CANADA EXPECTS BATTLE AGAINST DESPERATE U.S.
Less than two weeks ago, Team USA knocked Logan Couture into the trainers room to undergo concussion testing.
On Tuesday, Couture and Team Canada can respond by practically knocking the Americans right out of the World Cup of Hockey.
And with T.J. Oshie and his U.S. teammates backed into a corner after their disappointing 3-0 loss to Team Europe on Saturday, count on the 0-1 Americans to scratch and claw for survival right up until the final horn.
It could be rough. It could be brutal. It could be ugly.
“I think there’s going to be some bad blood out there for sure. We can expect that,” Canadian forward Jonathan Toews said Sunday.
“We expect them to play hard, play chippy . ... It’s going to be a battle,” Couture added.
The math here is simple: Thanks to the tiebreaker system, if the U.S. loses to Team Canada in regulation on Tuesday, the Americans would be on the verge of elimination from playoff contention in the tournament. There would be a scenario that they would have one long-shot lifeline, but the odds would be bleak, to be sure.
What a difference a week or two makes.
Back on Sept. 9, Canada and the U.S. opened up their exhibition campaigns with a pre-tournament contest that featured a cache of questionable hits and boiling tempers. The 4-2 loss was, in fact, a sobering night for Team Canada, one that sent a painful message to Mike Babcock’s crew.
“I think it woke us up and made us realize it’s not summer anymore — it’s an actual hockey game,” Couture said.
“You never know what to expect but I don’t think anyone expected that many scrums, that many questionable hits like that. But it happened.”
If that indeed had been a wake-up call for Team Canada, it was an especially rude one for Couture. The San Jose Sharks’ forward was rammed into the unforgiving boards by Oshie that night in Columbus and needed to be taken for medical observation before returning to action later on.
Couture wasn’t the only victim of an aggressive American team looking to symbolically punch the Canadians right in their yaps. Veteran Shea Weber was splattered into the end wall by U.S. forward Ryan Kesler in that same game, leaving the new Montreal Canadiens defenceman both bruised and livid.
Entering play Tuesday, Canadian players admit they haven’t forgotten the tactics incorporated in Columbus that night. At the same time, they warn that they won’t be sucked into taking foolish penalties, an issue they have battled with since the start of the pre-tournament games and carried into Saturday’s 6-0 thumping of the Czech Republic.
That doesn’t mean the Canadians will be intimidated. Far from it. With beefy behemoths like Weber, Alex Pietrangelo and Corey Perry on the roster, there is an abundance of sandpaper in the Team Canada locker-room if needed.
“I think our game plan is not to back down, but also to stay out of the stuff that we know is only going to hinder what we’re really focused on,” Toews said. “We’ll worry about ourselves. We know what they can do well and what they try to do. But for us, it’s just knowing that they’re going to come in really hungry and we also have to build off this past win.
“That’s what it’s going to take for us to win.”
Couture, who was fortunate to have not been more seriously injured by Oshie’s hit, downplays the entire incident, but you know — you just know — the memory is still packed away in the back of his mind.
“It took me a second to get up,” Couture said. “And then right away there was the concussion protocol. I had to go in and take some tests. Everything ended up being fine.”
Having said that, Couture and his teammates claim to be prepared for whatever the Americans throw their way,
“We have guys that play physical, that play in your face,” Couture said. “Both teams can play that type of game. We’ll see how the game plays out. But the most important thing for us is to score.
“Even if they’d won their first game, they’d still be hungry. Any time Canada-U. S. plays it’s a battle. We expect their best.”
This one should be fun.