USA Women's Hockey

Long-time USA Hockey coach Dave Peterson liked to say that hockey is a misnomer for the game. In his view, it should be called “Goalie” due to the importance that the position holds on the outcome of every game.

Peterson, the two-time U.S. Olympic Team coach who passed away in 1997, would have loved the display of topflight goaltenders competing at the 2012 IIHF Women’s World Championship. 

“I think he was a smart guy for saying that,” said Jessie Vetter, one of a trio of talented netminders for the U.S. Women’s National Team. “You definitely have to have a good goaltender who gives you an opportunity to win. 

“Every team in this tournament has a great goaltender, and that’s what makes it exciting. You have to be ready to go in every game and you have to earn your goals.”
Even teams with no realistic chance of capturing the IIHF championship chalice are formidable foes night in and night out, thanks to their goaltenders.

On Sunday night, the U.S. outplayed Russia in every facet of the game, throwing 54 shots on net while allowing only five shots to sneak through on Vetter. Still, without Anna Prugova’s exploits through two periods (she was mercifully lifted at the start of the third) the score would have been much worse.

“Goaltending in Russia is always important ever since [Vladislav] Tretiak, so it’s sort of a tradition,” said the 19-year-old netminder who is capturing the attention of college coaches across the country.

While Prugova is a rising star, Noora Raty of Finland has been on the top of her game since breaking in with the Finnish National Team as a 15-year-old. Now 22, Raty recently backstopped the University of Minnesota to the NCAA Div. I title. And now she’s here in Burlington, Vt., looking to lead Finland back to the medals podium.

Against a Canadian squad determined to avenge its worst loss ever, a 9-2 drubbing against the Americans less than 24 hours earlier, Raty was peppered with 43 shots, but allowed only three goals, including the game-winner that deflected off a skate in front of the net.

“Without good goaltending you can’t win any games. They put a lot of pressure on me and they trust me. I know that if I don’t play well we can’t beat any teams here,” said Raty, who was injured in the championship celebration when she was buried under her Gophers teammates. 

“I don’t mind getting a lot of shots because it’s fun and I get to show just how good I can be. If there’s no screens or tips I always think that I’m going to make the save.”

Opposing players have long known how good Raty can be, and know that patience is the key to beating her.

“You do have to be patient, let the puck do the work and get her to move side to side and get an opportunity and capitalize,” said Canadian captain Hayley Wickenheiser. “With goaltending like that, it’ll be tough to get eight goals. She keeps it close. Otherwise, it’s a 10-nothing game.”

Canada has its own world-class goaltenders at this tournament. While Charline Labonte did surrender five first-period goals against the Americans on Saturday night, she was named the top goaltender at the 2009 Women’s World Championship tournament, and Shannon Szabados stopped 28 shots in shutting out the U.S. in the gold-medal game at the Vancouver Olympics.

While the American offensive onslaught seems to be capturing most of the tournament focus, players know that they can take a few more chances in the opposing zone because they have great goaltenders watching their back. In addition to Vetter, who notched her third shutout in World Championship play, Molly Schaus stopped 21 Canadian shots in the tournament opener. And Brianne McLaughlin, who so far hasn’t seen any action, holds the NCAA record with 3,809 saves during her four years at Robert Morris University. 

“I’ve been pleasantly surprised at some of the other goaltenders in this tournament,,” said U.S. goaltending coach Robb Stauber, who was the first goaltender to win the Hobey Baker Award before embarking on a 10-year professional career.
 
“I’ve worked in women’s college hockey four or five years ago and I’ve seen how far it’s come. It’s one position, when you pay attention to it, that’s advanced very quickly. I’m extremely impressed by all of their abilities.
“There was a day when teams had weak goalies, and that doesn’t appear to be the case anymore. With all the good attention that’s been given to this position, across the world, you can see that there have been incredible advancements. It’s great to see.”
Away from the spotlight of Gutterson Fieldhouse, where the U.S. and Canada are playing their games, Florence Schelling is determined to lead Switzerland into medal contention. 

A finalist for the 2012 Patty Kazmaier Award, the senior at Northeastern University was dominant against an offensively-challenged Slovakian team, and is looking to stun Sweden on Tuesday at Cairns Arena to secure a spot in the quarterfinals.

Like most goaltenders, Schelling doesn’t shy away from a barrage of shots. In fact, she relishes the opportunity to stare down the game’s best shooters.

“Those are the games that I love the most because there’s no time for me to drift off in my thoughts during the game,” said Schelling, a two-time Swiss Olympian. 

“There’s shot after shot and the game is in our zone about 95 percent of the game. It’s a game where I’m really into it, so this is what I really like.”

While Slovakia is unlikely to advance to Thursday’s quarterfinals, it does boast one of the game’s best goaltenders, Zuzana Tomcikova, who was named the MVP of last year’s tournament for “almost single-handedly keeping her team in the top division with her sensational play throughout the tournament.”

Tomcikova is back on top of her game in this year’s tournament, keeping her team in both its preliminary round losses while waiting for the offense to arrive.

“It’s a little stressful, but over the years I’ve gotten used to it,” Tomcikova told IIHF.com. “There’s always different kind of pressure for the goalie anyway, so I’ve gotten used to that.”

With so many talented goaltenders, U.S. Head Coach Katey Stone has some sound but simple advice for her players – just keep shooting.

“The kids recognize that more than anyone,” Stone said after Sunday’s win. “I walked into the locker room and they said, ‘don’t be cute, shoot,’ and that’s kind of the motto at this point because it’s very rare when you can get in there in a great scoring opportunity. You don’t need to make a special play, you just need to get pucks on net.”