Re: 2014 Sochi Olympic Games Women's Ice Hockey Tournament
Forgive me if I'm stating the obvious here -- but it would be really interesting to see what Noora Räty could do against men. Give her a shot in an exhibition game or something.
The talent level of the sport has grown by probably about 7 or 8 magnitudes since the days of Manon Rhéaume.
That's nothing new around here at least in the no whistle scrimmages that I've mentioned before that are run by a guy that I know who is a big fan of the women`s game. He's had the better female goaltender's in the area (before and while they played D1) out week after week when they were available over the last 6 or 7 years to face WHL and ECAC junior players as well as some NHL players, and younger AAA players. Until you actually see it for yourself you might not believe how well they can do.
As a matter of fact, with respect to one particular female goaltender, before and while she played D1, he has told me countless times that after the scrimmages many of the better male players from the NHL and down used to approach him and prod him to make sure that he got her out the following week because, in their words, she was more of a challenge to them than the male goaltenders! He still talks about this...saying not only was she an elite goaltender, she was fearless. (He often told me about a local CIS female goaltender that he could never get out because she was afraid to stand in goal against the men...so I guess the moral here is that if fear is present it ain't gonna happen).
And I always found this interesting...I recall his also telling me many times that they were serious about this constant request and that the proof was in the pudding, meaning that when she faced them they never held back on their shots...they gave it everything they had thereby showing their respect for her abilities whereas with some less experienced/capable goaltenders, both male and female, they would hold back.
I've seen this goaltender stone some of these big boys to the point where they were so upset that she had robbed them that they skated up to her and vehemently cussed her out! It was both hilarious and very interesting to watch, a new twist on what you had been accustomed to...kind of a glimpse into what might be.
So, yeah, it can work depending on the level of play that you had in mind and as I mentioned you might be surprised at how well they can do if you've never seen it for yourself.
(As an aside, I called him earlier today to tell him to watch the Russia-Switzerland game because it was such a tremendous game. In that conversation I told him that Botterill was singing Phoebe Staenz's praises during the game mentioning that in the pre-game warm up she was on fire and looked like she was on a mission. She's a player that we both have an interest in because of a story he told me a couple of years ago.
He was waiting for the ice to be cleaned at one of our local rinks so he could hold one of his scrimmages. The facility had two rinks so to kill some time he wandered over to the other rink to check out the action. There was a skating clinic being held and there was a female that he was immediately impressed with. During one drill that involved two players skating out of the corner together she was usually way ahead of her "partner". He knew one of the higher end male players in the clinic who had been paired up with her on some of the drills who admitted to him later that it was all he could do to keep up with her. Afterwards, with his ice ready, tying his skates up in the dressing room with the door opened he noticed her walking by and called out to her "hey, what's your name?" She stopped and quietly and shyly responded "my name is Phoebe Staenz". He then discovered that both she and her brother had come over from Switzerland to the middle of Canada to attend this skating clinic!!!!
How's that for commitment...theirs and that of their parents or whoever was funding the excursion?
Just another story behind the story.)
