BUFFALO, N.Y. — Right around this time last year, Team Canada goaltender Carter Hart was sitting in his crease, glove and blocker resting atop his pads, staring straight ahead as he watched a crowd of raucous American teenagers celebrate the gold medals that would soon hang around their necks.
The Canadians had just lost in a shootout, with Hart stopping every American shot he faced save for one, while his teammates missed five times at the opposite end. That was the difference between world junior gold and silver for that group. It’s not a great memory. But Friday, in the gold-medal game of the tournament a year later, Hart and his six fellow returnees from that team get another shot.
“It’s crazy how that’s a year ago now. A lot of things have unfolded since then,” Hart said. “I think the group that we have right now is a very exiting group and a lot of fun to play with. I’m very excited for the opportunity that we’re getting.
“Last year was heartbreaking for us. We’re definitely very lucky to have another chance at this. We’re going to prepare and make the most of the opportunity that we have here.”
Standing in Canada’s way Friday night is Sweden, a team that has yet to lose at this tournament and has outscored its six opponents, 27-11. It’s certainly a battle-hardened bunch, as the Swedes had to get through Russia and the United States for the right to play for gold. Canada, meanwhile, has played a trio of weak opponents on the road to this game, outscoring Denmark, Switzerland and Czech Republic by a combined score of 23-4 over its last three.
This game will be the stiffest test the Canadians have faced in a week, since they fell 4-3 to the Americans in yet another shootout outdoors at New Era Field. There’s also the challenge of a quick turnaround from Thursday’s semifinal, which concluded about 20 hours prior to puck drop Friday night. Not to mention the inherent pressure of a do-or-die game. These facts are, of course, not lost on the Canadians.
“It’s going to be a pretty special experience no matter what. Obviously, we want to come out of the game on top. But we’re going to be focusing on the first few shifts and nothing more than that right now,” Canadian defenceman Cale Makar said. “I kind of tell people, pressure is a made-up thing unless you make it something. We’re going to be fighting for gold for our entire country and we’re going to be wearing our pride on our sleeves. It’s going to be a fun game for all of us. I’m excited.”
While Canada has plenty of players nursing bumps and bruises, as you do at this point in the tournament, head coach Dominique Ducharme is expecting to have his full complement of weapons logging full minutes Friday. Victor Mete, Kale Clague, Dante Fabbro, and others have all nursed injuries over the last two weeks and even missed a game here and there. But the gold-medal game isn’t one you sit out unless you’re severely compromised.
The task for Ducharme is to encourage his team to avoid the kind of lethargic start it exhibited in Thursday’s victory over Czech Republic. Canada took its time getting into that one, allowing the Czechs to open the scoring and carry that lead late into the first period.
A couple Canadian power-play goals quickly turned that around, and Canada went on to absolutely dominate its opposition from that point forward. But a similarly slow start against Sweden on Friday could have much more dire consequences.
It’s no stretch to say the Swedes are a much more talented team than the Czechs, and if they smell blood in the water early on against Canada they could take a commanding grasp of the game. Still, Ducharme was happy with how his players responded to that initial adversity, and how they pulled themselves out of their stupor.
“We stayed calm and positive. Confident at the same time. We knew we could play better,” Ducharme said. “We just needed to adjust to the game a bit and get into it. That’s what we want to do. Obviously, you always want to have good starts. But we want to be building our game and get better from the first period to the second period to the third period. And always finishing strong.
“Sometimes, you play in the semis like that, you want to be in the final so much, you might be thinking a little bit too much about the next day. Now, you’re only thinking about tonight. There’s nothing else after. So, I’m expecting our team to have a better start. We talk about what we need to do and what we control. And the way we need to get involved and skate and apply our plan.”
While Canada faced plenty of highly skilled players against Czech Republic, they’ll deal with even more against Sweden, especially on the back end. Rasmus Dahlin, Timothy Liljegren, and Erik Brannstrom are all strong, offensive-minded defencemen who will test the Canadians in ways the Czechs couldn’t.
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Dahlin is having a monster tournament (he’s plus-9 in six games) and will almost certainly be the first player chosen in this summer’s NHL draft. He’s big and plays physically in his own end, but he’s also an elite skater with slick hands who jumps into the rush in a heartbeat.
Then there’s dynamic forwards Lias Andersson (six goals) and Elias Pettersson (five goals) up front, who are each having strong showings in Buffalo. The creative Alex Nylander has also logged big minutes and has been a crucial playmaker for the Swedes, using his vision and awareness to create strong opportunities for his teammates.
In net, Filip Gustavsson likely hasn’t gotten enough credit. He sports a 92.3 save percentage, allowing only nine goals over his six games. He was brilliant against the Americans in the semifinal, stopping 29 of 31 shots and keeping them off the board until they were going for broke with less than 10 minutes to play.
“They’re skilled. They’re skilled,” Ducharme said. “I think the Czech team had a lot of skill up front. I think they have skill up front, the Swedes, and probably more on defence than the Czechs did. There’s a reason why they’re playing in the finals. That’s a good team.”
Ducharme was there with Hart last year, watching the Americans celebrate as the tournament slipped from his team’s grasp. He knows just how thin the margin for error can be in a gold-medal game. Friday night, he gets another shot. His message to his team before puck drop will be simple.
“For me, it all comes back to preparation. When you feel prepared and confident, you don’t feel that pressure,” Ducharme said. “I feel our guys are right in the moment. They’re challenging themselves to be the best they can be.
“I’m proud of them. But we want to finish it off. You get an opportunity like this, you want to finish it off.”
