In the team's tournament opener, the Canadian women rolled to an effortless 11-0 victory over China in Halifax in their Pool A game.
Jayna Hefford led the way with three goals and an assist, Gillian Apps and Hayley Wickenheiser each had two goals, while Cherie Piper had three helpers.
Team Canada teamates (left to right) Gillian Ferrari, Cassie Campbell, Danielle Goyette (back) and Hayley Wickenheiser celebrate a goal during the first period. (CP PHOTO/Frank Gunn)
Cassie Campbell also chipped in with two assists.
"I think in the tournament format it could come down to goals for and against if you get into a tough situation," Wickenheiser explained, referring to possible tiebreaker scenarios.
"It's tough in these games. You don't want to let up, you don't want to get out of a rhythm. There's not much you can do when it's a blowout. Whether it's eight (goals) or 12, it doesn't really make a difference.
"I think it's important for us to get everybody involved and keep the lines rolling."
Kim St. Pierre was only called upon to stop 12 shots for the shutout to help Canada improve to 36-0 all-time in this event and also extend its opening-game shutouts streak to five straight.
Canada outshot China 50-12.
"It was difficult," said China's veteran goaltender Guo Hong. "I felt really unlucky today."
The rout started early as Hefford scored a power-play goal just 37 seconds into the game. Hefford's second goal of the evening and markers from Dana Antal and Wickenheiser gave Canada a 4-0 lead going into the first intermission.
The bloodletting continued six minutes into the second when Canada made it 5-0 on Danielle Goyette's goal. Apps scored five minutes later and Vicky Sunohara netted Canada's second power-play goal of the game with less than five minutes left in the period to run the score up to 7-0.
Canada showed little mercy at the start of the third period, as Wickenheiser scored her second of the night 48 seconds into the frame.
Apps scored her second of the evening at 6:05 the period to make it 9-0 for Canada. Caroline Ouellette made it 10-0 seven minutes later. Hedford completed her hat trick on a power-goal with 18 seconds left in regulation to complete the annihilation.
"It's the first game of the world championships and we really wanted to set the tone and play each game to its fullest," Apps said. "This was our first game in a long time together. It was important for each line to play each shift like it was the most important shift."
Next up for Team Canada is an encounter with Germany on Thursday night in Halifax. China faces the Germans on Wednesday.
Goyette, a six-time world champion, tops a Canadian roster that also includes veterans Campbell, Wickenheiser, Sunohara and Ouellette.
In total, 16 players from Canada's Olympic gold medal team in Salt Lake City are on the roster.
In seven previous world tournaments, Canada has gone 35-0 en route to winning all seven championships. Canada defeated the U.S. in all seven finals.
The 2003 world championship in Beijing was cancelled due to SARS, forcing the International Ice Hockey Federation to postpone it to 2004.
with files from CP Online
