Canada Is the Judge and Jury

This is one sport where the Canadian skaters will beat the Russians every time.

Hockey uses a scoreboard, not judges, but even the most biased observer would have to agree that the Canadian women’s team was clearly superior to Russia in a 7-0 victory at the E Center on Wednesday.

Perhaps it was a small measure of revenge for the controversial decision in which Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze beat the Canadian figure-skating pair of David Pelletier and Jamie Sale--who had suffered an earlier blow during a warmup session.

“I don’t know about that, but we definitely feel bad for them,” Canadian goalie Sami Jo Small said. “I think Jamie Sale, after the way she got hit in the warmups, she could definitely be a member of this Canadian national team. We gave her a jersey and told her that she could suit up next game.”

Not that the Canadians need much help.

They improved to 2-0 in Group A preliminary-round play with another dominant performance, outshooting Russia, 60-6. Danielle Goyette scored two goals and Hayley Wickenheiser had a goal and two assists.

Russia, which has dominated figure skating ever since the Soviet Union era, lags far behind the Canadian and United States in women’s hockey. There are only four women’s club teams in Russia.

“Every hockey player in Russia that can play on an international level is on our team today,” Russian Coach Viacheslav Dogushin said.

And here they were, up against the country that treats hockey as its national treasure.

“The difference is we have to choose out of 200 players, versus choosing out of ... how many?” Russian forward Ekaterina Pachkevitch said, turning to Canadian forward Dana Antal on the interview platform next to her.

“Fifty thousand,” Antal said.

“Well, there you go,” Pachkevitch said.

Pachkevitch is just happy that their games are being broadcast on Russian television, which is a first.

“We call home and our relatives said they saw us on TV,” Pachkevitch said. “I wouldn’t say we are where figure skating is, but we’re getting there.”

Russian goaltender Irina Gashennikova implied that the decision to play hockey instead of figure skating isn’t exactly a choice.

“Look at me,” Gashennikova said, laughing and holding her jacket wide open to reveal a stocky body, while an interpreter translated her comments. “I’m not a figure skating kind of person.

“I was trying to do some figure skating moves [in the game], some pirouettes. I got a couple hits in my head and I remembered I’m not a figure skater.”

The Russians sure don’t play like figure skaters. They racked up 18 minutes in penalties, including a 10-minute misconduct against Tatiana Tsareva for checking from behind in the second period. They also aren’t afraid to dive in front of slap shots, and two of their players had to be helped off after taking pucks to the midsection and head.

Their doggedness was no match for Team Canada’s skill, however. In two games, Canada has taken 126 shots and their goaltenders have faced only 17.

In another women’s game, Erika Holst had two goals and two assists as undefeated Sweden clinched a spot in the medals round with a 7-0 victory over Kazakhstan.

In men’s games, the Swiss team--already eliminated from the final round and with two of their players suspended for breaking curfew--defeated Belarus, 2-1. Dmitri Khristich, who plays for the NHL’s Washington Capitals, and Igor Chybirev scored power-plays goals in the first period of Ukraine’s 4-2 victory over France.