OLDS — It wasn’t close, but it was entertaining.
The Olds Grizzlys Junior A hockey team beat the Canadian national women’s hockey team 7-1 in an exhibition game at the Sportsplex Oct. 29.
More than 900 people, some from as far away as Cochrane, came out for the game.
It was seen as a tune-up for Team Canada as they prepare to battle for gold during the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, which will be held Feb. 4-20, 2022 in Beijing, China.
The contest in Olds was the second of four Alberta Junior Hockey League matchups against Team Canada.
The first one was held Oct. 18 versus the Drumheller Dragons. The others will take place Nov. 3 against the Camrose Kodiaks and Jan. 10, 2022 versus the Calgary Canucks.
Jay Rosehill, who was born and raised in Olds and played 117 games in the NHL before playing internationally for a couple of years, dropped the ceremonial puck with help from his youngest son.
Seven different Grizzlys tallied for the home team.
Colby Browne opened the scoring just over a minute into the game on a powerplay.
And Olds native Kyle Venneman scored his first goal as a Grizzly.
Other Grizzly goal-scorers were Josh Zinger, Andrew Wallace, Aiden Coupe, Kieran Raymond and Noah Hackett, the team’s captain.
Jill Saulnier of Halifax, Nova Scotia got the lone tally for Team Canada.
Hackett was complimentary toward Team Canada after the game.
“They played a good game. They were really good in the positional, they were really good with their sticks,” he said during an interview.
“We really enjoyed our game against them. We wish them good luck in Beijing, for sure.”
Hackett said heading into the game, the Grizzlys were pretty excited.
“We thought it was a great opportunity, not only for us to get better, but for us to help them as well,” he said.
The crowd included several young female hockey players who were thrilled to see the national team in action.
They included two friends from Carstairs: Sierra Sandilands, 10 and Alena McEvoy, 11.
They were asked what Team Canada needed to do to win.
Sandilands wasn’t sure, but McEvoy offered some advice.
“I think they should put more pressure on the puck whenever the Olds Grizzlys get it,” she said.
