HARBIN, China'Hayley Wickenheiser was fed up and feeling lousy but that didn't stop her from scoring a natural hat trick in Canada's 6-1 win over Sweden in exhibition women's hockey today.

Canada's captain scored at even strength, on a power play and short-handed, in that order, to help spot her team a 4-1 lead after the opening period.

All that was missing to complete a hockey equivalent of baseball's hitting for the cycle was scoring on a penalty shot.

"It was one on every situation today, which was different. That doesn't usually happen in a game," Wickenheiser said. "It was fun and it went well anyway."

The exhibition game at Baqu Arena was a world women's hockey championship warmup for both countries. Canada, the reigning Olympic and world champions, opens defence of its world title Friday against Russia.

The Swedes, who won bronze last year in Winnipeg and silver in the 2006 Olympics, start the tournament against promoted Japan.

Defenceman Colleen Sostorics of Kennedy, Sask., opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 3:39 followed by Wickenheiser's first less than a minute later. The 29-year-old from Shaunavon, Sask., scored her third at 18:41.

Toronto's Cherie Piper assisted on all three Wickenheiser goals and added one of her own in the third after a scoreless second. Winnipeg's Jennifer Botterill also contributed a goal to the victory.

Canada outshot Sweden 50-13.

Wickenheiser was the dominant player on the ice in the first period despite a head that felt like a lead balloon and lungs that felt filled with cotton.

A head cold that started during training camp near Victoria last week was aggravated by the 28-hour journey and long hours on a plane to get here. Wickenheiser said Harbin's smog made her feel worse.

"I can't even breathe," she said. "I find it is very noticeable when you're doing any intense physical activity. I think all the girls notice it."

Feeling crummy seemed to both sharpen the edge in her game and shorten her fuse.

After getting cross-checked and slamming hard into the end boards behind Sweden's net in the second period, she got up and yelled at the Chinese referee in language that would require a large contribution to the Canadian team's swear jar if they have one.

With less than 100 people in Baqu Arena, her voice carried very clearly.

"Everybody in China heard it," Wickenheiser said. "Maybe your patience level isn't quite as high. You've got to keep all that in check, but we had a good laugh about it."

She wasn't the only one feeling rough as a few Swedes and Canadians were battling stomach ailments.

Canadian goaltender Charline Labonte was hit hard, but still played the back half of the exhibition game.

"My body feels kind of weak right now, but it doesn't change if you're sick or not. You just have to do your job," Labonte said.

Kim St. Pierre gave up Sweden's lone goal to Elin Holmlov in the first period, but earned the win over the first half of the game.

The score would have been worse for the Swedes if not for goaltender Kim Martin, who played her first game since leading the University of Minnesota-Duluth to an NCAA championship and earning the MVP award in that tournament.

After a mediocre start, she started stoning the Canadians on excellent scoring chances in the second and third periods.

"Our game plan for any team is to get on them early and get on them often and we did a good job of that today," Canadian head coach Peter Smith said. "She made some good saves and I thought we had a few misses, particularly in the second period, but our goal is to get a lot of pucks at the net early.

"She's a good goalie so we really have to test her."

Piper sat out last year's world championship with torn knee ligaments, but she's been reunited on a line with Wickenheiser and the've quickly re-established their chemistry.

"Hayley Wickenheiser is so superior to all women players now," Swedish head coach Peter Elander observed. "She could have done so many other things after the Olympics, but she's focused on being the best player she can be."

Jet lag and tummy troubles combined to put both teams in a bad mood, so there was a lot of chatter and the odd push and shove following whistles.

The Canadians were the stronger team out of the gates.

"The teams that adapt the quickest and the best are going to have success here," Smith said. "I thought our energy level was pretty good. I wasn't sure it would be because our warmup wasn't really dynamic."

Canada's on-ice cohesion and chemistry are what has won nine of 10 world championships and two of three Olympic gold medals. That remained the difference in today's game.

On each player's T-shirt is a Chinese slogan they've adopted and a picture of a burning fire above it.

"Only when all contribute their firewood can we build a great fire," Sostorics translated.

"I think that correlates really well with our team," she continued. "If we all bring our best game and our talents to the table, then we're going to build something great in this tournament."

Notes ' Instead of a traditional buzzer or siren, a gong sounded to end each period . . . Play was briefly stopped in the first period when a blue world championship banner drifted down from the ceiling onto a corner of the ice . . . Smith made a switch on his forward lines today, moving Rebecca Johnston onto a line with Kelly Bechard and Katie Weatherston and putting Gillian Apps with Johnston's training camp linemates Gina Kingsbury and Meghan Agosta . . . After borrowing Switzerland's sticks for practice the previous day, the Swedes had their own in time for today's game . . . Top Swedish forward Erika Holst sat out the game with a minor shoulder injury that won't prevent her from playing in the world championship, Elander said.

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