Canada set to face Switzerland in quarters
Swiss coach paints bleak outlook for his club’s chances of knocking off Canada
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Canadian captain Dillon Dube couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Swiss coach Christian Wohlwend was virtually raising the white flag of surrender, saying Switzerland expects to be dominated by Canada in today’s quarterfinal at the world junior championship.
“They’re faster, they’re bigger, they’re stronger, they can shoot better, they can pass better, they can do everything better,” Wohlwend said Sunday after his team dropped a 6-3 decision to the Czech Republic to set up the Canada matchup. “They have how many first-rounders? And the rest in the second round? And one in the fourth round that has played the most NHL games?
“We have one in the fourth round too. One. The rest are undrafted.” Wohlwend did make some good points. Canada has eight players who were drafted in the first round, plus 10 secondrounders, two fourth-rounders and two fifth-rounders.
Defenceman Victor Mete, a fourth-round pick in 2016, played 27 games for the Montreal Canadiens this season before being loaned to Canada for the tournament.
Also, Canada beat Switzerland 8-1 on Dec. 22 in a pre-tournament game.
However, Dube was still stunned to hear Wohlwend’s assessment of Switzerland’s chances.
“I didn’t know what to think of it at the start,” said Dube, who had two goals and an assist against the Swiss in the exhibition. “I watched it a couple of times, laughing a little bit. To be honest, I think everybody did . . . . I think that might have been some reverse psychology or something like that.”
Sam Steel, Dube’s linemate throughout the tournament, agreed that Wohlwend might be trying to lull the Canadians into a false sense of security.
“I don’t know if he’s trying to play mind games or something,” said Steel, who led Canada with five points in the preliminary round. “It’s funny, but we have to go in there with the same attitude we would with any other team.”
Canada took New Year’s Eve off, opting for a team dinner with Hockey Canada staff and players’ families. Head coach Dominique Ducharme had his team back on the ice Monday to prepare for the Swiss.
Mete was the only player to sit out the practice session. Ducharme said he was hurt in Friday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the United States.
“He’s good, we just want him 100 per cent and we felt he needed an extra day,” said Ducharme. “He’s going to be in (today).”
Goaltender Carter Hart will start in net against Switzerland.
Hart has two wins and a shootout loss with a .929 save percentage and 1.95 goals-against average. He’s coming off an 18-save shutout in Canada’s 8-0 rout of Denmark on Saturday that clinched top spot in Group A.
Dube, Steel and Ducharme were all in agreement that — despite Wohlwend’s comments — they would not take Switzerland lightly.
“I think he’s obviously trying to send a message to his team, he must have said something to them,” said Dube. “I think that’s why he said that we dominated them in the exhibition. They’re going to come out trying to catch us sleeping, so that’s why we really have to focus on our game and know what to expect, they’re going to come out hard. “That doesn’t mean they’re going to sit back and let us roll all over them.”
On Sunday, Adam Fox scored with 1:37 left in the third period to give the U.S. a 5-4 victory over Finland in the Americans’ final preliminary-round game.
The defending champion Americans (3-1) finished second behind Canada in the Group B standings and will face Russia in the quarterfinals today. Fox also had two assists, Joey Anderson scored twice, Casey Mittelstadt had a goal and two assists, Brady Tkachuk added three assists, and Joseph Woll stopped 20 shots.
“We are really confident and we believe in our group,” Tkachuk said. “It’s a new tournament now, it starts (today), and we are excited.”
Sweden (4-0) is the top seed in Group B and will play Slovakia in the quarterfinals. Oskar Steen scored the deciding goal in Sweden’s 4-3 shootout win over Russia on Sunday night.
Kristian Reichel scored twice in the Czech Republic’s 6-3 victory over Switzerland.
The Czechs (3-1) moved into second place in Group B and will face Finland in the quarterfinals.
Today’s quarterfinal between the Americans and Russians will be a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which the U.S. won 4-3 in a shootout for its first victory over Russia in a medal-round game at the world juniors. Russia eliminated the U.S. in the quarterfinals in 2014 and 2015.