There’s no room for excuses – it’s now or never for Canada’s World Junior team
OTTAWA – When Canada stepped off the ice after the 4-1 loss to the United States on New Year’s Eve, those who didn’t leave for the exits 10 minutes early were making their displeasure known.
The 18,000+ fans rained boos all night, letting the refs have it every time the Canadians took a penalty – 11 times total. But soon enough, the boos were directed at the team itself for playing one of the most undisciplined games ever seen at a top-level World Junior Championship event.
It was a disaster. A complete and utter (hockey) catastrophe. On a night most people want to celebrate, the packed crowd at the Canadian Tire Centre left in droves to escape into the dark, gloomy night, wondering what just happened.
Look, it’s a junior hockey tournament. We’re talking about a bunch of teenagers here. It’s all meaningless in the grand scheme of things. But this tournament means a lot to Canadians, especially when it’s on home ice – and in the nation’s capital, nonetheless. What Canadian hockey fans have witnessed over the last week has been baffling, for lack of a better term.
On paper, it’s a skilled team with so much potential. And we talked about that after the loss to Latvia – the team needed a few lineup changes, sure, but the raw talent was there. The Americans are the defending champions and many expect them to repeat, so it’s not like the loss was shocking, by any means.
But it was how it happened that frustrated so many people in attendance. Everything was so preventable. The trip to the penalty box was as bad as you’ll find at a tournament like this. Not every call was warranted on either side. But you don’t take 11 minor penalties and allow a back-breaking three power-play goals against without taking downright stupid penalties.
The only goal on Tuesday that wasn’t a power-play marker was the empty-netter on a brutal giveaway by Easton Cowan – who, minutes earlier, took a boarding penalty that resulted in the 3-1 goal. Again, it was all preventable – especially when you look at the fact that Canada outshot the Americans 39-28. Imagine if they weren’t disrupting their momentum with avoidable penalties all game long. When Canada desperately needed a goal in the third, they took four minor penalties.
🇨🇦 coach Dave Cameron on how he will address discipline issue:
“Can't. I can't address it. They know it. They know the penalties are penalties. You talk all you want … They have to decide as simple as that."
Says tournament is too short to start benching guys after every call
Penalty issues for Canada aren’t new. But when you sit sixth in both penalty kill and power-play percentage – and have the worst scoring efficiency in the tournament (albeit they lead everyone with 173 shots) – you can’t afford to keep giving your opponents opportunities. And that’s the thing: Canada has taken the most penalties, yet they’ve registered the most shots. They also have allowed the fewest goals per game at 1.72. Goaltender Carter George has two shutouts in three starts. When everything is working – like it did when they went a combined 5-0 between selection camp and the pre-tournament – this Canadian team can be a truly dangerous squad. But when they keep shooting themselves in the foot, bad things happen.
People expect excellence from the Canadian junior national team. Since 1999, they’ve failed to medal just five times. Outside of 2013 and 2014, the last time Canada failed to medal in consecutive years was from 1979-81. No team has more gold medals than them in tournament history. So when the tournament is on home ice, expectations are exceptionally high – especially after finishing fifth a year ago.
Members from this year’s World Junior Championship team won gold at the past three Hlinka Gretzky Cup. There are holdovers from the bronze medal U-18 World Champions in 2023 and some from the 2024 gold medalists, too. There’s a ton of winning pedigree on this team, so it’s not like the age group is an issue or anything. By all accounts, it’s hard to believe they’re struggling this bad. But the baffling lineup decisions are still occurring. Carson Rehkopf and Porter Martone have been money together in Brampton – why haven’t they both been in the lineup at the same time? Why is there so much hesitation to adjust lines during a game? What will it take to get Beau Akey more involved?
But it’s not all on the coaching staff. They’re not the ones playing the game. There are still too many instances of muffin passes falling dead. Gavin McKenna, in particular, seems to be trying too hard to play the game differently from the one he’s used to in the WHL. Just beat everyone with your skill, dude – that’s what makes you special. Not to mention that Canada has just one 5-on-5 goal over the past three games, and it came off a fluky bounce off the backboards and off the German goaltender. It doesn’t take Scotty Bowman to tell you that’s unsustainable.
Talking to scouts during the game on Tuesday, many chalked up the lack of scoring to simple bad luck. Many others blamed it on the coaching. Either way, there’s no easy fix.
Canada will face Czechia in the quarterfinal on Thursday. It’s a rematch from last year when the Czechs managed to go on to win bronze. They met in the pre-tournament, and while Canada dominated the shot count and ultimately won, it was hardly an inspiring performance.
There’s no room for mistakes, no room for excuses anymore. If Canada is going to bounce back and show they can be a serious contender, they need to burn the tape, throw everything at the table and start beating teams with skill. Clearly, the over-the-top physical game isn’t working – and IIHF refs are known for calling a tighter game.
For all the talk about those who didn’t make the roster, they’ve got plenty of players who put up 50 goals or 100 points last year and many more who are set to join the club. There isn’t a team in the tournament with this much pure skill. But they’re not clicking in the most incredible fashion possible. At this point, it’s too late to start finding out what works and what doesn’t – but nothing since the game against Finland has looked promising.
Hockey Canada takes great pride in the World Junior Championship and its pageantry. If they’re going to avoid the ignominy of losing on home ice, they can’t afford any more mistakes. They don’t seem to have the nation’s belief in them right now, but they can change that on Thursday night.
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