FANS HUNGRY FOR CROSBY VS. McDAVID
It will be a daunting task for any team to knock off unbeaten Canadian squad
Crosby versus McDavid? Or Sidney versus Ovie? Those are the two potential juicy matchups facing Sidney Crosby and Team Canada in the upcoming semifinal at the World Cup of Hockey, thanks to a convincing 4-1 victory by the Canadians over Team Europe Wednesday night at the Air Canada Centre.
With that result, one of the semis will see Anze Kopitar, Marian Hossa, Zdeno Chara and Team Europe take on the Sedin twins and Team Sweden. That game goes Sunday at the ACC.
Meanwhile, Canada’s win over Europe ensured coach Mike Babcock’s team punched its ticket into the medal round and a one-game, winner-takeall semifinal in prime time on Saturday night.
But who will the opponent be? That will be contingent on the result of the Russia-Finland game Thursday afternoon at the ACC.
A Russian victory would mean they would face Canada, leaving us with a Sidney Crosby-Alex Ovechkin matchup. For the past decade, that has been the marquee individual rivalry in the hockey world, the one most fans coveted. But not this time. No, this time there is a public hunger to see Crosby and the Canadians clash with the young guns of Team North America, the Connor McDavid-led squad that has easily become the biggest story of this tournament.
It’s not often that a CrosbyOvechkin clash would be the least desirable option. But there is no doubt that is the case in this instance.
With the sheer speed and electrifying talent showing by the likes of McDavid, 2016 first overall pick Auston Matthews of the Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames magician Johnny Gaudreau, this collection of skilled kids ages 23 and under have captured the imaginations of anyone who has seen them play a single shift.
As a result, the thirst from the fans to see the likes of Crosby and McDavid go head-to-head is overwhelming.
But the only way that will happen is if Finland beats the Russians Thursday. Should it play out that way, Canada will indeed meet Team North America in the semis.
Crosby, for one, has been impressed by the performance of Team North America, which posted a 4-3 overtime victory over the Swedes earlier in the day Wednesday thanks to a dramatic Nathan MacKinnon overtime goal. Like Crosby, MacKinnon is a native of the Cole Harbour area of Nova Scotia.
Asked earlier this week about the style exhibited by Team North America, Crosby replied: “It’s fast, really fast hockey. You’ve seen games at the end where they’ve put it into another gear. Just everything everyone expected. I saw that team play early (in the tournament) and they’re a fast team. They’re a lot to handle for any team in this tournament.
“They have a really good team. When you see their game, they are playing to their strengths — speed and skill. I didn’t think a lot about them until I started to see them play. They are very exciting.”
Crosby has a point. Team North America is very “exciting.” Unfortunately for McDavid and company, they’ll be eliminated from the tournament if Finland doesn’t beat the Russians.
We do know this much: Whether it’s Team North America or Team Russia that provides the opposition, it will be a daunting task to beat a Canadian team that went through the preliminary round a perfect 3-0 — the only representative in the event to accomplish that feat.
Canada’s dominance was on display everywhere but on the scoreboard through the first two periods Wednesday night. Despite outshooting Team Europe 30-9 through the first 40 minutes, their lead was just 3-1, a testament to the heroics of Europe goalie Jaroslav Halak.
First period goals by Crosby and Jonathan Toews allowed Canada to go into the first intermission up 2-0.
A bad-angle Marian Hossa goal on Chicago Blackhawks teammate Corey Crawford early in the second narrowed the gap to 2-1, but Toews restored Canada’s two-goal cushion later in the period with a snapshot that whizzed past a helpless Halak.
Crawford, defenceman Jake Muzzin and forward Claude Giroux all saw their first action in the tournament, giving Carey Price, Shea Weber and Ryan Getzlaf a much-needed night off. Babcock said Price, Weber and Getzlaf would all be ready to play in Canada’s semifinal Saturday.
During an in-house interview on the giant centre-ice video screen during the second intermission, Toews was asked if he was just having “one of those nights.”
“Hopefully it’s not just one of those nights,” he replied. “Hopefully there will be more to come.”
Starting with Saturday night at the Air Canada Centre.
Question is: Will it be against McDavid’s Team North America or Ovechkin’s Russians?
We’ll get the answer on Thursday.
It’s fast, really fast hockey. You’ve seen games at the end where they’ve put it into another gear. Just everything everyone expected.