Watch the match between Canada and the Czech Republic on RDS on Monday at 6.30pm.
What Junior Team Canada has in store for us as the curtain rises, with the search for a 20and The gold medal in U20 hockey league history begins Monday (6:30 PM Quebec time, RDS), in Halifax.
On Sunday, Christmas Day, the Canadian players indulged in a moderate intensity workout in front of a handful of journalists, ahead of the match against Czechia, very likely one of the two best opponents they will see in the preliminary round.
In the center of Nova Scotia’s capital, near the Scotiabank Centre, a deadly calm reigned during the December 25 festivities. In stark contrast to the surge in Maple Leaf supporters expected starting Monday.
A completely different atmosphere will animate the Mooseheads amphitheater, in the QMJHL, when the puck will be deposited in the center of the Halifax ice for the first time in two decades, since the 2003 edition won by Russia, thanks to a victory in la final on ECJ.
Some may grow old when they hear that Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Jordin Tootoo, Carlo Colaiacovo and Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau were part of this silver medal squad.
Ironically, the hosting of the tournament was jointly awarded to Halifax and Moncton in early 2022, after it would normally have been hosted by two Russian cities, Novosibirsk and Omsk. However, this privilege was revoked in February in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Gaudreau opening… who knows what happens next?
For this first proper match of the competition, Dennis Williams and his assistants turned to Ben Gaudreau to guard the net for Canada.
“It will be an incredible feeling for me to put the skate first on the ice in front of this crowd. I was really happy when they told me I was going to goal. On the other hand, I have to try to approach it like any match. It’s a difficult mandate, but we need to take a step back, and also take a few deep breaths», argued Gaudreau, who explained to us with a smile that since his early childhood no one has called him Benjamin except his mother, «when he speaks to me in a of reproach. »
Assistant coach Stéphane Julien clarified after Sunday’s session, which lasted around 75 minutes, that the choice to start the preliminary phase with Gaudreau was not a disavowal by Thomas Milic, and that the system of alternating between the two goalkeepers is possible for the four round-robin matches.
Julien, head coach at Sherbrooke Phoenix, also praised the work done by winger Joshua Roy, one of three Quebec players in the squad, and a player whose style of play he knows inside out.
Even if he sees the choice of 5and round of CH since his GM acquired him from the Saint John Sea Dogs nearly two years ago, the 48-year-old hockey man finds ways to be amazed by forward Beauceron’s performance during the three-half prep.
“Honestly, it impresses me. He’s done well in every situation he’s been assigned, whether it’s five-on-five, shorthanded, or more recently on the power play. [NDLR : au détriment du défenseur de 18 ans Kevin Korchinski] “, underlined Julien, on Sunday.
In WJC history, Canada and the Czech Republic have played each other a total of 23 times, and the Maple Leafs have never lost in regulation, posting a record of 20 wins, two ties and one overtime loss.
In the spring of 2021, in the under 18 category, Gaudreau and Milic shared the net, helping Canada to climb to the top step of the podium.
As for the rest of the Canadian roster, he will stick to what he set up two days ago in the 5-3 win over Finland.
Thus, captain Shane Wright will find Connor Bedard and Brendan Othmann, while Adam Fantilli will rotate a trio completed by Logan Stankoven and Dylan Guenther.
Almost flawless in the preseason games, the department made up of Nathan Gaucher, Roy and Zach Dean will also remain intact, while Colton Dach will start from 4and unit with Zach Ostapchuk and Caedan Bankier, and that Reid Schaefer will be on the 13thand attacker.
Olen Zellweger and Ethan Del Mastro will patrol the first defensive pairing against the Czech Republic, while Tyson Hinds will complement the right-footed Brandt Clarke. Korchinski and Nolan Allen will also be in the top-6, while Jack Matier will be available as a 7and backwards.
Asked if Fantilli’s room for maneuver is diminishing after three games in which little has been seen – at least in enemy territory – Williams assured he had no worries.
“I think the most important thing is to generate scoring opportunities and not worry too much about them,” he said, referring to the rather uneventful pre-tournament schedule experienced by the pivot, ECJ’s second offensive unit.
“The last thing you want to see from our guys is that they hold the stick too tight due to pressure (to score). Adam is a great teammate, works very hard, has recovered many pucks and finished his checks so far. »
Williams agreed, however, that another player might have a chance to make the second power-play unit, if the University of Michigan Wolverines’ star stagnates in that aspect of the game.
On the Czech side, on the 6and The overall pick of the latest draft, defender David Jiříček, will launch into the fray against Canada in a difficult environment to say the least. The big right-hander played for the Monsters in Cleveland, AHL, on Friday and the flight he was supposed to take for the Maritimes on Sunday has been postponed, so at best he will have a session with his teammates before starting the tournament .
Logically, Jiříček, who hovers around points per game in his first season in North America (5 goals and 15 assists in 19 games), should be paired with another Blue Jackets pick, Stanislas Svozil.
It will be Jiříček’s chance to return to the field at the Junior World Cup, exactly 364 days after seeing his tournament conclude in the Czech opener, the result of a knee ligament tear that kept him on the sidelines for almost five months .
