Canada women ice hockey team's plan before the final: R&R, cards, dance, cheer on other Canadians

Team Canada are in the women's ice hockey final on Thursday 17 February, and they made it there in some style too, defeating Switzerland by 10 goals to 3 on Monday 14 February at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

The Canadians have been in a ruthless mood since they landed in China and have been playing exhibition ice hockey.

The red-and-whites opened their tournament with a 12-1 victory over Switzerland and faced the Swiss again in the semi-final, hitting double figures once more to advance to the final against Team USA in a rematch of the PyeongChang 2018 gold medal game.

They head into that final with six wins from six games outscoring their opponents 54-8.

On the ice this team is having fun, off it they're having a blast too: Hip hop, pottery, card games (Particularly 'Euchre')... they even have their own dance.

“This group can have fun with absolutely anything," star forward Sarah Nurse told Olympics.com.

"We have been knitting together, we did pottery together… we did a hip hop class so we have a dance that we do before every practice and every game which is a lot of fun!

"We’re just really down for anything."

Now with the gold medal on the line, the team is getting ready.

How?

Find out.

Canada prepare for Olympic ice hockey final: "We're pretty united"

"We're a pretty united group," captain Marie-Philip Poulin told Olympics.com right after their semi-final victory.

Poulin already has two Olympic gold medals and a silver in her trophy cabinet, 'Captain Clutch' will be hoping to score in her fourth straight Olympic final, an incredible record.

"So just to be able to enjoy some time away from the rink, either at the Cafe or in our rooms watching the Olympics, cheering our Canadian team on TV is something that we're really enjoying right now.

"There are a couple of details we want to adjust in the next couple of days and go from there, obviously we'll take some time away from the rink, recover, we'll have a couple of meetings.

"Just stay dialled in," she continues.

"I know we have that big game on the 17th, but one day at a time, be in the present, be where we are and just enjoy that little bit of time off and go from there."

Poulin also spoke about the game that broke Canadian hearts four years ago when their perennial rivals USA claimed gold at PyeongChang 2018 after a penalty shootout - where Poulin missed her penalty.

"I try not to think about it to be honest," she said.

"Wearing that jersey, being able to represent Canada, we're pretty privileged to be able to do that and we take it as motivation.

"Obviously the 2018 game is in the back of our head but we've just got to move forward and focus on the next game."

"We won't focus on the U.S." - Canada head coach Troy Ryan

Before the U.S. beat Finland in Monday's other semi-final Canadian women's ice hockey head coach Troy Ryan echoed what Poulin said, telling Olympics.com that they'd watch the other semi-final but weren't just focussing on the U.S.

USA-Canada has been one of the greatest rivalries in Olympic history, and have faced off in five of six Olympic finals since women's hockey debuted at the Olympics at Nagano 1988.

"We'll wait and we'll see what happens tonight for sure," Ryan tells Olympics.com.

"We think it's anybody's game at this point.

"Our preparation will be to watch that game this evening, whoever ends up winning we'll break down both sides live and whoever ends up winning that game we'll make sure we adjust our focus at that point.

"Our schedule has been consistent... tomorrow we'll have a day off, the next day we'll have some practice and some video sessions and then we'll get ready the next opponent."

Brianne Jenner: "On the same page"

If Canada are to take home gold Brianne Jenner will be crucial as she scored her ninth goal of the competition against Switzerland in the semi-final, equalling an Olympic record to continue a stunning Games for her so far.

The plan according to Jenner was clear and practical on Monday.

"Yeah, rest, recover, get lots of food in us tonight and hydrate. And then it'll probably be looking at video, getting on the same page, and just making sure that we are ready to go to the final."

Blayre Turnbull was already on the same page:

“Just take the time to recover from this game and make sure we're prepared and ready to head into the goal medal game.”

Claire Thompson: "Staying light"

Defender Claire Thompson was taking nothing for granted either, and talked a bit about the Canada-U.S. rivalry:

"Definitely with us being neighbours and playing against the Americans all season it's a huge rivalry, it goes back to the first Olympics with women's hockey and if we get them in the final we're really excited for it.

So how will she rest and prepare for the final?

"I think our team has done a really great job of staying light all tournament, I think that we'll take the off days that we're given, we'll go out and support other Canadians, enjoy the experience of being at the Olympics and getting to see other athletes from our country compete at their best.

"And then dial in right before the final and get everything together."