Team Canada goaltenders Corey Crawford, left, and Braden Holtby congratulate each other on the team’s 5-2 win over Team United States during an exhibition World Cup of Hockey game in Ottawa, Ontario, on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016.
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While Canadian players were given Sunday off to rest, relax, tour the nations capital and maybe even play a round of golf, theyll be back at work Monday morning before packing their bags to head to Pittsburgh for one last tune-up against Russian Federation on Wednesday night at the Consol Energy Center.
You’ve got your barbecue fired up, and you’ve called everyone you know to come over.
“Obviously, didn’t get the result we wanted (Friday)”, Tavares said. “We’re hitting goal posts, we’re missing open nets, little things like that you saw (Friday) night”. Thats our biggest weaknesses in the two games, so we have a little bit of work to do as we go through and prepare for the start of the tournament..
Joe Pavelski of the San Jose Sharks will captain the American team at the National Hockey League (NHL) World Cup of Hockey, USA Hockey has announced.
Before Saturday’s game, Team USA head coach John Tortorella was concerned his team was sloppy in the win Friday night – Canada outshoot the US 43-25 in that game – and wanted to see a more cohesive effort this time around. There is nothing new to report in regards to negotiations with the Sabres, a source said, and the 21-year-old will play in the global tournament without a deal in place.
“There’s no excuse, both teams had to be ready for it and had the same situation in front of them, but they played better than us (Saturday)”. We cleaned up some stuff defensively as well and we all thought it was a pretty good effort..
Tortorella said he can’t afford to wait because of the short tournament.
“Quite honestly I felt we played better minutes (Saturday) than we did (Friday)”, U.S coach John Tortorella said. I just wasn’t sure if it was stick or skate. If other people are going, they tend to take some ice time.
Ben Bishop will back up Jonathan Quick, who is expected to play the first and second periods, on Friday night.
What I do wonder is what it means when Crosby reclaims his spot in the next game with Bergeron and Marchand and where Giroux or Seguin will find themselves. Sean Couturier and Shayne Gostisbehere will suit up for Team North America. “So I don’t think we’re too anxious about that”.
North America scored three goals in a 4:43 span of the second period and Matt Murray made 23 saves in a 4-0 victory over a European side that had several players still adjusting to playing on the smaller NHL-size ice.
Its really important (for confidence), added Babcock. If either team makes it to the final, then that’s the only place they can meet again. When you don’t score, you press. I think we did that for the most part – we established our forecheck and we were able to generate some power plays.
The Muskoka cottage region in Ontario is ideal for families looking for a few days of fresh air.
Congrats to MacKinnon and Team North America for their exhibition game win ahead of an exhibition tournament being held later this month.
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Sure, the result will be meaningless when Canada and the Americans face off on September 20th in Toronto but messages have been sent both ways now.
