NO PODIUM, BUT PROUD

CANADA’S U21 WOMEN FALL TO NORWAY IN BRONZE MEDAL GAME 

Canada’s World Championship medal hopes were dashed Saturday, when Norway’s Torild Bjoernstad defeated Edmonton’s Myla Plett to claim the bronze in Lohja, Finland. 

While the fourth-place finish was not the result the Canadians were hoping for, the season for Plett, Alyssa Nedohin, Chloe Fediuk, and Allie Iskiw can be counted as an overall success. 

“We are very proud of our performance this week,” said team leader Lori Olson. “These girls feel incredibly honoured to wear the maple leaf and represented us well.” 

Canada held a one-point lead at the fifth-end break, but the Norway put up three points in the sixth to pull ahead. After forcing Canada to a single in the seventh, Norway scored a single, then stole another point to lead 7-4, playing the final end. 

The Canadians were able to add another point, but failed to score the three they needed. The final score was 7-5. 

While there is no hardware to bring home, the team was able to celebrate a few major accomplishments this week. First, winning the B-Group silver medal in December qualified the team for the main event this week.  

Next, finishing in the top six of this event means that Canada won’t be required to play in the B-Group championship next year, and will have an automatic berth in the A-Group worlds. Coach Blair Lenton and assistant coach Dave Nedohin would have marked that as a major goal accomplished. 

After competing in two world championships in less than three months, one might think that Team Plett is due for some time off. That is not the case, however, as the foursome will be looking to start another journey back to the next year’s world championships – starting with the Alberta U20 provincials next week. 

“This experience has lit a fire in us, and we definitely want another crack at this,” the team wrote on their Facebook page.  

If they are successful in the provincial championship, they’ll be the “hometown” team at the Canadian U21 Championships in Fort McMurray, Alta. Beginning March 24. 

The winner of that will represent Canada at next year’s world championships – which may or may not be in Italy. Normally, the junior worlds are a test event for the following year’s Olympic Games, however, the location has not yet been confirmed. 

As a result, Canada’s junior men’s fate is yet to be decided. If the event is, in fact, in Italy, Canada will avoid relegation to the B-Group, as the host nation will be automatically granted a spot, and the next six spots from the worlds will be invited. Canada finished seventh, but an automatic Italian berth would move them up to sixth.