CANADA IN TOUGH AGAINST FINNISH FOES
Loss to Russia sets up more difficult task in Wednesday’s win-or-go-home game
They’ve blacked out TSN at the team hotel and instructed the players to stay off social media during the past two weeks. But even in this protective bubble, Team Canada knows what’s being said out there.
While Twitter was eviscerating captain Maxime Comtois as a diver not worthy of wearing the Canadian flag, the rest of the country was nervously biting its nails after Canada lost 2-1 to Russia on New Year’s Eve, setting up a quarterfinal game against Finland that no one wanted any part of.
It’s win or go home. And the latter isn’t really an option. Not at this early stage in the tournament.
“Everyone knows the expectation,” said defenceman Ian Mitchell. “Part of being Canadian, I guess.”
Hockey fans are smart enough to realize that Canada doesn’t always win this tournament. But the feeling is Canada should at least qualify for the final, or at the very least come away with bronze. Anything less and Hockey Canada generally has to explain itself.
Which is why alarm bells prematurely went off after Canada’s loss to Russia in their final game of the round robin. It certainly wasn’t the end of the world or even the end of the tournament. But it did mean Canada would not finish first in Group A and that its path to a second straight gold would be littered with landmines.
Rather than play Slovakia in the quarterfinal, the team now plays an always-dangerous Finland on Wednesday. If Canada advances, it would face the winner of Sweden and Switzerland, with the U.S. or a potential rematch against Russia in the final.
Of course, no one is thinking that far ahead.
After all, it was only three years ago when Canada finished in sixth place — the lowest since ending up in eighth place in 1998 — after losing 6-5 to Finland in the quarterfinal. In a single-elimination tournament, a similar outcome could happen again.
Unlike the last two years, when Canada faced inferior opponents in the quarterfinal, the team figures to be in tough against the Finns. This year’s Finnish squad, which lost to Sweden and the U.S. in the round robin, might not be as dangerous as the Patrik Laineled team that won gold in 2016. But they still have players with NHL experience (Nashville’s Eeli Tolvanen and Chicago’s Henri Jokiharju), as well as a top-three prospect in this year’s draft (Kaapo Kakko) and one of the best goalies (Ukko-pekka Luukkonen) in the tournament.
The thinking is that they haven’t played their best hockey. Not by a long stretch.
“They’re like everyone else,” said Team Canada head coach Tim Hunter. “They’re getting better and they’re changing their game as they go through this tournament.”
The last time Canada saw Finland was in a pre-tournament game on Dec. 23. Finland won 5-2, scoring twice on the power play and twice short-handed. When asked what he took from that experience, Hunter simply said: “That we lost the game. We didn’t play a complete game.”
“After losing that game, we’re going to come out hard,” said forward Morgan Frost. “Especially after losing to the Finns in the pre-tournament, we want revenge against them. I don’t think you’ve seen our best yet.”
Canada had rolled past Denmark, Switzerland and the Czech Republic in the opening three games of the tournament, outscoring its opponents 23-3, before running up against the Russian roadblock. Even though it was a close game that could have went either way, no one on the team was happy with how the players handled what was the biggest test so far of the tournament.
At times, the moment seemed too big for Canada. The pressure of playing at home — and the hype of playing in front of a soldout crowd on New Year’s Eve — seemed to get the best of the players. Consider it a learning lesson. According to the players, better have that lesson now than in a do-or-die game.
That’s the way the players were spinning it on Tuesday.
“That was great,” Comtois said of losing to Russia. “Anytime you have a chance to face adversity in the round robin, it’s good. It’s only going to help us in the long run. Finland’s going to be a tough customer tomorrow and we’re going to be ready for that.
“We know what we did wrong. We just hit the reset button.”
Indeed, it’s been a while since Canada went undefeated throughout the tournament. Last year, the team lost to the U.S. in the round robin and then ran the table the rest of the way. At the same time, Sweden has gone undefeated in 48 straight round robin games, but has only one gold medal to show for it.
In other words, Canada’s tournament begins now.
“We’re in the quarterfinal,” said Comtois. “We play Finland and we have a chance to battle for a medal. Stay positive.”
And stay off the internet.