Hosts open with big 16-2 win over Germany
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| Dylan Cozens in action for the Hurricanes in 2018-19. |
On Saturday inside the bubble environment at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alta., Canada opened preliminary round play crushing Germany 16-2. It was the type of game that really does Canada no favours in the grand scheme of things, because they were that much of a superior side.
The game did help the Canadian players shake off rust as most haven’t played in a truly meaningful game since March due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world. Saturday’s game was played without fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For most of the players on Canada’s roster, this was just their second contest since March. Canada blanked Russia 1-0 in a spirited pre-tournament game on Wednesday.
In Saturday’s encounter against Germany, it felt like you could only shake off the rust for so long. Eventually, the blowout hit a point where one worried that the victory ceased being helpful to Canada.
Germany showed up in the Alberta capital city without four players due to positive COVID-19 tests in Lukas Reichel, Nino Kinder, Elias Lindner and netminder Tobias Ancicki.
On top of that, Germany had nine players isolating in hotel rooms on Saturday night because of positive COVID-19 upon arriving in Edmonton.
Germany played with 14 skaters in nine forwards and five defenceman for the second straight game played on two consecutive nights. Finland downed Germany 5-3 on Christmas Day, which marked the opening day of the preliminary round.
Germany was heading into Saturday’s clash with Canada at a clear disadvantage.
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| Kaiden Guhle in action for the Raiders last season. |
Dylan Cozens, a star centre with the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes, had a hat trick and three assists for Canada.
Dawson Mercer, Philip Tomasino, Alex Newhook and Peyton Krebs each scored twice for the host country. Kaiden Guhle, Ryan Suzuki, Jakob Pelletier, Thomas Harley and Connor McMichael potted singles to round out the scoring for the Canadian side.
Guhle, who is a star offensive-defenceman for the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders, had the opening tally of Saturday’s contest.
John Peterka and Florian Elias replied with singles for Germany.
Devon Levi stopped eight-of-nine shots over two periods to pick up the win in goal for Canada. Dylan Garand of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers played the third period in relief turning away five-of-six shots sent his way.
Arno Tiefensee turned away seven-of-11 shots to take the loss in goal for Germany. He was pulled after the first period.
Jonas Gahr played the final two frames in relief turning away 21-of-33 shots fired his way.
The biggest adversity Canada faced was losing defenceman and Prince Albert, Sask., product Braden Schneider, who plays for the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings, in the first period after he was ejected for receiving a major penalty for a head check.
The opening part of Canada’s schedule in the preliminary round is fairly light. Canada’s second game is Sunday against Slovakia (5 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN). While Slovakia is 1-0, that is a contest were Canada will be a heavy favourite and should not have any difficulty in winning.
Canada’s third game of the preliminary round is Tuesday against Switzerland (5 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN), and that contest is another that should easily go in the win column for Canada.
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| Bowen Byram in action for the Giants in 2019-20. |
Canada’s final game of preliminary round on Thursday against Finland (5 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN) will be the host side’s first true test in a game that counts in the tournament standings.
Having those three easier opening games in succession could create an opportunity for Canadian players to develop bad habits.
Canadian head coach Andre Tourigny, who is the head coach of the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s, and his staff will have a big challenge on their hands that way.
The saving grace might be the fact Canada did play Russia in a pre-tournament game. Canada and Russia are the favourites to win gold at a world juniors where at least half the teams are carrying watered down rosters due to players testing positive for COVID-19.
While that encounter was a pre-tournament game, both sides played like it did mean something. Of course, Canadian captain Kirby Dach, who is a centre for the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks and an alumnus of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, was lost for the entire world junior tournament injuring his wrist on what seemed like a harmless bodycheck in the centre ice zone in the third period.
With International Ice Hockey Federation rules declaring a team must have a player designated as a captain for each game played, Canada has elected to rotate the captain duties between Cozens and offensive-defenceman Bowen Byram, who plays for the WHL’s Vancouver Giants.
Connor McMichael, who is a centre for the OHL’s London Knights, have been named a new alternate captain for Canada.
Despite losing Dach, the pre-tournament contest with Russia gave the Canadian players an idea of where their focus and intensity level needs to be when playing the tougher teams at this event.
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| Braden Schneider in action for the Wheat Kings last season. |
Canada has to continue to keep the foot on the gas against the weaker teams to prevent developing bad habits that could be costly against stronger opponents.
If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.
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