Captain Strome and his Canadian squad are ‘having fun’
After successive shutouts, team plays Swiss at ACC in final pre-tournament game
As Canada’s world junior has taken shape, posting easy victories in pretournament action with one more to go, captain Dylan Strome says his teammates are enjoying themselves.
“We’re having fun,” said Strome, an Arizona Coyotes prospect and member of the Erie Otters. “We’re winning games, we’re playing well, we’re playing in some pretty cool rinks, we’re getting do to things not a lot of us have gotten to do before. It’s exciting times.
“It’s good to play the game you love in front of people that are passionate about it and really cheering for you.”
Canada has beaten:
•A team of university all-stars twice as well as the Czechs in a junior rink in Boisbriand, Que. •The Finns — the defending champs, no less — in Montreal’s Bell Centre
•The Czechs again, on Wednesday, in Ottawa’s Canadian Tire Centre.
On Friday night, it’s the Swiss at the Air Canada Centre.
Only the university all-stars have managed to score.
“It’s nice to see us having success, but at the same time we had success last year in the pre-tournament games and the tournament is a different world, a different game,” said Strome. “We have to keep building.”
Last year, Canada finished sixth. But it’s done it before: posting a bad result one year, only to come back and win it all again next year.
“You never want to see Canadian teams lose,” said Strome. “But it’s interesting to see how guys react to it. It’s good to see teams go through it. It’s a learning experience.
“Being on the losing end of a tournament is not very fun. You feel like you’ve let your country down. You want to forget about it at as fast as possible, but it doesn’t go away very quickly. I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to make amends for what happened last year.”
It helps that the tournament is in Canada every two years, with the home crowd cheering them on and maybe even intimidating not just the other team, but international refer- ees unused to blowing a whistle in front of crowds as large as the ones expected in Toronto and Montreal. Last year when Canada’s Jake Virtanen was called for two minors on the same shift late in the third period in an elimination game against Finland, Strome surmised then — and said it again on Thursday — that the hometown crowd had something to do with it. Patrik Laine scored the winner on that power play.
“The crowd got louder and louder and he (Virtanen) eventually got penalized,” said Strome. “Maybe this year, our crowds get louder and we score the game-winning goal on a power play.
“You never know what can happen.”
For many of the players, the world junior tournament is a chance to play in NHL rinks for the first time. In Strome’s case — he’s from Toronto — it will be his first time to play at the Air Canada Centre.
“My house is about15 minutes from here. Playing at the Air Canada Centre is something I’m looking forward to. The home crowd is something is huge. It’s nice to see people cheering for you.”
So far, the Canadian offence seems balanced. Tyson Jost (University of North Dakota) has three goals and an assist in the last two games since the roster was finalized.
Julien Gauthier (Val d’Or Foreurs) has a goal and two assists while Anthony Cirelli (Oshawa Generals) and Taylor Raddysh (Erie Otters) each have two goals.
“Canada is very fortunate and blessed to always have good teams and good lines,” said Strome, who has a goal himself. “There’s good players on every line, and every line is going to have to step up.”