United States’ Brianna Decker lies on the ice after colliding with Finland’s Ronja Savolainen during a preliminary-round women’s hockey game at the 2022 Winter Olympics on Thursday in Beijing. Petr David Josek/Associated Press
BEIJING — Difficult as it was hearing Brianna Decker crying out in pain while laying prone on the ice, Kendall Coyne Schofield understood the U.S. women’s hockey team still had a game to finish.
After the Americans wrapped up their 5-2 win over Finland to open the Beijing Games, Schofield could verbalize what she felt when encountering Decker standing on crutches next to the bench.
“I just told her, `We got this,”‘ Schofield said. “No matter what she’s a big part of this group. … You saw that in our response after she went down, how much we picked up the game and took control.”
The Americans certainly had their veteran teammate’s back after Decker was hurt while being tripped from behind by Ronja Savolainen 9:32 into the first period.
The sight of the team’s assistant captain and 11-year veteran unable to put weight on her left leg before being stretchered off provided a motivating spark to the defending Olympic gold medalists.
Amanda Kessel and Alex Carpenter scored twice over the next 3 1/2 minutes in the Group A match. Schofield then put the win away with two goals in 64 seconds in the second.
“There’s no replacing Brianna Decker,” said Schofield, the team’s captain. “But in that situation, everyone stepped up to the plate in the way they were asked to. And I think that’s how we were successful tonight.”
Now it’s a matter of the Americans continuing to forge ahead – while more than likely missing their top center – in their bid to become the first U.S. squad to win consecutive titles.
“It was sickening,” Kessel said of the yelps of pain coming from Decker after she and Savolainen were tangled up to the left of the U.S. net.
“She’s one of the toughest players that I’ve ever played with or against, so you know she’s not staying down on the ice or crying when it’s not bad. So it’s definitely a gut punch,” Kessel added. “We want to win for her.”
Without going into detail, Coach Joel Johnson said Decker’s injury was still being evaluated. Johnson also said he wasn’t going to dispute the official’s decision not to penalize Savolainen, who appeared to slew-foot Decker from behind, leading to both players falling to the ice.
“They saw it as just people getting tangled up,” Johnson said. “I’m biased, and so I saw it a little differently. But I don’t think it was a missed call by any means.”
Savolainen said she wasn’t sure what happened, and called it “an unlucky situation” while sharing what she told Decker following the game.
“I just ask how she’s feeling, and then I said, `Sorry.’ Like, I didn’t want to hurt her,” she said.
Decker’s injury was the second to a key player during the tournament’s opening day. Canadian forward Melodie Daoust did not return after being checked hard into the boards by Sarah Foster in Canada’s 12-1 rout of Switzerland.
Carpenter scored twice for the U.S., and Maddie Rooney stopped 10 shots in just her second game since an injury forced her to miss the world championships in August.
DAVID KREJCI, formerly of the Boston Bruins and now a Czech hockey star, tested positive for the coronavirus upon arrival in Beijing and missed the team’s first full pre-Olympic practice.
Coach Filip Pesan says Krejci is still in the athletes village awaiting more COVID-19 test results. Pesan voiced optimism about Krejci being cleared Friday after a similar situation unfolded with another player. The 35-year-old longtime Bruins center is expected to be among the best players in the tournament without NHL players. Krejci won the Stanley Cup with Boston in 2011 and has 854 points in 1,118 regular-season and playoff games.
Krejci was almost a point-a-game player last season for the Bruins. He left to go home and play in the Czech Extraliga so friends and family could watch him up close before he retired.
“We’re going to re-test him tonight and re-test him tomorrow morning, and I strongly believe that he’s going to join the practice tomorrow,” Pesan said.
MOGULS: Before her qualifying round, moguls skier Jaelin Kauf put on a pair of necklaces – one silver, the other gold – custom-made by her mom. Then, she went out and put herself in the mix for more hardware this weekend.
The 25-year-old American got a great start on her Olympic journey, speeding through the bumps to finish third in a qualifying round, the night before the cauldron is lit in Beijing to mark the official start of these Olympics. She’ll be back at it Sunday with the medals on the line.
“I’m stoked I put a solid top-to-bottom (run) down to start off the Olympics,” said Kauf, who also painted her nails red with gold sparkles for the occasion.
Jakara Anthony of Australia led the way in qualifying, followed by defending Olympic champion Perrine Laffont of France. Kauf’s American teammates, Olivia Giaccio and Hannah Soar, each finished in the top 10 to guarantee their spots in the final. Nobody was completely eliminated. The 11th through 30th finishers get another qualifying round Sunday.
IOC: The president of the International Olympic Committee sought to play down concerns about the safety of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai while also saying he planned to go ahead with their long-promised dinner during the Beijing Games.
Peng last year accused a former senior Chinese Community Party official of sexual assault. IOC President Thomas Bach is among the few people outside China to have spoken with Peng in the past three months in calls by video link with IOC staff.
Those calls frustrated tennis leaders and human rights activists who wanted footage or transcripts that could verify Peng’s well-being. They claimed the IOC was covering up for the Olympic host nation.
“We know from her explanations during the video conferences that she is living here in Beijing,” Bach said, “that she can move freely, that she’s spending time with her family and friends.
“We will know better about her physical integrity and about her mental state when we can finally meet in person.”
The most recent call between Peng and IOC staff was held this week, Bach said. No details about the dinner during the Olympics – inside the bubble that separates accredited personnel from the Chinese public – have been given.
INDIA: India will not attend Friday’s opening ceremony after one of the torchbearers reportedly chosen by Chinese authorities riled up New Delhi’s anger. India’s foreign affairs spokesman Arindam Bagchi said it was “regrettable that the Chinese side has chosen to politicize an event like the Olympics.”
The move followed reports in China’s state-owned Global Times that a Chinese military commander, who was involved in deadly clashes with Indian border forces in 2020, had been chosen as one of many torchbearers charged with relaying the Olympics flame to Beijing.
The 2020 fighting erupted along the disputed border with China in eastern Ladakh. Chinese troops killed 20 Indian soldiers, while China said it lost four soldiers.
The spokesman added that the Indian Embassy in Beijing would also not send a representative to the closing ceremonies.
The U.S., along with several countries including Australia, Britain and Canada, have announced a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics, citing China’s human rights violations, while allowing their athletes to compete.
India has one athlete who’s qualified to compete at the Games, according to spokesman Bagchi.
SUMMER GAMES: The International Olympic Committee has approved a proposal to include surfing, skateboarding and sport climbing among the core sports for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
As prototypical Southern California activities, surfing, skateboarding and sport climbing made their Olympic debut in Tokyo last summer and will be included in the “additional” list for Paris in 2024.
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