Japan's women's ice hockey team, Smile Japan, blanked France 3-0 behind goalie Nana Fujimoto's 25 saves in their opening game at the world championships in Espoo, Finland, on Thursday. Mei Miura opened the scoring for Japan when she netted a backhander from point-blank range in ...
Smile Japan records first-ever Olympic victory by trouncing combined Korea squad
Smile Japan scored a historic victory with a 4-1 triumph over Korea on Wednesday in their final Group B preliminary-round game at Kwandong Hockey Centre. Japan had lost 12 straight Olympic contests going back to the 1998 Nagano Games before notching the win. Japan dropped ...
Sweden scores decisive goal in third period against Smile Japan in tournament opener
Smile Japan suffered a 2-1 defeat to Sweden in their opening Group B preliminary-round match at the Kwandong Hockey Centre on Saturday night. Japan fell behind early in the contest, then tied it late in the second period, before surrendering the decisive goal early in ...
Japan women overpower Kazakhstan in Asian Winter Games ice hockey opener
Japan got in a good workout on Saturday, knocking off defending gold medalist Kazakhstan 6-0 in the opener of the Asian Winter Games women's ice hockey tournament. Smile Japan, which six days earlier qualified to play in next year's Pyeongchang Olympics and is looking for ...
Smile Japan routs France, secures showdown with Germany for spot in Pyeongchang Olympics
Smile Japan and Germany will play for a spot in next year's Pyeongchang Olympics after both teams improved to 2-0 on Saturday in the women's ice hockey qualifying tournament. Ami Nakamura, Haruka Toko, Hanae Kubo and Rui Ukita all scored as Smile Japan won 4-1 ...
