The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
Scare could be blessing for juniors
Coach Tourigny happy with team’s composure
You don't prepare to win a major golf tournament by tearing up a pitch and putt. And you don't train for heavyweight contenders by laying out somebody in a boxercize class.
So, while beating Germany 16-2 on Saturday was clean, easy work, it clearly didn't do much to temper a Canadian team that barely dodged an upset in its second game of the tournament.
That's why head coach Andre Tourigny is kind of glad that Slovakia threw a serious scare into his team Sunday at the world junior hockey championship.
“It was good for us to go through that adversity,” said Tourigny, after Canada scored late in the third and added an empty netter to post a 3-1 victory. “I'm really happy with the way we battled. It's 1-0 late in the game and the guys learned to stay composed and be patient. I think we all grew today.”
The easier side of the tournament draw isn't going to provide the kind of stern tests Canada needs to prepare for a deep run — next up is winless Switzerland (one goal in two games) — so this one helps.
“They played a really good game over there and we played really good, too,” said captain Dylan Cozens. “We can't expect that it's going to be a blowout. I think we learned a lot today. We're going to keep building off it.”
Tourigny stresses that whoever they play, the Canadians have to be all business all the time. Because at some point they're coming face to face with a world hockey power and they need to be ready.
“Whatever the schedule puts ahead of us, we deal with it,” he said. “We don't want to focus on our opponent, we don't want to focus on the schedule, we want to focus on us and get better. What's important for me is doing the best with what we have.”
Even in a 16-2 landslide where all of the statistics come with an asterisk, Tourigny says there is still much that can be taught and learned.
“I want consistency in the way we play,” he said. “Not it in scoring or shooting, but in our structure and our habits, making sure we do the same thing over and over and over the right way.
“That's what's important. If we don't do that and focus on our opponent, we will run into trouble at some point.”
SITTING OUT
After waiting eight months to get a meaningful game in, Canadian defenceman Braden Schneider has to wait again after being suspended for Sunday's game against Slovakia.
Schneider, a New York Rangers prospect, delivered a head shot on Germany's JanLuca Schumacher 8:40 into the first period Saturday and received a game misconduct. After reviewing the play, the IIHF disciplinary committee gave him another game.
“I think it's a hockey play,” said Tourigny, who believes the shoulder to head contact was largely the result of one player being six-foot-two and the other being five-foot-nine.
“The size (difference) between the two players is a big factor. I won't lie, I didn't review the clip 22 times, I just saw it and moved on. There's nothing we can do about it.
“We obviously don't want hits to the head, but I think that was a hockey play. I don't think he meant any harm to the opponent.”
LETTER SHUFFLE
With captain Kirby Dach out for the tournament with a wrist injury, the Canadians are rotating the C between Bowen Byram and Cozens. They named Connor Mcmichael one of their alternates.
“I really don't think about it,” said Cozens. “It's Kirby's C. He's our captain. We're just wearing it because we have to.”
CLOSE CALL
After Black Saturday at the world juniors delivered three consecutive blowouts (7-1, 16-2 and 11-0) Finland and Switzerland began the Sunday drama.
They shouldn't have, given that Finland outshot Switzerland 34-8 over the final two periods, but it was still 2-1 with nine minutes to play.
Three goal posts and some stellar netminding from goalie Thibault Fatton helped Switzerland survive the barrage (the shots were 12-1 through the first 15 minutes of the third period) until a pair of power-play goals iced the 4-1 victory for Finland.
Finnish coach Antti Pennanen never thought the game was in doubt.
“I was confident,” he said. “I think we had a good game. We had lots of scoring chances and didn't give up many. We played with a good patience so I wasn't worried.”
CURVE IS FLAT
After some early concerns with the German and Swedish teams, it appears the COVID-19 situation is under control inside the Edmonton bubble.
The latest round of test results revealed no new cases among any players or staff on the 10 competing teams. As well, three players from Team Germany have been released from quarantine and can rejoin their team.
Through the opening two days of the tournament there have been 1,554 tests on all players, staff, and game officials for a total of 7,104 since the teams entered the bubble.