TORONTO – Oleg Znarok drew a breath and chuckled a little bit.
Normally a stone-faced man who approaches his press briefings with the kind of disdain reserved for serious dental surgery, this was not something you expected to see from the Russian coach in the wake of a 5-3 semifinal loss to Team Canada.
But he apparently found some humour in being asked why Sidney Crosby’s line had manhandled his team on a tense Saturday night at Air Canada Centre.
“Because they’re incredible hockey players,” Znarok replied in Russian.
That much has been clear for some time, of course, but it’s been reinforced during this latest incarnation of best-on-best competition.
On a night when Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin were eerily silent – a night when Russia’s only real hope was Sergei Bobrovsky walking on water – it was Crosby that completely removed any doubt about Team Canada reaching the World Cup final.
He created the first goal completely out of thin air.
He pressured the defender on the forecheck, promptly stripped the puck from his partner, cut across the top of the crease with a backhand deke, mixed in a slight hesitation, and deposited it behind Bobrovsky.
“He’s a game-breaker,” said teammate Shea Weber.
When Russia struck twice to briefly pull ahead in the second period, Crosby scooped up a loose puck and found linemate Brad Marchand with a lovely touch pass for the equalizer. He and Marchand then connected again early in the third period to put Canada ahead for good.
This tournament has seen no more effective a line than the Marchand-Crosby-Patrice Bergeron trio, and the captain now tops the scoring charts with seven points in four games.
He’s on another level. It is almost as if Crosby hasn’t missed a beat since lifting the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy in June.
“I just think he knows how good he is and he’s more patient with what he’s doing,” said coach Mike Babcock. “When things don’t go well, he doesn’t get frustrated; when people cross check him he doesn’t get riled up.
“He just knows he’s going to have success over time.”
After playing the long game, the best player of his generation is hitting the jackpot. His last 16 months also include a gold medal at the 2015 IIHF World Hockey Championship – a tournament that ended with a dominant performance over Russia.
Déjà vu all over again.
The reality is that this version of Team Canada is so good that it’s hard to single out individuals. It has Jonathan Toews centring a line that is chewing up the best opponents and Ryan Getzlaf anchoring a third unit between John Tavares and Steven Stamkos – two No. 1 overall picks! – and they’re creating all kinds of chances.
There is also Weber and Drew Doughty, and Carey Price back on his game after a long injury layoff.
It should be no surprise that Team Canada has outscored its opponents 19-6 here while outshooting them 44.25-29.25 on average. They now find themselves a best-of-three final against Team Sweden or Team Europe away from winning a third straight major tournament.
At the heart of their success has been an unusual amount of continuity that began with Crosby getting paired with Bergeron and Marchand on the first day of training camp in Ottawa.
They’ve played together ever since.
Where normally a tournament of this nature is spent constantly shuffling the decks – even a perfect run at the 2014 Sochi Olympics saw frequent line changes – everything fell into place naturally this time around.
“I don’t even know what happened here,” said Babcock.
Having Crosby on top of his game has made a discernable difference. After a decade together on national teams, there was a natural comfort built in with the defensively-minded Bergeron. Marchand adds speed and an underrated amount of skill, and spent part of the summer skating in a group with Crosby near Halifax.
To see them at the World Cup, you might think they’ve played 70 games alongside one another rather than just seven.
“They’ve been able to skate on the puck and work together properly,” said Getzlaf. “It’s been nice to watch.”
This is the natural evolution of a group that has done nothing but win together. Crosby was only 22 when he scored the golden goal at the Vancouver Olympics, but he’s now almost two months past his 29th birthday.
He is in his prime – just like Toews, and most of the other men with the firmest grip on the rope.
They are not the kind of players that will panic when they suddenly find themselves trailing 2-1 in a game where they’ve absolutely dominated the run of play. Led by Crosby, they simply put their heads down and stick to the process and find a way.
“These kids now aren’t kids any more,” said Babcock.
