno’s Keep the Beat Game Holds Special Place for Jacquie Pierri - Matchsticks and Gasoline
The Calgary Inferno’s fourth #KeepTheBeat game is a special game for defenceman Jacquie Pierri

Chuli flourishing in Far East | Simcoe Reformer
Waterford native and Vanke Rays goalie Elaine Chuli, 23, is leading the Canadian Women's Hockey League in wins (10), goals against average (1.69) and save percentage (.947) this season.

NWHL

NWHL Weekend Wrap
As the NWHL opened the 2018 calendar year, the Metropolitan Riveters remained undefeated, while the Buffalo Beauts took control of second place in the league.

Q&A: Kourtney Kunichika, Buffalo Beauts - The Ice Garden
The longest-tenured Beaut in franchise history chats about her time with the team and where she sees the league headed.

The Riveters playing for Team NWHL are ready for Team USA - The Ice Garden
Ten players on Team NWHL come from the undefeated Metropolitan Riveters.

NCAA

Polls: USCHO | USA Today

GOAL BY GOAL: Daryl Watts Posts Natural Quad Trick In 6-0 Rout Of New Hampshire - BC Interruption
And a shutout!

Cornell University - Quinnipiac Shuts Out No. 5 Women’s Hockey, 4-0
No. 5 women's hockey closed out its weekend with a 4-0 loss against Quinnipiac on Saturday night at the Frank Perrotti, Jr. Arena.

Women's D-I weekend wrap: Jan. 7 | USCHO.com
The top teams fell like Dominos over the weekend in a series of upsets.

NCAA women's hockey: Clarkson’s Shea Tiley tabbed as National College Player of the Month | NCAA.com
As she closes in on the 100 career-win total, Clarkson senior goaltender Shea Tiley backstopped the Golden Knights to a 4-0-0 record last month and earns Player of the Month.

Nadine Muzerall turns troubled Ohio State team into contender
Nadine Muzerall left her interview for the women’s hockey head coaching position with Ohio State bothered.

U Sports

TOP 10 TUESDAY — U SPORTS
The top 10 coming out of the break looks just about the same as the one going into the break.

Meet the Pandas: Part 1 - The Copper & Blue
Profiles of the 2017-2018 University of Alberta Pandas Hockey Team

Women's HockeyCanadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL)