Canadians shrug off ‘dirty’ criticism
Defenceman Harrington earns the hero’s cape for shot-blocking
UFA, RUSSI A – On more than one occasion this week, the Canadians have been dubbed dirty by their opponents in the world junior hockey championship.
Team Canada’s players figure if dirty means tough and physical, so be it.
“We play the game hard. That’s what we’ve always done,” said Ryan Strome. “We’re not here to have a war of words. We’re here to play hockey.”
First, Russian captain Nail Yakupov was quoted in a story in his homeland that the Canadians were dirty players, then the Slovakians said Canada was dishing out dirty hits in its 6-3 victory Friday.
Yakupov, the Edmonton Oilers’ first overall selection in the 2012 draft, has repeatedly turned down interview requests to clarify his comments, but Tomas Mikus said the hit he sustained in Friday’s game, and the hit that sent teammate Patrik Luza off on a stretcher, were dirty.
“We accept clear hits, but the hands were too high. Really dirty,” said Mikus, who didn’t miss a shift after Canadian forward JC Lipon was assessed a major and a game misconduct for contact to the head.
“We can’t worry about any of that stuff,” said Winnipeg Jets draft pick Mark Scheifele. “We have to come out and play our game. We have our strategy. We know the way we play. That’s our focus. We’re not going to worry about what people say.
“We played hard and we’re doing whatever it takes to win. We want to be hard players. We want to work the hardest. That’s just the Canadian style.
“We were playing the body, we were being physical. That’s our goal. That’s the way the guys are wired. We want to block shots. You want to take a hit to make a play, make a hit to make a play. That’s our mentality.”
Canada ramped up its physical play against Slovakia, but spent time killing penalties because of it.
“The questions we have as a staff is that if you embellish, does that set the standard,” said Canada head coach Steve Spott. “In my mind, on Mark Scheifele’s hit, if Mark lies down, that’s a five-minute major, but Canadian hockey players don’t lie down. They’ll drag themselves off the ice before they lie down.”
School of hard knocks
Scheifele didn’t deny the fact he was in need of a massage and an ice bag after Canada’s second game in the championship, but despite the hits he took against Slovakia, including a shot to his right knee from Branislav Rapac, he wasn’t the least bit worried about his status for Sunday’s game with the United States.
“I got hit a few times, I had my head banged around a bit, but I battled through and I was happy to get that goal (in the second period of Friday’s game). Everything is good. Everything is flushed.
“We have guys who can step up. We have depth. I was getting banged around, I was taking some cheap shots, but I was battling through it. All the boys were. That shows a lot of character by all our guys and I think that will help us succeed.
“We have a lot of battlers on our team. Everyone is willing to pay the price. Everyone is willing to do whatever it takes to win. That’s a huge thing for our team. Everyone wants the gold medal. That’s what we’re focused on and I think it shows a lot of character by all the boys.
“I took a few hits, but I’ll be fine. No one is going to go down. Everyone is going to keep going. That’s the way we are. That’s the way all the boys are going to be. We’re going to battle through everything we can.”
Harrington joins Team Cape
Defenceman Scott Harrington was awarded the hero’s cape following the 6-3 win over Slovakia.
He was singled out for his shot-blocking and leadership and will sign it and date the cape, just as captain Ryan Nugent-Hopkins did after the first game.
“He blocks shots, battles … he’s so talented when it comes to killing penalties,” said Spott. “In our minds, he was worth the cape.”
“He’s an unbelievable player for us. He blocks so many shots. He’s definitely our hero each and every night,” added Scheifele.