Canada has 'complete reset' before elimination game with Czechia at world juniors

'There are enough good teams in this tournament that'll beat you. You can't beat yourself. That's the focus.'

Published Jan 01, 2025  •  4 minute read

Canada's Brayden Yager consoles goaltender Carter George after losing to the United States in IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship tournament action in Ottawa on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. Photo by Sean Kilpatrick /THE CANADIAN PRESS

The wide-angle view of Canada’s third-place finish in the Group A standings at the world junior championship focuses on the lack of production.

Article content

Article content

It’s a bleak picture, to be sure.

Through the preliminary round, only Easton Cowan has more points than 17-year-old defenceman Matthew Schaefer — who left the second game in the third minute with a tournament-ending injury — and Cowan has just a goal and a couple of helpers.

Article content

Tied for sixth in team scoring is goalie Carter George, who had an assist on an empty-netter.

At the same time, had the Canadians not sent a parade of players to the box on New Year’s Eve, they might have celebrated a 1-0 victory against the Americans, a result that would have sent them into the playoff round as the No. 1 seed in their group.

Canada, which has still not allowed an even-strength goal, instead gave the U.S. seven power plays and got burned on three of them.

The final goal in the 4-1 loss was scored by American captain Ryan Leonard, with George on the bench for an extra attacker.

Canadian forward Easton Cowan celebrates his goal against Finland on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024 in Ottawa. It has been his only goal of the world juniors, but he still leads Canada in points — with three. Photo by Adrian Wyld /The Canadian Press

It’s a seat George possibly wouldn’t have occupied at that time of the night if not for all the infractions committed by his teammates.

“The good thing about (Tuesday) night’s penalties was that they were so obvious,” coach Dave Cameron said Wednesday, when the team held meetings rather than a practice. “There’s no denying them.

“Sometimes you lose a game close and you can go, ‘Oh, well, we were there, we were there.’ But sometimes it’s good to be blown out. We’re not at all happy with the penalties, but we took enough of them that it’s pretty obvious we beat ourselves. There are enough good teams in this tournament that’ll beat you. You can’t beat yourself.

Article content

Article content

“That’s the focus.”

Team USA’s Danny Nelson (second right) celebrates his third-period power-play goal against Canada in Ottawa on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. The Americans had seven chances on the power play and scored on three of them. Photo by Sean Kilpatrick /The Canadian Press

One roster decision was made Wednesday, and it was to put Porter Martone back in the lineup. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound winger has 21 goals and 54 points in 26 games for the Brampton Steelheads, but after seeing a little more than seven minutes of ice time in the shootout loss to Latvia, he was replaced by Carson Rehkopf.

While Cameron said it had yet to be decided who comes out for Martone, it’s not a slam dunk to be Rehkopf, even though he had back-to-back penalties in the second period Tuesday.

He hasn’t shown it here yet, but Rehkopf is known as one of the best scorers in the country, and the Canadians are doing what they can to work through a team slump that is threatening to be their demise.

Rather than taking more shots on goalies like George and backup Jack Ivankovic, who would probably further frustrate them, the Canadians used the leadup to Thursday’s quarter-final showdown with Czechia to work on their minds rather than their physical skills.

They had a meeting to address the lack of discipline that was led by Cameron, but also included the voices of leaders.

Article content

Nobody would share what was said, but all promised change.

Porter Martone, seen during the game against Finland on Dec. 26, 2024 in Ottawa, will be back in the lineup for the quarter-final game against Czechia. Photo by Minas Panagiotakis /Getty Images

“Starts with me,” said Cowan. “I took a dumb penalty late, cost us a goal, cost us the game. So it starts with me. We all know we’ve got to be more disciplined, so we will be.”

Another meeting was held with Luke Madill, the team’s mental performance consultant.

It dealt with staying positive through the offensive struggles.

“He’s great at his job,” said Cowan. “He showed us this one video of a guy trying to hammer a rock open. He kept going and kept going and eventually, it split apart. So we just keep shooting, keep shooting. Eventually, they’re going to go in.”

Berkly Catton is a believer.

“I honestly think it’s coming,” the Spokane Chiefs centre and eighth overall pick of the Seattle Kraken last June told a small group of reporters. “You guys are probably sick of hearing that, but seriously, I think it’s so close. We’re getting so many chances, so 5-on-5, we’re going to take teams on, and they don’t want to play us.”

Asked why the Canadians haven’t been able to stay out of the box, Catton said it was “a tough topic” before offering a thought.

Article content

“Maybe it’s a lot of emotions,” he said. “We have a fifth line out there with our fans. They give us lots of energy. Maybe we’re using it in the wrong ways, in terms of maybe taking on the other team sometimes when we should be creating offence or blocking shots instead. So that’s something that we’re going to learn from and move on.

“There’s been a lot of talk about it, just within our group,” Catton added of staying disciplined. “We’re all competitive kids who come here to win, right? So we all want to help each other and win. We’ve talked with each other about how we’re going to move forward and become a better team from this.”

The message of the day before Canada faces Czechia in an elimination game for the third year in a row had to do with clearing the slate.

“Honestly, a complete reset,” said Catton. “Now it’s a new tournament. Win three games and you win a win a hockey tournament, which is what we came here to do. The past is the past now. Win three games and we win a hockey tournament.”

Recommended from Editorial

1. 

   Owner of multiple golds, Cup rings, Brent Seabrook stands by Canadian juniors

2. 

   Canada wants another crack at U.S. after undisciplined world juniors loss

Article content