Canada Battles USA for Spot in Semi-Final on New Years Eve
PHOTO BY SCOTT VANKOUGHNETT
OTTAWA – On the Eve of the most anticipated match up at this year’s World Junior Championships, Canada and the United States are preparing for another epic battle with a spot in the semi-finals on the line.
Both teams come in sporting 3-0 records, with Canada winning their games 8-1, 15-0, and 5-1, and the United States winning 8-2, 4-3, and 12-0. The winner of this match will ensure a bye into the semi-finals, whereas the loser will play in one of the quarterfinal matches on January 2nd.
“Our job as coaches is to prepare them to give them the best information we can, and hope that our guys are ready to apply the principles of teamwork,” said Canadian head coach Pat Quinn. “Sometimes they get pre-occupied during practice thinking ahead to tomorrow, but we have to play in the moment, and the moment will start for us when the puck drops.”
The last time Canada and the United States played each other in the World Junior’s was last year in Pardubice, Czech Republic in the semi-finals. Canada dominated the game and won 4-1. They moved on to, and eventually won the gold medal in the final against Sweden. This was the second year in a row that Canada forced the US to the bronze medal game, as they beat them 3-2 in a shootout the year before that in Leksand, Sweden.
“It’s going to be a big battle tomorrow and whoever goes out there and sticks to their system the best will win the game.”
“It was a very memorable game in Canadian history,” said Canada’s assistant captain John Tavares. “What Jonathan Toews did was one of the great moments in the World Juniors and ever since then the rivalry’s gotten bigger and bigger with the US.”
The American’s assistant captain, and Flyers second-overall draft pick James VanRiemsdyk agrees with Tavares that the rivalry has grown over the past couple of years.
“When it goes to a shootout, like two years ago, it shows that both teams are really close,” he explained. “It’s going to be a big battle tomorrow and whoever goes out there and sticks to their system the best will win the game.”
The US comes into the game with the top line in the tournament, featuring Justin Schroeder, Van Riemsdyk, and Colin Wilson. Canadian forward Zach Boychuk isn’t taking anything away from the Americans, and knows they will bring their best game.
“They play on North American ice just like us. We know their first line has been great the past two years at this tournament, and this year they have a lot more depth up front,” he explained. “We need to have all of our lines coming in waves, play our best game, and hopefully we can get the win.”
Van Riemsdyk believes that, like Boychuk, they can’t take the Canadians lightly.
“With a team like Canada, they have high-end talent and a lot of depth,” he explained. “They have 8 or 9 guys that could be playing in the NHL and still have one of the best team’s here. Its going to be a bit intimidating, [with the crowd], but if we go out there and dictate the play, we should be fine.”
Tavares emphasized that the team is prepared to play the States and realized that a trip to the semi-finals is on the line.
“Everyone’s looking forward to it,” he explained. “It means a lot for what’s at stake. We know the importance and we’ll be ready.”
The starting goalies for both sides will be Dustin Tokarski for Canada, while the US counters with Thomas McCollum.
Gametime is 7:30 pm at ScotiaBank Place.
Topics: Dustin Tokarski, James Van Riemsdyk, Team Canada, Team USA, Thomas McCollum, World Junior Championships, Zach Boychuk
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