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Canada, Sweden prepare for semifinal tilt
Team Canada held a media availability at its hotel on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday's semifinal against Sweden. The Swedes held an optional practice at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard, QC.
* Head coach Dominique Ducharme tried to shift the focus to Team Canada's semifinal opponent on Tuesday by bringing up Sweden's inability to translate preliminary round success to gold medals in recent years. But the Swedes say it's obvious who's under the most pressure Wednesday. "It's pretty hard to be a favoured team playing Canada in Canada," said head coach Tomas Monten. He pointed out that Sweden's older players, born in 1997, are used to the underdog role after finishing eighth at the 2015 under-18 championship, a result that still motivates them. "I think we have a group that doesn't feel the pressure," Monten said. "We haven't been the favourites and we don't feel like that going into this game either." As for Ducharme's comment? "We hope to prove him wrong."
* And the Swedes certainly object to the idea that they will wilt under pressure. "We have a different team this year than we had last year and the year before that and I think this group has a winner's mentality," said Leafs prospect Carl Grundström, one of eight players back from last year's group that finished fourth in Helsinki. "We have patience. Last year, we got a little bit stressed in the semifinal. Hopefully, this year we can keep the patience." Last year's tournament is a sore spot for many players. "I'm really revengeful and I think my team is as well," said Alexander Nylander, who leads the world juniors in scoring with 11 points. "I'm trying to take away what I learned and experienced last year and hopefully it won't happen again."
* The Swedes have cruised through the tournament in winning five games by a combined score of 26-9, but they haven't faced a top-tier team yet. "Every situation is different," said Ducharme. "We had some bumps in the road and we learned about ourselves. I don't know about them and how they feel. We feel that we're going to be having our best game tomorrow. At this point in the tournament, that's what you need. You need to be at the top of your game." Monten admits that his group hasn't faced a stiff test yet, but he also believes there are advantages to that. "We had the ability to use our players a little bit smarter," said Monten, "the feeling is we have a lot of juice left. We've rotated our lines and now we have to leave everything on the ice tomorrow."
* Canada's coaching staff is trying to keep their top players fresh by limiting shift lengths. "We're a really good team when we play fast, when we have short shifts," said captain Dylan Strome. "Every time we seem to get down in a game or get scored on we seem to take longer shifts. [Coach Ducharme is] not afraid to tell us when our shifts are too long and I think that's a good thing. Yesterday we were down and we started taking 50-second, minute-long shifts, and a little bit longer shifts and we're not as successful." When Canada has fallen behind, Strome has felt himself pressing. "That's something I definitely need to work on myself. You think you're doing so much when you're out there for longer periods of time, but you're not. You're staying out there too long and it's causing guys on the bench to not get out there as much and I think when we do that we're not as successful. So I think short shifts, keep them to 30 or 40 seconds (is important). We're a four-line team and we come in waves."
* The semifinal stage of the world juniors has seen some big moments for Canada in the last 10 years. A decade ago Jonathan Toews starred in a shootout against the United States while in 2009 Jordan Eberle put in a buzzer beater in Ottawa against Russia. Does Strome ever catch himself thinking about a similar star turn? "I don't think so. I'd like it to be not as close a game as that," the Erie Otter said to laughs. "Obviously those were some pretty tense moments in those type of games. I'm sure those guys were pretty nervous on the bench there, in those types of moments. So we're going to try to make it a game where we're comfortable the whole way through, hopefully get a lead and play with that for the rest of the game." The Canadian players want to feed off the energy created by the fans. "Every chance we get there's a loud noise being made and it really makes a difference," Strome said. "When we score we're such a better team than when we haven't scored in the game."
* When will Connor Ingram find out if he's starting? "I have no idea," he said with a smile. "You guys know as much as I do." If the Kamloops Blazer gets the call in a third straight game it's unclear if his mother, Joni, will be at the Bell Centre. "She wasn't feeling very good yesterday," said Ingram, a native of tiny Imperial, Saskatchewan. "She may stop coming to the games. It has been really hard on her." Ingram's mom gets very, very nervous when her son plays. She prefers to watch alone and sits separately from Ingram's dad and brothers. "I'm kind of worried about her a little bit," Ingram said. "We've been talking about it. It's getting that bad. She gave me a big hug after the game yesterday and she was crying a little bit. She's proud of me, but it's tough to see."
Ingram admits it has been tough to get in a rhythm, because he shared starts with Carter Hart in the round robin and only faced six shots when he played his first game against Slovakia. "Getting two starts in a row makes you feel a little better. I think the busier I am the better I get," he said.
Hart hasn't played since beating Latvia on Thursday. What's his mindset? "Making sure my game stays sharp in practice and even in warm-ups, making sure I'm seeing the puck and sticking to my game." While Ingram played well in a Game 7 loss to Kelowna in the WHL playoffs last season, Hart doesn't have much of a background in one-and-done situations. "I'm ready to go if I get called upon," the 18-year-old Everett Silvertips keeper said. "I feel sharp. I feel like my last two practices I've been seeing the puck well. I've been battling, I've been competing hard. If I get thrown into the game tomorrow I'm ready to go."
* While Ducharme was undecided about his starter when he met the media on Tuesday the coach did confirm he will start the semifinals with the same forward lines that produced five even-strength goals against the Czechs. What did he like the most about the group in the quarter-finals? "I liked [Blake] Speers' energy. He got a big goal and really energized our team. [Mitchell] Stephens coming back in our lineup was probably the turning point. And then Pierre-Luc Dubois, Nicolas Roy and Julien Gauthier got some big goals in the third period when the game was on the line, so we like the way our lines were going last night, but again we've got to be at our best tomorrow. Every line, every guy, every defenceman, everyone on the team needs to have a solid night."
* Projected Team Canada lineup for the semifinals:
Jost-Strome-Speers
Joseph-Barzal-Raddysh
Dubois-Roy-Gauthier
Dube-Cirelli-Stephens
McLeod
Chabot-Clague
Bean-Juulsen
Lauzon-Fabbro
Team Canada held a media availability at its hotel on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday's semifinal against Sweden. The Swedes held an optional practice at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard, QC.
* Head coach Dominique Ducharme tried to shift the focus to Team Canada's semifinal opponent on Tuesday by bringing up Sweden's inability to translate preliminary round success to gold medals in recent years. But the Swedes say it's obvious who's under the most pressure Wednesday. "It's pretty hard to be a favoured team playing Canada in Canada," said head coach Tomas Monten. He pointed out that Sweden's older players, born in 1997, are used to the underdog role after finishing eighth at the 2015 under-18 championship, a result that still motivates them. "I think we have a group that doesn't feel the pressure," Monten said. "We haven't been the favourites and we don't feel like that going into this game either." As for Ducharme's comment? "We hope to prove him wrong."
* And the Swedes certainly object to the idea that they will wilt under pressure. "We have a different team this year than we had last year and the year before that and I think this group has a winner's mentality," said Leafs prospect Carl Grundström, one of eight players back from last year's group that finished fourth in Helsinki. "We have patience. Last year, we got a little bit stressed in the semifinal. Hopefully, this year we can keep the patience." Last year's tournament is a sore spot for many players. "I'm really revengeful and I think my team is as well," said Alexander Nylander, who leads the world juniors in scoring with 11 points. "I'm trying to take away what I learned and experienced last year and hopefully it won't happen again."
* The Swedes have cruised through the tournament in winning five games by a combined score of 26-9, but they haven't faced a top-tier team yet. "Every situation is different," said Ducharme. "We had some bumps in the road and we learned about ourselves. I don't know about them and how they feel. We feel that we're going to be having our best game tomorrow. At this point in the tournament, that's what you need. You need to be at the top of your game." Monten admits that his group hasn't faced a stiff test yet, but he also believes there are advantages to that. "We had the ability to use our players a little bit smarter," said Monten, "the feeling is we have a lot of juice left. We've rotated our lines and now we have to leave everything on the ice tomorrow."
* Canada's coaching staff is trying to keep their top players fresh by limiting shift lengths. "We're a really good team when we play fast, when we have short shifts," said captain Dylan Strome. "Every time we seem to get down in a game or get scored on we seem to take longer shifts. [Coach Ducharme is] not afraid to tell us when our shifts are too long and I think that's a good thing. Yesterday we were down and we started taking 50-second, minute-long shifts, and a little bit longer shifts and we're not as successful." When Canada has fallen behind, Strome has felt himself pressing. "That's something I definitely need to work on myself. You think you're doing so much when you're out there for longer periods of time, but you're not. You're staying out there too long and it's causing guys on the bench to not get out there as much and I think when we do that we're not as successful. So I think short shifts, keep them to 30 or 40 seconds (is important). We're a four-line team and we come in waves."
* The semifinal stage of the world juniors has seen some big moments for Canada in the last 10 years. A decade ago Jonathan Toews starred in a shootout against the United States while in 2009 Jordan Eberle put in a buzzer beater in Ottawa against Russia. Does Strome ever catch himself thinking about a similar star turn? "I don't think so. I'd like it to be not as close a game as that," the Erie Otter said to laughs. "Obviously those were some pretty tense moments in those type of games. I'm sure those guys were pretty nervous on the bench there, in those types of moments. So we're going to try to make it a game where we're comfortable the whole way through, hopefully get a lead and play with that for the rest of the game." The Canadian players want to feed off the energy created by the fans. "Every chance we get there's a loud noise being made and it really makes a difference," Strome said. "When we score we're such a better team than when we haven't scored in the game."
* When will Connor Ingram find out if he's starting? "I have no idea," he said with a smile. "You guys know as much as I do." If the Kamloops Blazer gets the call in a third straight game it's unclear if his mother, Joni, will be at the Bell Centre. "She wasn't feeling very good yesterday," said Ingram, a native of tiny Imperial, Saskatchewan. "She may stop coming to the games. It has been really hard on her." Ingram's mom gets very, very nervous when her son plays. She prefers to watch alone and sits separately from Ingram's dad and brothers. "I'm kind of worried about her a little bit," Ingram said. "We've been talking about it. It's getting that bad. She gave me a big hug after the game yesterday and she was crying a little bit. She's proud of me, but it's tough to see."
Ingram admits it has been tough to get in a rhythm, because he shared starts with Carter Hart in the round robin and only faced six shots when he played his first game against Slovakia. "Getting two starts in a row makes you feel a little better. I think the busier I am the better I get," he said.
Hart hasn't played since beating Latvia on Thursday. What's his mindset? "Making sure my game stays sharp in practice and even in warm-ups, making sure I'm seeing the puck and sticking to my game." While Ingram played well in a Game 7 loss to Kelowna in the WHL playoffs last season, Hart doesn't have much of a background in one-and-done situations. "I'm ready to go if I get called upon," the 18-year-old Everett Silvertips keeper said. "I feel sharp. I feel like my last two practices I've been seeing the puck well. I've been battling, I've been competing hard. If I get thrown into the game tomorrow I'm ready to go."
* While Ducharme was undecided about his starter when he met the media on Tuesday the coach did confirm he will start the semifinals with the same forward lines that produced five even-strength goals against the Czechs. What did he like the most about the group in the quarter-finals? "I liked [Blake] Speers' energy. He got a big goal and really energized our team. [Mitchell] Stephens coming back in our lineup was probably the turning point. And then Pierre-Luc Dubois, Nicolas Roy and Julien Gauthier got some big goals in the third period when the game was on the line, so we like the way our lines were going last night, but again we've got to be at our best tomorrow. Every line, every guy, every defenceman, everyone on the team needs to have a solid night."
* Projected Team Canada lineup for the semifinals:
Jost-Strome-Speers
Joseph-Barzal-Raddysh
Dubois-Roy-Gauthier
Dube-Cirelli-Stephens
McLeod
Chabot-Clague
Bean-Juulsen
Lauzon-Fabbro
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