Shannon Sigrist #9 of Team Switzerland and Brianne Jenner #19 of Team Canada compete for position in front of Saskia Maurer #29 of Team Switzerland in the third period during the women's preliminary game on Saturday. Photo by Bruce Bennett /Getty ImagesArticle contentMILAN – A former Canadian women’s hockey gold medallist might be able to help the current group prepare for the more difficult challenges that await them here.

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After easing into action with a 4-0 win over Switzerland on Saturday, the defending champion Canadians will take on Team Czechia when their tournament action continues on Monday at Rho Arena.

Article contentWhile coach Troy Ryan’s team will expect to have little difficulty in Game 2 of the four-game pool play format, a dogged checking, and physical group of Czechia players coached by former Canadian Olympian Carla MacLeod could make them work for it.

Advertisement 1 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function() { const template = document.getElementById('oop-ad-template'); if (template && !template.dataset.adInjected) { const clone = template.content.cloneNode(true); template.replaceWith(clone); if (template.parentElement) { template.parentElement.dataset.adInjected = "true"; } } });Article contentMacLeod has encouraged her team to use the skill that has increasingly made Czechia a growing force on the world stage, but has also demanded they make opponents battle for every inch of ice and every loose puck.

“We’ve added physicality to our game over the last four years and they seem to enjoy it,” said MacLeod, a fierce defence man for the gold medal winning teams in 2006 and 2010. “I’ve always said there’s a sprinkle of Canadian I’ve got to put in this group.

“We enjoy playing that way. We enjoy trying to frustrate opponents.”

Despite outshooting the Swiss by a lopsided 55-6 count in the opener, the Canadians will need to bring it against tougher opposition, particularly to compete with the U.S., both in their preliminary-round meeting on Wednesday and in a likely showdown for a gold medal.

Ryan has made it clear that his team will use the Games to sharpen up, rather than overwhelming players with ice time at practices. For the second time since the Olympics started, Canada cancelled scheduled ice time on Sunday and will only have a sparsely-attended game-day skate on Monday morning.

This strategy has been by design for the Canadian women over the previous two Olympics and worked well. There is plenty of prep work that can be done away from the rink and by not dealing with the hassle of travelling back and forth to the remote Rho Arena location, and there has been an emphasis on rest and recovery.

“I think our group came in fairly tired from the heavy PWHL schedule, so we had a couple days in Lugano (where the team had a pre-Games camp (that gave us a little extended time,” Ryan said. “It also gave us time to practice at eight o’clock at night to get used to the time difference (and late starts here.)

“It allowed our players to naturally shift a little more to these late games. As much as (having their start delayed due to a norovirus outbreak with Finland) it’s a big negative and some things to adjust, I think there’s some positives that lay there as well.”

Finally getting an opportunity to play on Saturday — 48 hours later than originally expected — was a mixed bag for Canada. Yes, they dominated the Swiss in shots and time of possession but lacked finish until the later stages of the game.

“It is not frustration,” said Canadian forward Sarah Nurse, echoing her coach’s view. “We had a lot of shots and if we didn’t have that, there would be some problems.

“I really like that we had a lot of Grade A chances and those will find the net.”

Canada’s #19 Brianne Jenner (C) celebrates after scoring a goal past Switzerland. Photo by Alexander NEMENOV /Getty ImagesArticle contentTilt with Team USA on WednesdayArticle contentDoing so against Czechia would be an important opportunity to prepare for their first clash against the U.S. midweek. Though Switzerland kept things close for the early portions on Saturday, they didn’t offer much push back.

The six shots Canada allowed were tied for the third fewest a Canadian team has ever allowed at an Olympics. So yes, a tougher approach from MacLeod and her Czechia players might be appreciated. With eight players on PWHL rosters Czechia, who faced Finland late on Sunday, don’t stack up as that much of a pushover.

“I think making sure that we’re improving from the first period to the third period (in individual games) is important,” Canadian forward Natalie Spooner. “And improving through the tournament too and just getting used to everything out there is something we’re focussed on doing.”

While Ryan and his players aren’t buying into the underdog narrative — they fully believe they can compete with the U.S., especially on the Olympic stage — the messaging has been to take nothing for granted.

The seasoned group, with 16 players returning from 2016, knows how to build towards a crescendo come gold medal time. Czechia is the next step and could provide an opportunity to sharpen their effort, especially if (or when?) Monday’s game turns physical.

“Before (the first game), we talked about having respect for the sport, having humility,” Ryan said. “Any team can beat you, any given night. It’s the Olympics.”

Czechia isn’t likely to do that. In fact, they’ve never beaten Canada in international competition and never faced them at the Olympics.

They hope to make them know they were in a physical hockey game on Monday, though. And Ryan is ready to see how his Canadian players respond.

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