SWISS COACH DIDN’T MISS WITH PESSIMISTIC PREDICTION
Canada continues easy march to finals with 8-2 win against overmatched opponent
What was that about Switzerland having no chance against Canada?
Two days after head coach Christian Wohlwend laughed off any possibility that the Swiss might manage an upset win in their world junior quarter-final, because their opponent “can shoot better, they can pass better — they can do everything better,” Team Canada certainly proved him right in a 8-2 win.
“See? See?” said Wohlwend, who seemed pleased that his prophecy proved correct, even if it was at the expense of his team. “Everyone saw it — you guys saw it — they’re just way better than us.”
You might say that in regards to any opponent Canada faces.
After five games, Canada is 4-0-1, having outscored its opponents 28-7. They’ve blown out Slovakia, Denmark and Switzerland. Heading into the semifinal on Thursday, there is no reason to think the Canadians will not do the same against the Czech Republic in what looks like an easy path to the final.
“I think Canada wins the whole tournament,” Wohlwend said. “This is what I think.”
Well, let’s hold off on that thought for now.
While the Canadians have looked dominant, keep in mind their biggest challenge to date has been the snow. Finland, Slovakia and Denmark were three of the four worst teams in the tournament, while the overtime shootout loss to the U.S. — the only blemish on Canada’s record — was played outdoors in a blizzard.
We don’t know how good Canada is, because the team really hasn’t been tested.
Considering they now face a Czech Republic team they beat 9-0 in an exhibition game — and which only defeated Finland in the quarter-final because their goalie stood on his head in a 51-save, 4-3 overtime shootout win — the Canadians likely won’t be tested until the championship final.
Of course, no one is thinking that far ahead.
“We’ve seen them beat a few good teams in this tournament, so it’s not going to be a walk in the park,” said forward Drake Batherson, who had two goals against Switzerland, speaking about the Czech Republic. “We’re not going to take it as that. We’re going to come out hard and match their speed and intensity and we’re going to be all right.”
Barring an epic upset, Canada is likely to play for gold for the second straight year. And chances are, they will get there relatively unscathed. That’s a positive. But it could also be a concern for a team that might not be as battled-tested as whoever else advances to the final.
“Playing against the Americans and the Finns, they’re two good teams with good players,” said goalie Carter Hart, who has faced 33 shots combined in the last two games. “Games like those are good tests for our group.”
For now, Canada seems more worried about itself and trying to play a perfect game. The team inched closer to that goal in a one-sided win against Switzerland, where the end result was never in jeopardy.
“We’re always looking to play as perfect as we can play,” said head coach Dominique Ducharme. “That’s what we’re working on. There’s not one area where you could say we’re bad, but we’re always pushing ourselves to get closer to that perfect game.”
This might not have been as big a blowout as their 8-1 pretournament win against Switzerland. But it was still a vicious beat-down.
The ice was still wet when Brett Howden scored 48 seconds after the opening puck drop. By the end of the first period, Canada was leading 3-0 on goals from Batherson and Cale Makar. After two periods, the Canadians had chased Switzerland’s starting goalie from the net and was ahead 6-1 on three more goals from Batherson, Jordan Kyrou and Conor Timmins.
You half expected the IIHF to step in and stop the game. That’s how one-sided the game was.
Perhaps it’s why the Swiss coach said what he said the other day. Some thought maybe it was a tactic and Wohlwend was trying to get the Canadians to underestimate its much-weaker opponent.
It turns out he was begging for mercy.
Canada, which outshot Switzerland 60-15, didn’t provide much mercy, although the team did ease off the gas pedal at times.
Down 5-0 in the second period, Switzerland changed goalies. It provided a minor spark, with Dario Rohrbach redirecting a point shot from Simon le Coultre to make it 5-1. Switzerland added another while short-handed in the third period.
But by then, the game was done. Even with their fourthliners on the ice Canada found the back of the net, with Dillon Dube and Maxime Comtois scoring.
“We’re progressing every day,” Batherson said. “We’ve progressed a lot since the first game to where we are now. We’re just gearing up for the semifinal.”
As the Swiss coach might say, don’t bet on a Czech win.