Russia ‘calms waters’ to keep Canada afloat
OSTRAVA, CZECH REPUBLIC A few days ago, the Canadian world junior team apologized to the Russians. But if they come back and win a gold medal Sunday, they will be thanking them.
Mark Hunter, the leader of Canada’s management group, believes one of the more critical factors in the Canadian squad’s quick turnaround was Russian coach and legend Igor Larionov’s immediate forgiveness of Barrett Hayton when he forgot to take his helmet off for the Russian national anthem.
Larionov, a Russian assistant coach and one of his country’s beloved hockey heroes, refused to fan the flames of the international incident, one that fired up people to the point where they were calling for Hayton to be stripped of the captaincy.
Larionov, known as “The Professor” during his Hall of Fame career, didn’t blast anybody or point fingers. He simply said that “it’s a lesson for everyone, not just the Canadian team.”
“The kid made a mistake,” Hunter said before Canada’s quarterfinal match with Slovakia on Thursday.
“He would never do that on purpose and I think Igor knew that.
“You look at every game Barrett ever plays (in the NHL with the Coyotes or in the Canadian
Hockey League when he was a Soo Greyhound), he’s never taken his helmet off and they don’t play the national anthem after it.
“Igor calmed the waters ... I’ve had a lot of dealings with Igor over the years and it proves again to me he’s a real good person . ... I have tons of respect for him.”
The Canadian room was understandably chaotic after the 6-0 loss to Russia. Star forward Alexis Lafrenière is on his way back, but at that point, his future participation in the event was hanging by a thread. Joe Veleno, another key returning player, was suddenly being slapped with a suspension by the IIHF’s disciplinary panel for one of the most innocuous head butts in hockey history.
Original starting goaltender Nico Daws had been pulled and, with Joel Hofer and Olivier Rodrigue standing by, the crease situation had to be sorted out in a hurry.
And don’t forget, this rough loss started with a goal that should have been called offside, and when it wasn’t the Canadian bench didn’t feel like it had enough video evidence to challenge it.
The 18-wheeler was veering toward the cliff.
“That’s where you hope your experience comes in and you’ve seen people in action over the years,” Hunter said.
“Working in Toronto (four seasons with the Maple Leafs) helped. You see a guy like (now-Islanders GM) Lou Lamoriello, who is calm in situations. Over the years, we dealt with stuff in London with the Knights. So you stay calm and hopefully, you get some solutions to move ahead with.
“Everything arose pretty quickly after the Russian game. Everyone was upset, and rightfully so.”
Hunter said he thought the coaching staff, led by his brother Dale Hunter, kept the team on the right track and the brass at Hockey Canada provided invaluable support.
“(CEO) Tom Renney is a positive guy,” Hunter said. “He told us we can deal with it. He deserves credit because he, too, kept the waters calm. No one panicked.
“There were things we had to deal with to make sure we all got back on the same page. It’s all about making our team stronger and we reacted accordingly the past two games.
“But we still have a lot of work to do.”
The most important part of working in these international settings is to recognize the urgency of every situation. You have to put a lot of thought into decision-making but it also has to happen on the fly.
“It’s a short-term tournament like the Memorial Cup,” he said.
“You’ve got to get your team focused and if you have hiccups, there isn’t time.
“You don’t have a week to think. You need to get on top of it right away and plug the hole and get it back going.”
After the fallout of the Russian game, the message was restraint. Don’t try to do too much to make up for it.
“Especially heading into the German game, you worry the kids would get too hyped up and take bad penalties,” Hunter said.
“Here, it’s nice to be around four. That’s the over-under.
“Any more than that, it starts to get haywire. All these power plays and top kids, they find a way to make good plays.”
Six of the 10 teams scored at least five power-play goals in four preliminary-round games. Canada led the way with nine.
They are averaging five power plays a game and have had to kill just a tick over four.
Special teams have been a major factor, especially in Group B, which was as difficult as everyone predicted.
“Any game could’ve went any way,” Hunter said.
“That’s what makes hockey great. That’s why people follow this.
“Whoever wins gold, there’s no shortcuts where this is easy or that’s easy.
“You’re going to earn it here.” And if it’s Canada earning the gold, they will never forget when things changed — and who helped them along the way
The kid made a mistake.