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GOTHENBURG, Sweden — Sometimes you lose. Even if you’re Canadian.
Sometimes you end up being a goalie. With 11 seconds left in a tied game, a shot could bounce off a stick, shinguard or post. Sometimes injuries get the better of you. Sometimes the best players of some eras remain in the NHL more than others. Sometimes all of those things happen at the same time.
Sometimes there are real excuses and luck doesn’t go your way. In some cases, even if you win four gold medals in a row, you may not make it to the fifth. Canada is not guaranteed success in international hockey. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years covering the World Juniors, it’s that hockey is unpredictable, especially on this stage. Canada might have lost in the quarterfinals a year ago in Halifax without Conor Bedard’s magical overtime goal if not for a puck on the butt of Tomas Milic’s stick. Canada also never would have gotten Kent Johnson’s golden goal two years ago in Edmonton without Mason McTavish’s miraculous goal-line save. There was talk of aiming for a three-peat this year for the first time since 2009, but Canada could have easily advanced with 0 out of 2 wins. That year, Canada regained its momentum. That wasn’t the case this year.
There may be one returnee. Next year there may be as many as eight.
Due to the pandemic, there is no 17-and-under program and there may be 19-year-olds who did not compete in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup or the 18-and-under world championships.
“This 2004 group was difficult for them,” Hockey Canada national team chief Scott Salmond said Wednesday. “Essentially, they’re learning on the job. They’re coming here and getting (their first) international experience at the most important time…We’re building a good team base going forward.” If this were to happen more consistently, I would be concerned. And I am concerned anyway.”
However, this does not mean that Canada is not responsible for how this tournament unfolded.
even deeper
Canada upset, loses to Czech Republic at World Juniors
Hockey Canada leadership knows this team overpassed, took too many one-and-dones, missed the net too much and didn’t get as close to the net as they usually do on second and third chances. Salmond said an investigation revealed the team missed 30 chances before putting the puck in the net in the quarterfinals.
Head coach Alain Letang thought he waited too long to make changes, even though it was clear the front line was not working. Perhaps he felt he couldn’t win after winning the first two matches of the tournament.
I wondered if they kept Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Fraser Minten too high up in the lineup for the entire tournament and took too long to remove him from the top power play.But there was reason. He was their captain. He was playing in the NHL. One of the team’s assistant coaches, Sean Clouston, coached him in Kamloops and watched him become one of the WHL’s most prolific players on the power play last year.
I was surprised they brought in Easton Cowan, an 18-year-old prospect from the Leafs, if they were going to use him sparingly on the penalty kill since he’s had so much success in London. For the same reason, Seattle thought he should have started the tournament as one of the powers he played against Kraken prospect Carson.
I didn’t like how much faith they had in Anaheim Ducks defensive prospect Noah Warren.
As a favor to the CHL clubs, I know they are only bringing in a 23-man roster and not the two additional injured reserve players allowed, but they are keeping their top players for a month. This is to prevent players from being separated from the team to prevent them from playing. I believe they should definitely bring in an injured backup, at least when the tournament is held in Europe. This year, the cost was having to take Ottawa’s Jorian Donovan, Seattle’s Ty Nelson and Jagger Farkas overseas during the tournament. Donovan’s best match was probably his first match when he was on adrenaline. After that, he struggled. How did jet lag and lack of team practice time affect that?
On Wednesday, before the team’s leaders returned home, I asked Salmond whether, given how this year has unfolded, he would reconsider his strategy of not bringing in two injured reserves, as in other countries.
“I believe that for next year’s Under-20 World Championship we will be transitioning to a Men’s World Championship roster where players can come and go with 25 cards. If we get to the 25-man roster at that point, I think the CHL would be very happy for us to have that many players, and I’m also a big proponent of not having them. would be very welcome to ensure that he plays,” Salmond said. “So now everyone has an opportunity to contribute and it’s a different ballgame now, and in some ways I think that works in our favor because we have depth. ”
I question the decision to play only one goaltender, Matisse Rousseau, every game. It’s something teams rarely attempt at the World Juniors, and even fewer success stories. He looked tired in key moments, and if we have to go to another player, backup Samuel Saint-Hilaire hasn’t played since Dec. 23 in the pre-tournament game against the United States. . In the 10-0 win against Latvia, there was a chance to bring Saint-Hilaire on in the third period. That would allow him to compete in front of a Canadian crowd and potentially get him out of the building. But Rousseau wanted to come out and play. The player started all 21 playoff games for Halifax a year ago, but has not played in the QMJHL the past two seasons.
There’s always the question of who was left at home when Canada didn’t win at the world juniors. This year, I’m less confident that their roster decisions had any lasting impact.
Should Riley Hite, who became the WHL’s leading scorer with two points per game, at least get an invitation to Canada’s selection camp to commemorate his start? In meritocracy, yes. Was he going to steal the top-six center job from Macklin Celebrini and Matt Poitras on a team that already has too many centers? Or will he give this team an edge in a depth role, having not played a leading role in the Under-18 World Championship just a few months ago? I doubt it. Poitras, Matt Savoie and Jourdan Dumais are better players than Hite at this level at this stage in their careers, but they were not up to the task.
And even if I hadn’t taken all the criticisms above, would the outcome have been different? perhaps. But probably not.
There just wasn’t enough.
It’s always going to be tough with Bedard, Adam Fantilli, Shane Wright, Zach Benson, Kevin Korchinski and Tristan Reneau out with viral infections and Tanner Molendyk out with a wrist injury. Canada’s No. 5-7 defenders were actually No. 8-10. Their bottom six forwards were actually the fourth and fifth line. Salmond believed Renaud had the potential to become “the best defenseman in the competition.” Management group leader Peter Anholt said the loss of Renault was as much a loss to them as it was to them.
“I think it’s not just Renault, but also Molendijk,” Salmond said. “Those two are very mobile, very offensive defensemen. If you look at our game, we could have moved the puck a little earlier. So we took that out of the lineup. And it certainly hurts. I don’t know ultimately, but I believe it played a big role in what happened to our team.”
Without them, if we hadn’t lost to the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals, we probably would have lost to Sweden in the semifinals or the United States in the gold medal game.
Competition is also getting better. The gap is narrowing. The Swedes who lost had a roster full of players who play in the SHL, one of the best professional leagues in the world, and plenty of first-round picks. In terms of potential players, Canada only has more first-round picks than Sweden, 10-9. The Czech Republic, which lost, had goaltender Michael Hrabal, the No. 2 pick (38th) in last year’s draft, and was led by AHLer Jiri Klich, who boasts the most points per game. They have eight draft picks and an undrafted group that includes 19-year-olds like Ondrej Bettcher, Hite’s former teammate in Prince George and one of the WHL’s best players.
“If you look at Canada’s 2004 group, I think everyone knew this wasn’t an elite, elite group like other years,” Anholt said. “I think the 2005 group was good, and I think the 2006 group was good. So I think the future is bright with some good groups coming. But either way, there are no guarantees. America The people are nice, and the Swedes are nice too.”
If that happens, the days of Canada rattling five gold in a row may be over. Certainly, that would be good for international hockey and for the sport in general.
That doesn’t mean they’re cutting corners. But sometimes you lose. Even if you’re Canadian.
(Photo: Christinne Muschi/Canadian Press, via AP)
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