OTTAWA -- Captain Hayley Wickenheiser and assistant captain Caroline Ouellette did not play in Canada's game against Switzerland at the women's world hockey championship Wednesday because of upper-body injuries.
Head coach Dan Church said their status was day to day. He made the decision to scratch the forwards from the lineup prior to the game.
Wickenheiser skated to the bench and walked to the locker-room in the second period of Canada's 3-2 shootout win over the United States on Tuesday night. The Canadian team's all-time leading scorer did not return or speak to reporters following the game.
"It's not something that's completely debilitating," Church said after his team's pre-game skate Wednesday.
Wickenheiser injured her knee during the Canadian university women's championship and didn't play in the final for the University of Calgary Dinos.
Canada trailed 2-0 when Wickenheiser left the game but rallied for the shootout victory. Ouellette remained in the lineup the entire game and didn't appear to be in obvious pain when she spoke to reporters.
Switzerland has never come close to beating Canada in women's hockey, but Church insisted that wouldn't make him more likely to sit his leaders.
"I think we have to get better every day as a group and if we have everybody available and healthy, we would play everybody," he said.
