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Saturday 5 April 1997

TOUGHER TEST AWAITS CANADA IN WOMEN'S HOCKEY MEDAL ROUND
                                    
Coach sends players wake-up call

Martin Cleary
The Ottawa Citizen

Head coach Sharon Miller, a master of motivational messaging, went
ballistic here yesterday at Canada's final practice before its
semifinal match at the fourth world women's hockey championship.

The Calgary cop hopes that her blunt message about doing the little
things correctly sinks in as Canada floats from the comfort of three
easy round-robin wins to the challenge of two meaningful medal games.

In today's semifinals, three-time defending champion Canada is
scheduled to play Finland at 1 p.m., and the United States will play
China at 5 p.m.

The losers play in Sunday's bronze medal match at 4 p.m., and the
winners go for the gold at 8 p.m.

"I tuned them in today," Miller said. "Today, they told me they were
tired. So I told them I'd cut practice short. But I wanted things
perfect in practice.

"They made some high risk plays and in the games that would have cost
us a goal. I called them in and gave them hell. Everything was fine
for the final 15 minutes.

Canada has beaten Finland three times this season -- twice at the
Three Nations Cup in Ottawa and once in a pre-worlds exhibition game
in Barrie.

"Finland has come a long way,'' Miller said. "It's the best team
they've iced. But we've also made huge strides since Ottawa (Three
Nations Cup).

"We have a lot of respect for Finland. They skate real well and
they'll pressure us. But they don't have as much depth."

Meeting Finland in the semifinals of the world championship has become
a tradition for Canada, which beat the Finns 6-5 in 1990, 6-2 in 1992,
and 4-1 in 1994.

Finland has only two strong lines, but they include the championships'
two leading scorers. Riikka Nieminen has four goals and four assists,
while Tiia Reima has scored four goals and three assists.

Hayley Wickenheiser is Canada's best scorer with three goals and three
assists.

Medal matches

Today: Canada vs. Finland, 1 p.m.; U.S. vs. China, 5 p.m.

Tomorrow: Bronze-medal game, 4 p.m.; Gold-medal game, TSN, 8 p.m.

Copyright 1997 The Ottawa Citizen