World Junior Hockey Championship | Canada Goes for Gold Despite Pandemic Hurdles

The obstacles of COVID-19 aren’t limited to Junior Team Canada, but they’ve certainly got them in trouble as they prepare for the World Junior Hockey Championship.

For the second year in a row, the virus has entered the tournament, which will take place in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alta., And Canada has seen its number of preseason games drop from three to just one.

Although their preparation was shaken, Dave Cameron’s men beat Russia 6-4 on Thursday night and they showed that the chemistry seemed to be settled anyway. The head coach admits, however, that match situations are quite different from those he can create in practice.

“We had relied on the three preseason games to assess our team in the game, but the circumstances were different,” said Cameron. You can play hard against your teammates in training, but it’s against an opponent, the level of competition, level of excitement and execution is taken to another level. ”

Canada presented one of the best teams in its history in the last tournament, when 20 of its 25 players were selected in the first round of the NHL Draft. Still, that didn’t stop him from losing 2-0 to the United States in the gold medal game, suffering the first shutout in its history in the tournament final.

Forward Cole Perfetti is one of three players from Canada who are back this year and who have lived through the disappointment. The Winnipeg Jets’ first-round pick was happy to see Hockey Canada planning a short team outing to Banff to build the chemistry and for players and coaches to get to know each other better.

According to Perfetti, this kind of initiative is as important as the pre-season games and training to bring the team together.

“We were able to stay in Banff and spend more time together. Individually we know we have talent, intensity and a good work ethic, but you have to put it all together and become the best team. We have great confidence that we can win this tournament, but you have to become a family. We’ve had great things together in Banff and we’re getting better every day, ”said Perfetti.

As every year, Canada is one of the favorites for obtaining the gold medal and when we look at its training, we understand why. There are 12 first-round picks, not counting Shane Wright and Connor Bedard – both of whom could be selected for No. 1 in 2022 and 2023. Six players have professional experience and three have played a few games in the NHL this season, namely Mason McTavish, Jake Neighbors and Perfetti.

Hockey Canada executives are used to forming their team as if it were a professional club and it shows when you look at the 14 forwards who have been selected. There is a good mix of talent, speed, intensity, character and ability to play in all situations.

This squad seems less explosive than in the last tournament, when all of Team Canada’s junior forwards were selected in the first round of the NHL Draft, but Cameron is hopeful he can meet whatever challenges lie ahead. Both in attack and defense.

Cameron wants players to buy into his system of play and understand their role, although it may be more defensive than their junior team.

“A lot of these players have offensive roles in their junior teams and I have to make them understand that we want to generate attack while reducing the number of chances for the opponent to score,” he observed. This is the shot of the game over 200 feet. When the attacks switch from both sides, players start to open up the game and they can make bad decisions. ”

Canada will face less competition in the preliminary round, in Group A. It will cross swords with the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany and Finland.

The Canadian troops will try to win back the gold medal by starting their tournament on Sunday night, against the Czechs.

Captain Canada

Returning for a second year in a row, Kaiden Guhle has been named Junior Team Canada captain. He took over from Bowen Byram and Dylan Cozens, who took over from Kirby Dach when he was injured in a pre-season game.

Guhle was previously captain of Canada Red at the 2018 World Under-17 Challenge, and he briefly played that role with the Prince Albert Raiders in the shortened 2020-21 season.

“Kaiden is a professional. He arrives at the arena and he works hard every day. He is very humble and he lived the experience of the tournament last year. It’s going to be good for the team, but also for the coaches, ”said Cameron.

“When you’re the captain of a team, you’re the person others look to. You have to be there for your teammates when they need you. You just have to do the right things, both on and off the ice, ”said Guhle.

Guhle became the third prospect for the Montreal Canadiens to be named captain of Junior Team Canada, after Éric Desjardins in 1989 and Kyle Chipchura in 2006.

Guhle won’t be the Canadiens’ only hope to wear the “C” in front of his jersey at this tournament. Jan Mysak has been named captain of the Czech Republic for the second year in a row.

Eyes on the future

Canada is used to presenting an experienced roster made up of several 19-year-olds at the World Junior Hockey Championship. There was still a small place for Wright and Bedard.

Wright is currently the favorite to be the first overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft and is well known to Hockey Canada. Just a few months ago, he helped Canada win gold at the World Under-18 Championship with nine goals and 14 points in five games.

Wright attended the Junior Team Canada selection camp for the previous tournament, but was unsuccessful. He will seek to be a leader even though he is the second youngest player in the Maple Leaf.

Bedard, who is Canada’s youngest player, is considered by many to be the top prospect for the 2023 draft. He became the seventh 16-year-old to break through to the Canadian team, after Wayne Gretzky, Eric Lindros, Jason Spezza, Jay Bouwmeester, Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid.

Across the tournament, Wright and Bedard won’t be the only eligible prospects in the next draft to garner attention.

Finns Brad Lambert and Joakim Kemell, Czech David Jiricek, American Logan Cooley, Slovaks Simon Nemec and Juraj Slafkovsky and Russian Danila Yurov are among others the most watched hopes for the 2022 draft.

Russian Matvei Michkov and Slovak Dalibor Dvorsky are the hopes that will warm Bedard for first place in 2023.

The QMJHL in the spotlight with Canada

For a fourth consecutive year, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is well represented with at least four players on Junior Team Canada.

Quebec forwards Mavrik Bourque, Xavier Bourgault and Elliot Desnoyers as well as New Brunswick defenseman Lukas Cormier are all making their first appearance in the tournament and for Bourgault, the experience will be a little more special.

Selected in the first round by the Edmonton Oilers in the last NHL Draft, Bourgault will be able to show the full extent of his talent to his future fans, having amassed a goal and an assist in two away preseason games with the Alberta team.

“It is one more motivation to participate in this tournament in Edmondon. I’m the only player from Canada to have been drafted by the Oilers so it’s special to come back here and it’s going to be fun to play in front of the fans, ”said Bourgault.

The QMJHL will also be represented on four European teams, namely Switzerland (five), the Czech Republic (four), Slovakia (two) and Austria (one).