UPSET SPECIALS
Carey Price and Canada will have to worry about what a long shot can do in a short tournament.
PITTSBURGH— John Tavares knows anything can happen in a short international tournament like the World Cup of Hockey.
“If you look at our last Olympics, everyone talks about how well we played that tournament and really had control in every game we played, but that Latvian game was a tight game,” Tavares said. “We had 50 shots and we only won 2-1.
“It just goes to show how important each and every game is . . . You have to keep mistakes at a minimum when you’re only playing three round-robin games and one semifinal. It’s such a short tournament, you have to be on top of your game right from the get-go.”
As far as international hockey events go, the World Cup is incred- ibly short. Teams at the Olympics or world tournaments have six or seven games, typically, before the playoffs.
In the World Cup, three round-robin games might not provide enough time for the favourites, like Canada and the United States, to catch their stride.
“There (are) no games you can take off, especially when you only have three games to prove yourself and to move on,” Canadian winger Corey Perry said. “You’ve got to be ready right from the puck drop.”
Three games might allow such long shots as the Czech Republic and Europe to post an upset or two.
“There’s a much larger chance for an upset in this format,” Europe coach Ralph Krueger said. “I’m familiar with this kind of pressure right off the hop, and the dangers of this as a favourite and the opportunities for the perceived underdogs.”
Every minute takes on importance. Goals for and against matter. So too does the extra point teams can earn by forcing overtime. The playoff spots could be decided by tiebreakers, which will follow NHL rules.
“You have to focus on every step and not allow any slip-ups,” Krueger said. “It’s a lot of fun.”
Canada continued its preparations Tuesday in Pittsburgh, where coach Mike Babcock announced Carey Price would get his second start in three exhibition games.
Price will face Russia on Wednesday night in the final tune-up for both teams before the event starts on Sept. 17. Claude Giroux, Jake Muzzin and Braden Holtby will be the Canadian scratches.
“It’s our last opportunity to prepare,” Babcock said. “We all know when the tournament starts, but you want to be getting better each and every day, so it should be a fun day.”
Price, who is in line to be Canada’s No.1goalie, agreed mistakes could be the difference between winning and going home early.
“That’s sports in general,” Price said. “It always seems to come down to the guy who makes a mistake, or the guy who makes a great play. That’s the identity of sport.”
While others waxed poetic about the history of the Canada-Russia rivalry, Babcock remained focused on the task at hand, working to prevent his team from making mistakes that could give the underdogs a chance.
“It could be about goaltending, it could be about specialty teams, it could be about detail, which it normally is,” Babcock said. “It could be all those every time. What thing is it going to be? I don’t know. This is what I do know: When you prepare real hard, and you get better every day, and you can get your team to be all-in every day, usually you become just about unstoppable. That’s our plan.”
But other teams will be out to stop Canada.
“Starts are going to be very important,” said Leafs forward Milan Michalek, who is playing with the Czech team.
“There can be some surprises in such a short tournament.”