UTICA, N.Y. — Canada's extra day of rest to start the women's world hockey championship will be needed in a tight turnaround between its first two games.
Canada, which wasn't among the six countries kicking off the tournament Wednesday in Utica, N.Y., was scheduled to play its first two games in a span of less than 24 hours.
After facing Finland on Thursday evening, the Canadians are back at the Adirondack Bank Center on Friday afternoon against Switzerland.
"Some of us were talking and couldn't remember the last time we didn't play on the first day of the tournament," Canadian defender Renata Fast said Thursday morning.
"It was kind of weird sitting back yesterday and waiting for our turn to go, but we're excited to get into it."
The 29-year-old from Burlington, Ont., says she hasn't played an afternoon game after a night game since her college days at Clarkson.
"I'm sure some of the college girls are used to that, but it's been a while for us," Fast said.
"There's definitely a plan to make sure we're managing our load and making sure we're fresh. Once you get going and flush out the legs on your first couple shifts, you're ready to go."
Canada's head coach Troy Ryan agreed with Fast that it felt odd not to play on the tournament's opening day. He said the off-ice warm-up before the team's opener would be important to get legs going again.
There was a scouting advantage for the coaching staff, however, which had time Wednesday to watch other games both live and on screen.
"Now you get to see everybody play," Ryan said.
Ryan said Canadian captain Marie-Philip Poulin, who sat Saturday's 8-2 exhibition win over Finland, would be in the lineup to start the tournament.
Poulin missed PWHL Montreal's last three games before the international break with an unspecified injury.
The 33-year-old from Beauceville, Que., was a full participant in Tuesday's skate in Utica before the team had a day off Wednesday.
Canada concludes the preliminary round in Group A with another back-to-back Sunday against Czechia and Monday versus defending champion United States, although the schedule is slightly more generous with an afternoon game followed by an evening matchup.
Only Minnesota and Ottawa have played back-to-back games so far in the PWHL's first season. Minnesota has twice played two games in as many days, and on the road in both cases.
Fast, who plays for PWHL Toronto, says there's often a travel day between two games in her team's schedule. Her 19 PWHL games since Jan. 1 had her feeling battle-tested for Utica.
"This is the most prepared I've felt heading into the world championship in a long time, knowing just how game ready we are," she said. "We've all got into a routine of preparation before a game and we know how we want to enter a game.
"We just haven't had that level of preparation in the past couple years."
The tournament's top five seeds in Group A and top three seeds in Group B advance to the April 11 quarterfinals.
The semifinals are April 13 and the medal games April 14.
Canada has won 12 gold medals in 22 women's world championships played, and reached the final of all but one.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 4, 2024.
Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
