As Canada forward John Tavares noted, the team is still trying to find its comfort zone after less than a week on the ice together but the players certainly feel good about where theyre at. That means players like Connor McDavid, Brandon Saad, Auston Matthews and Colton Parayko. “But the identity and chemistry and the role players, I like the US more”.
Advertisement
This tournament can trace its roots back to the Canada Cups of the 1970s. Play wise it’s not, it’s all Canada.
There were a couple of factors in the genesis of the Canada Cup that no longer apply today. “Whoever I line up across I’m going to play him hard.do whatever I can to make Team USA successful”.
He also rubs shoulders on a regular basis with business leaders. But with this being a best-on-best global tournament, Backstrom said it’s like having Stanley Cup playoff games to start the season. Canada won four of the five events, with the Soviet Union claiming the championship in 1981.
Pre-season games are very vanilla as star players get lower minutes and don’t dress as prospects and fringe players try to make the team; the World Cup is an global tournament gives both players and fans the chance to see real hockey played for a reason.
“Guys know each other from playing on teams before, whether it’s All-Star games or playing for national teams”, Chara said.
“We’re in a unique situation because, unlike the other teams, we don’t have support from a national federation”, said Krueger. “And we did. We had a great team”.
This is the first of two games they’ll be playing against each other, the second being in Ottawa on September 10. “The intensity was incredible”. You’ll be telling players, “You deserve to play, but I have to go with this number now”.
US head coach John Tortorella said his team has plenty to work on despite opening its pre-tournament schedule with a win over its biggest rival, but he was a fan of how his players stuck together in an intense game – an intensity level that surprised some of the players at first.
It will be interesting to see if the World Cup of Hockey was instituted again as an global tournament because the NHL is looking to get out of the Olympics. In 1996, the Canada Cup changed its name to the World Cup of Hockey. A roster that deep and talented should be expected to win it all, and Canada is the favorites in this tournament. They got away with it this game (Canada went 0-for-3 on the power play), but that kind of recklessness could come back to bite them if they’re not careful. “I was ten years old, and I remember watching the finals and being really excited about it”. Also in addition to the countries more well-known for being good at hockey (Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic) there will be a Team Europe, which is a team from the remaining countries in Europe that don’t have enough players to compile their own roster.
So how did a career hockey man land at the top of a team in the Barclay’s Premier League?
“We definitely saw a lot of speed from Team North America right off the hop”, said Kruger.
Still, it’s not the Olympics. It is just that Canada’s agitators are quite frankly, better at it in addition to being more skilled.
“All the other athletes being around, being in the Olympic Village, the Olympic spirit”, he said. We knew that was going to happen.
“Whether you’re a hockey fan or not, it might pop on to your screen when you’re in some non-traditional hockey market”, Backes said.
The USA will be rotating their goalies between the games. Thats just the lay of the land of this tournament: I cant wait.
Advertisement
Neither team has the depth that the tournament’s powerhouse countries have. Eight teams will compete for the title of “World Champions” including the United States and Canada, one of the sport’s fiercest worldwide rivalries.
