VANCOUVER — We eat our young each winter at this event, in a hockey-mad country that has turned the world junior hockey championship into an annual “gold medal or bust” affair.
We don’t even alter our expectations between the years where we’ve got the runaway favourite, or lower-pedigree years like this one, where this Canadian roster may not have shoulders broad enough to handle the weight.
Do the math: There have been 42 tournaments and we’ve won 17 of them. That means that, 25 times, our brightest and best 18- and 19-year-olds have returned to their junior and college teams as failures, after having given everything they have in an attempt to keep us Canadians entertained through the Christmas break.
Is it too much?
“I grew up (feeling that way) too,” shrugged Canadian defenceman Ian Mitchell. “Everyone knows, that’s the expectation. Part of being Canadian, I guess.”
So it was that on New Year’s Day, an off-day before this tournament really gets into gear, a bunch of Canadian hockey journalists gathered around teenager after teenager asking them about the pressure.
The pressure of having lost to Russia the night before. The pressure of entering the sudden-death stage of this tournament. The pressure of meeting Finland in a quarterfinal, a team that beat them 5-2 in a tournament tune-up game.
You know, because constantly reminding people of how much pressure they’re under tends to have a calming effect…
“With the tournament being in Canada, there’s added pressure,” admitted goalie Mike DiPietro. “Not only that everyone else puts on us, but pressure put on ourselves, internally, that we want to do well and succeed.”
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The coach, of course, tries to maintain urgency while trying not to apply pressure. It’s a delicate dance that Hockey Canada has all but perfected over the years.
“As a coach … you have to give them the benefit that they are growing,” explained head coach Tim Hunter, who is part father, part hockey coach here. “We lost last night, but it’s not the end of the world. We forge on.”
Hockey Canada has done its best to put these kids in a bubble, sheltered from the elements of a country that can be ruthless when it comes to our favourite sport. That includes removing TSN from the televisions in the players’ rooms.
“They blocked it for us. We still have Sportsnet though,” said Mitchell. “Twitter and Instagram are what guys use mostly, and we’re (off of them). They want us to hang out together and stay off of our phones. That team-building aspect.”
He laughed.
“I’m getting a taste of what it was like for my dad growing up.”
Another part of being Canadian is a distaste for diving, so heading into the Finland game Hunter was asked about his captain Maxime Comtois, who is up to roughly four chronicled flops in this tournament.
It was a question that was not met well by the coach, who we’ll surmise was as sour about having to answer the query as he is P.O.’ed that the question is, in fact, a legitimate one.
“Have you talked to your captain about this?” Hunter was asked.
“I talk to Max every day,” spat Hunter. “He understands the nuances of taking penalties and drawing penalties. I’m not going to talk to him about embellishment. He understands how it went last night.”
Comtois was given a minor for embellishment, then dove a second time against Russia. He’s the only returning player on Canada’s roster, and their captain. Is this really a necessary part of his game?
“You know, we’re trying to play hard here, and sometimes you let the emotions get the better of yourself. We’re just trying to have an edge on every team, and those things are going to happen. Just have to be careful with that,” Comtois said. “You know, I get cross-checked a lot. That’s going to happen. We’re Hockey Canada, Team Canada. We’ve got targets on our back, and we’re going to get slashed again tomorrow and as the tournament goes on.”
Slashed by the Finns, and hacked up by Canadians, if our boys are packing their bags for home on Thursday morning instead of preparing for a semifinal game against the winner of Sweden versus Switzerland.
“We’re in the quarterfinals,” said Mitchell. “This is another game and we have to win out. That’s our mindset.”
It’s the only mindset to have, in this country.
