The Canadians played another exhibition game Wednesday, this time against the Czechs, and after jumping out to another early lead they won decisively again, 5-0.
The team has not allowed a goal yet through its exhibition games, which would seem to be a good thing. However, that may not have been the way the coaching staff wanted to win these games — it’s good to feel a little pressure in the tune-up games so you’re not coming in to the tournament overconfident.
Canada plays one more exhibition game Friday against Switzerland before the tournament gets going on Dec. 26, but the lines and power-play units are beginning to solidify and we’re getting an idea of which players could be key to a gold medal effort. Here are some things we’re taking away from Wednesday’s win.
Canada’s only undrafted player could be its most important…
Philippe Myers is a 6-foot-3, right-shooting defenceman with a smooth stride and good movement. That describes just about everything you could ask for in an NHL blue-line prospect, right?
So you have to wonder how in the world Myers was passed over by every NHL team. He’s the only player on this Canadian team who wasn’t drafted into the NHL, instead he was signed by the Philadelphia Flyers who look like they stole a good one for nothing at all. How Myers’ size and skill set wasn’t even worth a seventh-round flyer to any NHL team is a mystery that could come back to haunt the 29 teams who said thanks, but no thanks.
In Gare Joyce’s preview of the Team Canada blue line he made this point:
In this tournament or any short tournament like it, you’re looking for one horse you can ride, a d-man who can log big minutes, match up against other nations’ top lines, get the puck out of the Canadian end and, ideally, play the point on the first power play.
Naturally, the assumption was that Canada’s “horse” in this regard would most likely be Thomas Chabot, the only returning blueliner from last year’s team who played one game with the Ottawa Senators this season and has 20 points in 14 games with the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs.
But in early viewings of Team Canada in exhibition matches, Myers is standing out the most.
A number of times, Myers would effortlessly skate the puck from one end of the ice into the offensive end, as he did in assisting Canada’s third goal. While the Czechs were changing, Myers brought the puck down unchallenged all the way into the Czech zone where he made a quick dish to a streaking Dylan Strome who buried the chance.
Myers was also manning the point on Canada’s 1-3-1 style power play (Chabot was on the other unit), so he checks off that box as well.
We’ll see how he handles the teams better suited to take a run at a medal (Russia, U.S.) in more meaningful games very soon, but the early reviews are very positive for Philippe Myers.
Connor Ingram‘s big test wasn’t really a test at all
After Carter Hart got the start Monday against Finland — and he may have the inside track on the No. 1 job — Ingram got a chance to show he’s up for the job against the Czechs. Only, he didn’t really have to face many difficult opportunities.
Not to say the game was completely devoid of chances for the Czechs, but Ingram’s first real test didn’t come until about three minutes into the second period when Radek Koblizek got free for a little break on Ingram, which the Canadian goalie turned away. Ingram faced another breakaway, this one from about centre ice, with 6:54 left in the second as Lukas Andel broke free. Ingram stopped that one with the blocker.
Overall, Ingram stopped all 21 shots he faced, but you can probably count on one hand how many of them were really high quality. So no one won, or lost, the job against Finland on Monday or the Czechs on Wednesday, but both goalies were perfect and passed every test they did take. For a country that has had its problems in net at this tournament in recent years, it’s a minor victory that neither goalie has given any reason to doubt their ability in the pre-tournament exhibitions.
Canada needed to cut down on penalties and accomplished just that
As Sportsnet’s Eric Engels wrote after the Finland game earlier this week, Canada had a problem with discipline in last year’s WJC and got off to a bad start in the exhibitions this year, taking six stick infraction penalties against the Finns.
It was something the team needed to correct fast.
Against the Czechs, Canada didn’t get its first penalty until there was 5:45 left in the third period, so they were able to fix that for one game at least. But still, this is an area to monitor for the Canadians, who play one more exhibition game against Switzerland before they start to count.
Tyson Jost could be the scoring star on this team
On Monday when a reporter asked Canada coach Dominique Ducharme about the “third line” of Tyson Jost-Nicolas Roy-Julien Gauthier, he bristled at that designation. Really, this trio could end up being Canada’s best unit when all is said and done.
The coach didn’t change too much in the lineup from last game, swapping Blake Speers and Mitchell Stephens, but he kept the Jost-Roy-Gauthier line together. And why not? They looked very good against the Finns and added a couple more goals against the Czechs.
Jost especially looked electric.
After failing to convert on the power play Monday, the Canadian man advantage scored on its first attempt Wednesday thanks to a beautiful one-timer by Jost from the dot. That made it 2-0 Canada in the early going and Jost added an assist on Canada’s fourth goal. On that one, he made a nice play to hug the boards and keep the Czech clearing attempt in the zone and then found a wide open Gauthier at the top of the faceoff circle for a hard one-timer that found the back of the net.
It was the second multi-point effort in as many games for Jost. Often when Canadian teams struggle at the WJC it’s either because of goaltending, or a lack of finish up front. When the team decided to cut WHL points leader Sam Steel a lot of people were shocked they’d release such a talented scorer who can also play the penalty kill.
If Canada struggles to score in the tournament, that decision will be looked back on as a huge mistake. But Jost looks ready to take on a lot of that offensive responsibility and the 10th overall pick of the 2016 draft (Colorado) could be the guy everyone is buzzing over when the WJC is complete.
When you consider headline prospects Strome and Mathew Barzal are highly likely to become big scorers on this team too, it’s possible they will still have enough offensive depth to hang with the better teams at the WJC.
