BY PATRICK KING
sportsnet.ca
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Dave Cameron isn't about to cash in his blueprint just yet.
The Canadians executed a perfect textbook game against the Americans in the 4-1 semifinal win at the world junior hockey championship on Monday. Team Canada harnessed the emotion of a pro-Canada crowd and never let up as the game went on.
It's the type of game-plan that could lead the Canadian head coach to riches.
"If I can get a blueprint for that, I'd be a multi-millionaire because I would just sell it to teams," Cameron said. "It's about coaching your team in stages and getting them to believe in themselves and getting them to turn their individual skills over to the team."
Canada dominated the game from the outset, much to the delight of the crowd. The Canadians outshot the Americans 41-23 and never let the foot up off the gas pedal.
It was sweet revenge for the four returning players who lost to the Americans in last year's world junior final in Saskatoon. The revenge exacted by the Canadians, however, was a point of pride for every player wearing the maple leaf.
"I remember watching (last year's final) on TV and having this bitter taste in my mouth for a few weeks afterwards," first-year defenceman Erik Gudbranson said. "It was tough watching that (overtime) goal go in, but beating them (on Monday) on their home soil was really fun.
"I don't think the focus was going on (the four returning players) necessarily. I think it was important for us to come out as a team with that same bitter taste in the mouth."
The Canadians finally got the type of goaltending performance they missed through much of the tournament. Mark Visentin stood tall in Canada's net, but was largely untested due to the surprising domination from a much-maligned defensive core.
Team USA was never able to get settled and into a rhythm offensively, which was a true testament to the perseverance and dedication of the seven defencemen.
"We played exceptional tonight," Gudbranson said.
Despite playing in back-to-back nights, Canada looked like the rested team. The Americans got off to a slow start and were never able to recover after two days off. The compete-level was never the same from the outset as Canada dictated the play from start to finish.
"They dominated us," a candid Ryan Bourque said after the game. "I think since the drop of the puck they out-competed us."
"It's tough to admit that they competed harder than us," American forward Nick Bjugstad added. "It's just a tough pill to swallow."
Perhaps the toughest pill to swallow for the Americans was looking their goaltender in the eye after the loss. Jack Campbell was the lone player wearing the red, white and blue that matched the intensity of the opposition. It's likely the score would have been much higher in Canada's favour had it not been for Campbell.
"Seeing Jack after the game -- it's really hard for us," Bourque said. "He was there all night. He was there to shut the door, but we didn't give him much as a team as a whole."
"I do feel sorry that we let him down because he really didn't let us down at all," Bjugstad concurred.
In addition to a textbook game-plan, Team Canada wore down the Americans with its brand of physical play. There was hardly a check the Canadians didn't finish and they constantly put traffic in front of Campbell.
The U.S. won its pool against Finland, Switzerland, Slovakia and Germany. None of those teams presented the Americans with much in the way of a physical brand of hockey.
The Canadians punished the Americans throughout the game and gave the U.S. team a form of adversity it had yet to face.
"They definitely wanted to play a physical game against us," American forward Kyle Palmieri said. "In our round robin games, we weren't really used to it. We didn't play any teams that were too physical with us. They came out and they played to their strengths which is playing a hitting game, playing a North American, north-south game. They were laying the body on us early and all around they played a solid game."
Team Canada advances to the gold-medal game for the 10th-consecutive year. They will face a Russian team that has not been to the final since 2007, when they lost to Canada. That was the third-consecutive year the Canadians beat the Russians in the tournament final.
It is also the first time since 2002 that neither of the top teams from each pool advanced to the final. Similarly, Canada and Russia met in that final, with the Russians winning 5-4.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
The win was special for Canadian forward Marcus Foligno, who was actually born in Buffalo and had the option to play for either country as a dual citizen. Foligno doesn't regret his decision now that Canada beat the U.S. and offered this response when asked how satisfying it was to beat the Americans.
"It's unbelievable," he said. "Too bad it wasn't in a gold-medal game."
