Russia defeats Finland, eliminates North America
TORONTO — All good things must come to an end. Unfortunately.
The experiment that was Team North America officially ended on Thursday, as Russia defeated Finland 3-0 to advance to the semi-final of the World Cup of Hockey.
No one knew how competitive this team was going to be. Some predicted they wouldn’t win a game. Others were convinced they were going to be embarrassed.
Instead, they won two out of three games and ended up turning a lot of heads. It was a heck of a run by the kids. Their fearless style of fastpaced firebrand hockey turned critics into fans and provided a glimpse of what looks like a very bright future for the NHL.
As Team Canada head coach Mike Babcock said, “It’s pretty hard to knock what’s gone on here at this tournament. I think the North American kids have been a … pump in the arm for hockey.”
From the emergence of Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews to the realization that sometimes the best coaching is not coaching at all, here is what stood out with the darlings of the tournament.
Auston Matthews is the real deal
When Team North America GM Peter Chiarelli named Maple Leafs’ No. 1 overall pick Auston Matthews to the team, at least reporter asked him if it was to make Toronto fans happy.
At the time, it seemed like a logical question. After all, the 19-year-old had not yet played a game in the NHL and here he was being chosen ahead of Alex Galchenyuk, Boone Jenner and Robby Fabbri. But while Matthews might have started the World Cup as the 13th forward, he quickly worked his way up to the top line alongside Connor McDavid and finished the round robin with two goals and three points in three games.
In other words, he more than earned his spot.
“He’s an NHL player,” said Todd McLellan. “I know that. Everybody here knows that. He’s that good.”
Connor McDavid is the future — and the present
The team was billed as the “future stars of the NHL.” And for many of the players it was an appropriate description. Well, except for Connor McDavid.
Yeah, he’s the future. But as he showed time and time again, he’s also the present.
McDavid finished with no goals and three assists, but if you watched the games you know that he could have had three or four times that amount. In the Sweden win alone, McDavid was a skating highlight reel as he blew past Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson for a breakaway on one play and split a pair of defenders on another.
Not only could he have made Team Canada’s roster, he would have arguably been the best player.
“We’ve definitely turned heads and definitely brought attention to our team and our group,” said McDavid. “We can definitely be proud of that.”
Hockey can be fun (if the coaches stop coaching)
I don’t know about you, but I never caught myself praising the coaching job Todd McLellan was doing behind the bench. If I was, it was for staying out of the way.
McLellan was smart enough to realize that his best strategy was to stay out of the way and let the kids play.
The result was that the North Americans played hockey the way it was meant to be played: Fast; fearless; and by focusing on scoring goals rather than preventing them.
It was the kind of hockey that you just don’t see in the NHL anymore. But maybe that changes after this tournament.
“We didn’t play safe, we didn’t play passive except for seven minutes and it cost us four goals and possibly a chance at the final,” said McLellan. “So we’ll try and maintain this type of hockey for a long time and every coach in the league is trying to do that. But … it’s almost impossible to do on a yearly basis for 82 games what we’ve done here in a short-term tournament.”