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2013 World Ringette Championships are officially closed

Finland swept up a collection of Gold Medals at the World Ringette Championships./MARK PARE PHOTO There was emotion in the air as the final day of the 2013 World Ringette Championships wrapped up.

Finland swept up a collection of Gold Medals at the World Ringette Championships./MARK PARE PHOTO

 

There was emotion in the air as the final day of the 2013 World Ringette Championships wrapped up.

With the Sam Jacks Trophy already decided, a Bronze Medal was on the line between Team USA and Team Sweden and it was all Americans in this one.  The US took a 10-0 lead into halftime and coasted to a 21-6 victory Saturday morning.

Chelsea Stone and Catherine Cartier each netted a hat trick in the first quarter and both finished with five goals and five assists on the day.

Chelsea Moore scored six times and added two helpers, Kendall Yasui and Danielle Holliday scored twice and Meghan Kelly notched one goal.

For Sweden, the offense came from two sources as Anna Norrbom and My Nilsson recorded three goal games apiece.

Stone opened the scoring at 1:36, grabbing a loose ring and ripping it by the Swedish goaltender and the floodgates were open. Cartier scored a minute later and then Stone and Yasui each tallied 36 seconds apart with just over six minutes played for a four goal advantage.

Stone put a backhand up high on the power play at 9:21 to finish off the three-goal period.  Cartier scored two goals just over a minute apart soon after and Moore locked in her first with 46 seconds to go for an 8-0 US lead.

Cartier added her fourth with under a minute played in the second and just over two minutes later, put together a neat passing display with Moore, who eventually one timed it in for the double digit lead.

Stone’s fourth came a few minutes into the second half and then the Swedes finally got on the board.  A backdoor play at 5:29 was finished by Norrbom.  Moore and Nilsson exchanged goals over a minute later to make it 12-2 and then with over six minutes to go, the teams exchanged goals again from Moore and Norrbom.

From there, the US scored three times in a row and allowed one goal to finish the third quarter.  They never relinquished the 10+ goal lead and scored five more times in the final quarter to finish things off.

In the later game, the under-19 Finnish team scored four goals in the fourth quarter to defeat U19 Team Canada 6-4.  The Canadians had the lead for much of the game, but it was Finland walking away with the Gold medal.

After the under-19 game, all the teams were brought on the ice for the medal ceremony.

After the championships were officially declared closed, Mayor Al McDonald gave his thoughts on the competition level this past week.

“Well, this is the top of the world,” he said, “You can’t get any better than this, the world championships.  The fact that our city got to host a world championship is an honour and a prestige that any city would love to have."

"And the fact that we had it here in the city and witnessed those two games between Canada and Finland, where their skill level and their speed and their tenacity and their drive to win was unbelievable and it inspired another group of athletes to step up and really push hard in their sport so the fact that we had them here inspired young and old alike.”

McDonald says the city was well received by the athletes and visitors, fielding comments of how friendly the people were and how beautiful the city looks.

He says the teams spent a lot of money at area stores and this tournament puts North Bay on the map on the international stage.

“Anytime you can host these tournaments is something pretty special and it really speaks to sports tourism, what we’re trying to really achieve as a council and as a city to really bring people into our community,” he said.

“One that really showcases our city, but it’s good for business as well.”

Team MVP’s were named following the medal presentations and then Team Finland captain Marjukka Virta was named the tournament’s most valuable player.

The tournament wrap up also marked the retiring of No. 63 for the year the sport was invented.

It was announced the next World Ringette Championship will take place in Stockholm, Sweden.

 

Team MVPs
Team Canada: Meghan Pittaway
Team Finland: Anne Pohjola
Team USA: Chelsea Stone
Team Sweden: Linda Bjorling
Team Canada U19: Molly Lewis
Team Finland U19: Rossa Salonen


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Mark Pare

About the Author: Mark Pare

Originally from Timmins, ON, Mark is a longtime journalist and broadcaster, who has worked in several Ontario markets.
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