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The Record
   
WE'LL HAVE TO WAIT FOR COMPETITIVE WOMEN'S HOCKEY
                                       
By Karlo Berkovich Record staff
Thursday, January 15, 1970
Team Canada 22, Opposition 2. Shots on goal, 167-28. Shades of the
U.S. Dream Team vs. Angola at the 1992 Olympic basketball tournament.
Or the Harlem Globetrotters against the Washington Generals. Or, more
accurately, Canadian teams over their foreign counterparts in the
early days of men's international hockey.Those cumulative totals over
three games definitely define lack of competition. Canada vs. anybody
so far in the World Women's Hockey Championship has been a foregone
conclusion.

Which isn't so bad -- this is an obviously talented and well-directed
outfit winning big through no fault of its own. But blowout win after
blowout win can't be optimal in terms of preparation -- Canada coasted
and fell into some bad habits Thursday after building a 4-0 first
period lead over a Chinese team definitely not equipped with Silkworm
missiles. And it's certainly not riveting entertainment.

Good thing the event is being held in Kitchener, one of the top hockey
hotbeds anywhere and a place that enthusiastically embraces all manner
of high-profile sporting events. The rink is packed, the fans stay to
the end and the hockey, at least from one perspective, is crisp and
creative.

But competitive? No. That's a function of the imbalance in the depth
of player pools, funding and coaching and development programs that
separate Canada -- and to a lesser extent the U.S. -- from the rest.

China, a nation of more than a billion souls, is home to just 300
women's hockey players. Russia ices just six club teams and is
anything but a world power. Less of a power, in fact, than the top
three teams in the Central Ontario Women's League. Home to several
Canadian national teamers, the league's three best teams would
probably finish in the top five in the world tournament, behind Canada
and the U.S. The Mississauga Chiefs, for instance, beat Switzerland
4-0 in a pre-tournament exhibition.

And it's not just Canada that has been the bastion of blowout. Wide
margins in both goals and shots (on the order of 61-5) were the rule
rather than exception through the first three days of competition.
Canada could have played without a goalie in its first two games and
still won, outscoring Switzerland and Russia by a combined 15-1 while
outshooting the opposition 107-12.

"There's not enough good teams right now and it's hard to focus at
times," Canadian forward Lori Dupuis said after Thursday's 7-1 win
over China. "It is uncompetitive, but it's unbelievable when you
consider that in 1990, some of these teams were losing by 20-0
scores."

Essentially, this remains a two-team tournament, with Finland -- which
tied the United States 3-3 -- on the fringes of challenging the
Americans and Canada, Finland's semifinal opponent.

That will change, though, as Dupuis noted. For one thing, the
International Ice Hockey Federation is studying the possibility of
eventually launching a B pool, something that would indicate
development past the teething stage on a worldwide basis. Such
development -- xenophobes be damned -- must be fostered by the
exporting of coaches and systems by the current hockey powers.

"I like to say it's still in its infancy stages," Canadian head coach
Shannon Miller said of the international scene. "We have to make sure
it grows, make sure others get better. By the 2002 Olympics, I think
you'll see five strong countries."

China and either Russia, which faces funding problems, or Sweden are
the candidates for ascension. For now, though, from a Canadian
perspective, for truly competitive hockey it remains a matter of
bringing on the USA.

The Kitchener Waterloo Record