Fabbro on solid footing in opener against Finns
If Dante Fabbro is still hurting from what’s believed to be a badly bruised foot, the Team Canada defenceman didn’t show it in a 4-2 win Tuesday over Finland.
Fabbro, who missed practically all of the selection camp and both of the exhibition games leading up to the world junior tournament, wasn’t given the green light to play until hours before the tournament opener. But despite starting the game as the seventh defenceman, the 19-year-old worked his way up to the top pairing, firing four shots in more than 18 minutes of ice time.
“It felt good. Obviously in the first period I was trying to feel things out,” said Fabbro, a first-round pick of the Nashville Predators. He’s one of seven returning players from last year’s Canadian team.
“I felt better in every period.”
On a team full of world-class sprinters, Boris Katchouk is the first to admit his stride isn’t the strongest or smoothest. But he certainly didn’t look slow when he rushed the puck to the net on the game’s first goal, beating a couple of Finnish defencemen in the process.
For Canada, it’s part of their early identity. While the team might not have the same sort of jaw-dropping skill that past teams have shown, this year’s edition is built around an ability to hunt the puck and catch opponents flat-footed.
“For sure, if we’re able to outskate teams, I think we have a chance,” said Habs defenceman Victor Mete, whose end-to-end rush in the first period led to an easy tap-in goal from Drake Batherson. “We have a lot of good skaters on this team and a lot of the European teams are used to playing on the bigger ice ... so if we can use our speed and burn them, we’ll use that to our advantage.”
It’s early, but don’t expect head coach Dominique Ducharme to juggle his lines much in this year’s tournament. From the very first practice, Team Canada has stuck with the same combinations, which has resulted in familiarity between players.
One line that looks like they’ve been playing together for years is comprised of OHL forwards Katchouk, Robert Thomas and Taylor Raddysh. “We connected right away,” said Katchouk, who along with Thomas is ranked in the top-5 in OHL goals and points.
Carter Hart, like most goalies, is very superstitious. A new superstition that Hart has adopted for the world juniors is a playoffstyle beard. But being a baby-faced 19-year-old, it’s coming along slower than most NHLers.
Hart, who was in net for Canada during last year’s overtime shootout loss to Team USA, said he’s more confident and comfortable on the world stage that he was 12 months ago. He entered this year’s tournament with a .961 save percentage while playing with the Everett Silvertips.