Japan's Aoi Shiga tangles with Canada's Emma Maltais in front of goalie Miyuu Masuhara during the Women's World Championship quarter-final in Ceske Budejovice.
photo: © INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION / MATT ZAMBONIN
Canada advanced to a IIHF Women’s World Championship semi-final against Finland after shooting down Japan 9-1 in Thursday’s quarter-final.
Jennifer Gardiner and Sarah Fillier scored twice, Claire Thompson had a three-point game and Marie-Philip Poulin drew level with Hayley Wickenheiser’s all-time Canadian scoring record with an assist. The two hockey legends are now tied on 86 points.
“It’s cool,” Canada’s captain said of her milestone. “Hayley is somebody that really played for all of us in Canada. Honestly, she made us dream. So I’m pretty happy to have had the chance to play with her and to do that with my team.”
But the defeated Japanese made history along the way, scoring on Canada for the first time in competitive play. The teams first met in the inaugural Women’s Worlds in 1990, Canada winning 18-0 on that occasion, and their paths have crossed in Olympic, World Championship and Pacific Rim Championship eight times prior to tonight.
Japan’s big moment came midway through the game. Mei Miura robbed Sarah Fillier of the puck on her own blue line and accelerated through centre ice, leaving two defenders in her wake. Roared on by the neutrals in the Ceske Budejovice crowd, she kept her composure to slot the puck past Canadian goalie Kristen Campbell and was rewarded with the biggest cheer of the game.
“The goal was very huge for us, it was an exciting moment and we’re really happy that Miura could score for us,” said Akane Hosoyamada.
Miura, who played one season with AIK in Sweden, got the score back to 2-1 after a battling Japanese performance. The outsider did a solid job of keeping play away from Miyuu Masuhara’s net in the opening exchanges and even had a presentable scoring chance of its own when Hikaru Yamashita and Yumeka Wajima got a two-on-one break that Campbell shut down.
That performance reflects a new confidence on the Japanese offence. Miura’s goal was her second here in Czechia, having previous endured a World Championship drought dating back to 2019, while Wajima scored her first goal at this level earlier in the tournament. it points to a team that is discovering a new generation of goalscorers.
“The past couple of seasons we were having difficulty scoring,” Hosoyamada added. “It felt like only the same few players were scoring goals, but the other girls are getting up there and pushing themselves. I think that’s really good for us.”
But Canada always looked in control of proceedings and Laura Stacey’s deft redirect clipped the post before the favourite opened the scoring on 13:42. There was a big screen in front of Masuhara and the Japanese goalie saw Thompson’s shot from the top of the circle too late to make the save.
“I actually didn't know that!” Thompson said “It feels great. I didn't know it was my first, but I'm super grateful to have scored, and it was a lot of fun out there tonight.”
Thompson was involved in the second as well, making an interception in her own zone before releasing Gardiner. The forward produced a devastating snipe to record her fourth marker in her first tournament.
Japan defended stoutly to keep the score down before Miura’s big moment and won plenty of friends among the neutrals in the building. Subsequently, though, Canada moved through the gears to reassert itself. Ninety seconds after the Japanese goal, defender Ella Shelton got to the net front to slot home a Daryl Watts feed. Then Fillier atoned for her role in Japan’s goal with a neat finish to make it four.
“We’ve had a ton of opportunities early on in the tournament with my line," Fillier said. "Playing with ‘Spoons’ [Natalie Spooner] and Nurse, I’m really comfortable. I played with them at the last Olympics and a few World Championships back, so it’s been super comfortable playing with them. But it’s always nice to put one in.”
One of the game’s subplots was Poulin’s quest to overtake Hayley Wickenheiser as Canada’s all-time leading scorer in World Championship play. The captain’s assist on Julia Gosling’s goal drew her level with Wickenheiser’s 86 points; the Canadians went to the intermission up 5-1.
Early in the third, Gardiner got her second of the night. And, as Japan tired, Fillier added a seventh before Emily Clark scored her first of the tournament. But Poulin was unable to find that 87th point, with a good save from Masuhara denying the Canadian captain a third-period goal.
There was a party atmosphere as a conga line set off around the arena in the closing stages while Canada continued to make Japan suffer. The shot count cleared 60 before Sophie Jacques made the final score 9-1.
“Kudos to their goalie, that must have been very tiring,” Thompson said. “And I also commend the Japanese team. They blocked a lot of shots as well. A lot of them didn’t make it to the net. They showed a very strong defensive game. But obviously I’m grateful that we were able to get some past all of them.”
“But I think we did a great job. We came in with some things we wanted to work on and improve as a team, and I think that we showed a lot of our possession game in the O-zone. And we worked on building on shift after shift, and I think we executed well in the later half of that game.”
The 2025 tournament ends here for Japan, but not after the team was cheered from the ice. Canada continues its title defence at the weekend in a semi-final meeting with Finland.
Jennifer Gardiner and Sarah Fillier scored twice, Claire Thompson had a three-point game and Marie-Philip Poulin drew level with Hayley Wickenheiser’s all-time Canadian scoring record with an assist. The two hockey legends are now tied on 86 points.
“It’s cool,” Canada’s captain said of her milestone. “Hayley is somebody that really played for all of us in Canada. Honestly, she made us dream. So I’m pretty happy to have had the chance to play with her and to do that with my team.”
But the defeated Japanese made history along the way, scoring on Canada for the first time in competitive play. The teams first met in the inaugural Women’s Worlds in 1990, Canada winning 18-0 on that occasion, and their paths have crossed in Olympic, World Championship and Pacific Rim Championship eight times prior to tonight.
Japan’s big moment came midway through the game. Mei Miura robbed Sarah Fillier of the puck on her own blue line and accelerated through centre ice, leaving two defenders in her wake. Roared on by the neutrals in the Ceske Budejovice crowd, she kept her composure to slot the puck past Canadian goalie Kristen Campbell and was rewarded with the biggest cheer of the game.
“The goal was very huge for us, it was an exciting moment and we’re really happy that Miura could score for us,” said Akane Hosoyamada.
Miura, who played one season with AIK in Sweden, got the score back to 2-1 after a battling Japanese performance. The outsider did a solid job of keeping play away from Miyuu Masuhara’s net in the opening exchanges and even had a presentable scoring chance of its own when Hikaru Yamashita and Yumeka Wajima got a two-on-one break that Campbell shut down.
That performance reflects a new confidence on the Japanese offence. Miura’s goal was her second here in Czechia, having previous endured a World Championship drought dating back to 2019, while Wajima scored her first goal at this level earlier in the tournament. it points to a team that is discovering a new generation of goalscorers.
“The past couple of seasons we were having difficulty scoring,” Hosoyamada added. “It felt like only the same few players were scoring goals, but the other girls are getting up there and pushing themselves. I think that’s really good for us.”
But Canada always looked in control of proceedings and Laura Stacey’s deft redirect clipped the post before the favourite opened the scoring on 13:42. There was a big screen in front of Masuhara and the Japanese goalie saw Thompson’s shot from the top of the circle too late to make the save.
“I actually didn't know that!” Thompson said “It feels great. I didn't know it was my first, but I'm super grateful to have scored, and it was a lot of fun out there tonight.”
Thompson was involved in the second as well, making an interception in her own zone before releasing Gardiner. The forward produced a devastating snipe to record her fourth marker in her first tournament.
Japan defended stoutly to keep the score down before Miura’s big moment and won plenty of friends among the neutrals in the building. Subsequently, though, Canada moved through the gears to reassert itself. Ninety seconds after the Japanese goal, defender Ella Shelton got to the net front to slot home a Daryl Watts feed. Then Fillier atoned for her role in Japan’s goal with a neat finish to make it four.
“We’ve had a ton of opportunities early on in the tournament with my line," Fillier said. "Playing with ‘Spoons’ [Natalie Spooner] and Nurse, I’m really comfortable. I played with them at the last Olympics and a few World Championships back, so it’s been super comfortable playing with them. But it’s always nice to put one in.”
One of the game’s subplots was Poulin’s quest to overtake Hayley Wickenheiser as Canada’s all-time leading scorer in World Championship play. The captain’s assist on Julia Gosling’s goal drew her level with Wickenheiser’s 86 points; the Canadians went to the intermission up 5-1.
Early in the third, Gardiner got her second of the night. And, as Japan tired, Fillier added a seventh before Emily Clark scored her first of the tournament. But Poulin was unable to find that 87th point, with a good save from Masuhara denying the Canadian captain a third-period goal.
There was a party atmosphere as a conga line set off around the arena in the closing stages while Canada continued to make Japan suffer. The shot count cleared 60 before Sophie Jacques made the final score 9-1.
“Kudos to their goalie, that must have been very tiring,” Thompson said. “And I also commend the Japanese team. They blocked a lot of shots as well. A lot of them didn’t make it to the net. They showed a very strong defensive game. But obviously I’m grateful that we were able to get some past all of them.”
“But I think we did a great job. We came in with some things we wanted to work on and improve as a team, and I think that we showed a lot of our possession game in the O-zone. And we worked on building on shift after shift, and I think we executed well in the later half of that game.”
The 2025 tournament ends here for Japan, but not after the team was cheered from the ice. Canada continues its title defence at the weekend in a semi-final meeting with Finland.