By Dan Plouffe
Numerous Ottawa players had to taste the sting of silver at the Dec. 31-Jan. 4 world ringette championships in North Bay, but nevertheless experienced playing in a pair of thrilling championship contests against powerhouse Finland.
“It was almost as exciting as we could have hoped for,” says Lary Allen, coach of the Nepean Ravens who acted as Team Canada’s under-19 entry. “The only thing more exciting would have been a reversal of the score.”
The Canadian U19s lost 9-4 to U19 Finland in their round robin meeting, but very nearly turned the tables in the U19 gold medal game. Nepean’s signature Karli O’Brien to Sarah-Lynne Bégin play struck for two goals in a row to give Canada a 3-1 lead, but Finland then counted five consecutive markers towards the end of the third period and the start of the fourth and went on to win 6-4.
“We couldn’t have hoped for a better effort,” Allen signals. “We were tremendously pleased.”
In the senior-level competition, Ottawa native Kelsey Youldon led the way offensively for Team Canada with a goal and two assists in the second game of their best-of-3 world championship series against Finland, but it wasn’t enough to push them past the four-time champs as Canada fell 7-5 on the heels of an 8-4 Game 1 loss.
Allen identified two key reasons why the Finns were a step ahead – geography and money. It’s possible to pick the best players in Canada to play at the event, he explains, but if they can’t get together because they’re at different ends of the country, it makes their task more difficult.
“When you make the national team in Finland, that is what you do,” Allen adds, unlike Canadian players who balance full-time school or work commitments with their ringette aspirations.
In Finland, it’s easier for players to centralize in the smaller country, and they hold tryouts to be part of a national program that starts at age 14, Allen details.
The deck was especially stacked against his Nepean Ravens, with players from one club and one corner of the city taking on all of Finland’s best. Usually Canada enters a U19 team made up of players from across the country, but with the irregular timing of the U19 event to run alongside the senior worlds, Ringette Canada couldn’t assemble a national team, so allowed the reigning Belle ‘AA’ national-champion Ravens to enter.
“We received the invitation with trepidation,” Allen recalls. “We were a little concerned with how we’d be able to compete, but as it turned out, we were able to adjust and be competitive.”
The Ravens will carry the worlds experience forward this season, their coach pledges, while holding lasting memories and silver medals from their moment wearing the maple leaf.
“They were totally appreciative of the opportunity and the honour that was given to them,” Allen notes. “For oldtimers like myself, being in the birthplace of ringette for the sport’s 50th anniversary in North Bay was special for us too.”
The ringette volunteer of 25 years praised organizers for putting on a “tremendous” world championships that catered to the players throughout the week.
“The enthusiasm was unbelievable. There were times when you couldn’t hear what your players were saying because of the excitement in the stands,” Allen describes. “It was extremely, extremely exciting to be there and be a part of it.”