CANADA AIMS FOR STEADY IMPROVEMENT

Game against Swiss presents opportunities to learn valuable lessons, head coach says

It's not easy getting excited about a game against Switzerland.

You have to wonder if even people in Switzerland sometimes have trouble getting up for Switzerland games.

With one goal in two losses, the winless Swiss are a long way from centre stage at this year's world junior hockey championship tournament, but they're next in line for Canada and it will be up to head coach Andre Tourigny and his players to turn this forgone conclusion into strength for the road ahead. After this, it's the Finns on New Year's Eve for first place in their pool. Then it's the playoffs. So this is Canada's last chance to iron out the bugs.

“We're focused on ourselves and developing our team,” said defenceman Jamie Drysdale, adding he saw definite improvement in the 2-0 Canadians from their first game to their second. “That's important in this tournament, just getting better every day.”

The Canadians remain a work in progress, having to defend themselves for scoring too much in a 16-2 victory over what was left of the pandemic-ravaged Germans, and then for not scoring enough in an uncomfortably close 3-1 win over Slovakia.

Which means they're probably right on schedule.

“It means you can't please people, that's what it means,” Tourigny said with a laugh. “Whatever you're doing, they have to find something to say.”

That's pretty much true. When anything more or less than about a 6-0 win isn't good enough, trying to please the critics is a deadend game. So Tourigny is shooting for only steady improvement, which he says he's getting.

“For us, there's nothing we can do about the Germany game,” he said of playing against a team with 14 skaters who just walked out of quarantine. “But (Slovakia) was a good opportunity for us to grow. We learned to be patient with the outcome. We got loose during the Germany game and our guys learned our lesson, and they came out really hard, played really solid defensively against Slovakia.

“We had a good skate (Monday), guys were zipping the puck really good, we're feeling good right now and we're excited about what's ahead.”

Switzerland is ahead. Sigh. Still, for Canadian players who haven't played serious hockey in eight months, any game helps, even games they're expected to win rather easily.

“People were saying the same about the Slovaks,” said Tourigny, quick to point out that you can never take anything for granted in a short tournament made up of teenagers.

“That's the world junior. The world junior is a tournament of adversity. You have suspensions, you have injuries, you have surprises, you have pressure. You have all of it. And that's why we love it and why we're so passionate about it in this country.”

The passion might give way to a chess match against Switzerland, though, which Tourigny believes will serve the Canadians well. With a bit of a divide between the upper echelon teams and the bottom half of the draw (the cumulative scores Saturday were 34-3), choking the game is a popular strategy for the underdogs.

“The Swiss will bring a lot of adversity, they will play a similar type game as the Slovaks,” said Tourigny.

“They'll collapse the middle and defend with a lot of pride. They want to beat us, so they will give it all.

“For us, it will be a good challenge to keep learning how to play against those teams that want to tighten up the middle and play with a style of play where they block shots and have five in the slot. We need to learn to play against that style of play.”

Learning how to keep their composure when it's a one-goal game midway through the third period, like it was against Slovakia, is a key part of the world junior maturation process. Sooner or later, the Canadians will be in that situation against another global power, with their tournament lives on the line.

“In a game like that it's easy to get inside your own head,” said Drysdale. “So staying even keel is really important. Sticking to what you know works and what you're good at.”

It's also important, said forward Dylan Holloway, not to view this game as a tune-up or a chance to work the bugs out.

“We have a game plan before every game and we have to stick to it,” said Holloway, who's back in the lineup after missing the last game with an upper body injury. “It's important to play the right way and not look past our opponent, not look past Switzerland.”

And maybe not read the reviews, either, if they don't win 6-0, lest there be whispers again about what's wrong with the Canadians. But the players understand that's part of the deal when they put on a Maple Leaf. They don't let it get to them.

“A win is a win at the end of the day,” said Drysdale. “You're going to run into great teams, you're going to run into times when maybe the pucks aren't going in the back of the net like you would like. It's just a matter of sticking with it and sticking to your game plan. As long as we do, we know we're playing well.”