Canadian hockey fans expect success on the international stage, at every tournament, with both the men’s and women’s programs. It isn’t in our DNA to accept anything but the opportunity to “play for gold.”
I’ve been on record, from the start of Canada’s training camp in Oakville, Ont., stating this version of Canada’s World Junior team would be facing some of the stiffest competition they have seen in several years. The current cycle of U20 players from the USA, Sweden and Slovakia, are elite. Not to mention the uber-competitive makeup of Team Czechia and upstart Team Germany.
The preliminary round went about as expected. Outside of the game versus Team Latvia, a 10-0 victory for Canada, the other three games (Sweden, Finland, Germany) were pretty evenly matched.
Here are my Team Canada notes from the preliminary round:
Between the posts
• Mathis Rousseau ran the table for Team Canada in the preliminary round. He won three of four starts and posted a 1.75 GAA and .924 save percentage. Three of the seven goals he allowed came when Canada was playing a man short. He had a shutout versus Team Latvia.
• Rousseau was average against Team Germany in the round-robin finale, but overall, he was Canada’s most consistent player over their first four games. He faced a significant amount of high-danger chances and came up with timely stops.
• Who knows what the result could have looked like if Rousseau didn’t set the tone with this big save in the first game against Team Finland?
Defenceman
• Maveric Lamoureux and Denton Mateychuk have taken on the responsibility as the top pairing for Team Canada. Both have been deployed in all situations and averaged over 24:00 TOI per game. Mateychuk has contributed four assists, while Lamoureux has scored one goal and two assists. They are both an impressive plus-6 heading into the quarterfinal match-up versus Team Czechia.
The two defencemen complement each other. Mateychuck is best described as a “transitional/two-way D,” while Lamoureux is a ”two-way D” who gaps up physically and uses his length (six-foot-seven) to gap up and kill plays.
• Noah Warren, Jake Furlong and Oliver Bonk have been taking turns on the second pairing. Furlong looks to be locked into the No. 3 slot at even strength and the penalty-kill. Warren takes shifts on the penalty-kill as well. Bonk is being slotted on one of the Canadian power-play units that employs four forwards and one defenceman.
• Ty Nelson and Jorian Donovan round out the defencemen for Team Canada. Both have been used sparingly. Donovan only took six shifts in the game versus Germany, totalling 4:13 TOI. Nelson clocked in for nine shifts and 6:47 TOI.
Donovan is much more defensive than Nelson. Nelson has the skill to transition pucks and join the rush as an extra layer offensively.
Forwards
The forward group, as a whole, has been a work in progress in terms of playing to an identity:
• Before the tournament started, it was widely anticipated that Matthew Poitras, Jordan Dumais and Matthew Savoie would assist with carrying the load offensively. Things haven’t gone spectacularly well so far. The three forwards have combined for only three goals and four assists.
Savoie missed the Germany game with an undisclosed injury, while Poitras and Dumais registered a goal and assist respectively. Poitras and Dumais upped their compete level overall, which is a positive heading into the quarterfinal.
The rest of the forward group has had a range of impact:
• Owen Beck has been deployed at even strength and the penalty-kill throughout the tournament. He chipped in with a goal versus Germany. Beck is a two-way forward who takes key faceoffs and matches up against top six forwards. He’s coming off his best game versus the Germans. He played fast and took crucial faceoffs.
Beck plays an important role for Canada. Shutting down scoring lines is as good as producing offence in big games.
• Keeping with the theme of shutting down top lines, Owen Allard and Easton Cowan will also play the role of energy/checkers for the remainder of the tournament. Neither player sees any time on the power play. Both contribute at even strength and the penalty-kill.
Cowan scored his first goal of the tournament into an empty German net, and Allard finished the round-robin with two goals and one assist. Cowan was plus-2 and Allard plus-3 over the first four games.
• Carson Rehkopf (two goals, two assists), Matthew Wood (one goal, two assists) and Connor Geekie (two goals, one assist) have contributed some secondary scoring. All three have the skill set to go to another level offensively and have shown positive signs. Having these three, big-body forwards working in the trenches and chipping in offensively will increase the group’s chances of success.
(Geekie was ejected after one shift in the German game for an illegal check to the head. This isn’t the space to debate the call; international rules clearly state players are held accountable for head contact. Let’s just say it wouldn’t have been a penalty in North America.)
• Brayden Yager had his most complete game versus Germany. He played quicker and took the puck to the net off the rush. His defensive detail has been reliable the entire tournament as well. Yager has two goals and two assists. He’s a tidy plus-5 as well.
• Canadian captain Fraser Minten would likely admit his tournament has been a bit up and down. There have been some untimely turnovers in his zone, but also some impactful shifts in the offensive zone. Overall, he, too, is being asked to match up against top opponents and take shifts in all situations. Minten had one goal and two assists in the round-robin. He finished with a plus-2 rating.
Celebrini the contributor
Team Canada only has one player in the top 20 in tournament scoring, and it’s top-rated draft prospect Macklin Celebrini:
• Celebrini scored four goals and four assists in Canada’s first four games. He was also plus-6.
(Note: Canada had seven players land in the top 30 scorers at last year’s event in Halifax and Moncton.)
• Celebrini was also at his best in the game versus Germany. His pace, compete and skill were on full display.
• Celebrini doesn’t kill penalties. With Canada starting the game with Geekie’s five-minute major penalty, Celebrini didn’t sniff his first shift until the 15:00 mark of the first period. He was shot out of a cannon when his number was finally called.
Outlook
Nothing has changed.
This group is surely going to empty the tank against Czechia. Hopefully, Canada gets some tournament-best results from their secondary scorers, plays with defensive zone detail and commitment, and Rousseau continues to come up with timely saves between the posts.
This is a team that needs to buy into the roles the coaching staff has tasked them with. They need to play with structure and outwork their opponent.
Team Canada isn’t the juggernaut they were last year, but it wouldn’t be wise to underestimate the kind of compete this group of players is capable of providing when it means the most.
I’m predicting a Team Canada victory over Czechia, but it definitely won’t be easy.
