MILAN – Team Canada decided to close Monday’s practice to the media.

“It was only done because the rink is too small,” coach Jon Cooper explained. “It’s just distractions … There’s just issues to have so many people here.”

Monday’s workout was held at the small practice rink that is in a facility across the street from the Milano Santagiulia Arena where Canada will play its games and held its first on-ice session on Sunday night.

“We didn’t [close it] yesterday,” Cooper noted. “We were in the big arena, everyone came in. The practice arena is tight.”

So, Canada isn’t trying to keep the opposition guessing in Milan?

“It had nothing to do with that,” Cooper insisted. “It was to make sure there was no distractions.”

Canada skated in the same alignment as Sunday, Cooper revealed.

“If you’re asking me, ‘Did any lines change? Did anything happen?’ No, it did not,” the Tampa Bay Lightning coach stressed. “Nothing changed.”

Cooper shares reason behind closed-door practice: ‘Nothing super secret’ Canada head coach Jon Cooper joins Ryan Rishaug to discuss the decision to have a closed-door practice on Monday, how he’s expressed his expectations to the players, how valuable a player like Brad Marchand is for the team, and if he changed any of his lines at practice.

But Monday’s practice was different than Sunday’s session, which came at the end of a long travel day and was designed to get the players moving again after a couple days off the ice.

“It was more flow drills,” said Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett. “A lot more systems work [today] and just dialling those down and a little bit of special teams as well.”

Players shrugged off questions about the practice being closed.

“I didn’t make that decision,” said Colorado Avalanche centre Nathan MacKinnon.

Brad Marchand was unaware that the practice was closed when he spoke with TSN’s Ryan Rishaug. Upon finding out, the Panthers winger couldn’t help but joke about what the media missed.

“I’m playing with Sid and McDavid,” said Marchand, who actually skated on a line with MacKinnon and Nick Suzuki.

‘This is a once in a lifetime opportunity’: Marchand describes Canada’s mindset Canada forward Brad Marchand joins Ryan Rishaug to share his impressions of the Olympic village, how his first night with roommate Drew Doughty went, the good bond the team already has, how important that is to success in Italy, and much more.

Marchand was all smiles during that chat with Rishaug. But there weren’t many smiles as media members were led from the main rink to the tunnel leading to the practice rink and told to wait until getting approval for entry from Team Canada.

“I think it’s silly,” said TSN Hockey insider Pierre LeBrun. “I don’t understand why this would matter so much. And this is Jon Cooper’s decision. This isn’t management. This isn’t the players. The head coach of Canada, in his first Olympics, decided that he wanted this practice closed so we couldn’t see his line combinations again or whatever else. Honestly, I think it’s an overreach.”

Sweden also closed their practice on Monday even though it was at the big rink. Head coach Sam Hallam told reporters that the team was working on its special teams and thought keeping other teams in the dark would provide a competitive advantage.

Czechia, who will open the tournament against Canada on Thursday, held an open practice at the practice rink on Monday, although they have fewer media members following their team.

Team USA ultimately held an open practice at the main rink on Monday after some internal debate.

“We talked about it with our practice today,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “I think any time, as a coaching staff, when you have an opportunity to spend alone time with your team, we would all prefer that. We also understand that this is, to a certain extent, a business and access to the group is an important element of it all. But, as a coaching staff, we love having alone time with our team and being able to work on things without reading about it in a tweet 30 seconds later or whatever it may be. But we understand that’s the world we live in.”

Canada and the United States are both expected to take the day off on Tuesday with the next practices for both countries – open or closed – set for Wednesday.

LeBrun on Canada holding closed practice: ‘I think it’s silly’ TSN’s Mark Masters, Pierre LeBrun and Ryan Rishaug discuss Canada holding a closed practice on Monday, the decision for the United States to leave its practice open to the media, and the plan for Canada to sleep in a hotel Monday night after spending the first night in the Olympic Village.

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With Team USA’s practice open, reporters could see that Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck had his own net while Dallas Stars netminder Jake Oettinger and Boston Bruins backstop Jeremy Swayman split time at the other end. What does that say about the plan for Thursday’s opening game against Latvia?

“That’s for you to decide,” Sullivan said. “We’re just going to go about our business how we do it.”

Sullivan was similarly vague when asked how the team will decide on its starting goalie.

“There’s lots of things that weigh into it,” the coach noted. “I’m not going to sit here and share the internal conversations we have and how we make lineup decisions but what I will tell you is that regardless of which guy we put in net we have three elite goaltenders, all of which will give us an opportunity to win.”

Canada is also not revealing its goaltending plan just yet. St. Louis Blue Jordan Binnington, who backstopped Canada to the title at the 4 Nations Face-Off last year, has struggled mightily this season leading to speculation he may lose the starting job to either L.A. King Darcy Kuemper or Washington Capital Logan Thompson.

The last time Canada played at the Olympics, Carey Price was the clear No. 1. It feels a lot different in Milan, although Cooper doesn’t see it that way.

“Carey Price goes down as one of the greatest goalies of his generation and of all-time,” Cooper said. “He’s a winner. We have those guys. Some of those guys may not go down as generational goaltenders, but they’re Stanley Cup winners. They have championship pedigree. They’ve made big saves at the times they’ve needed to. I’ve watched that in Darcy Kuemper in my own building in Tampa. I’ve watched it in Jordan Binnington. I’ve watched Logan Thompson the last two years … We have all the faith in the world in them. To me, I understand people have to write about stuff, but our guys go through a wall for them and they’ll do the same for us. To me, it’s not a story. I don’t know where it comes from.”

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After spending the night in the Olympic Village on Sunday, Canada is expected to move into NHLPA-provided hotel on Monday.

“I think that’s the plan, yeah,” Bennett said.

Kuemper said the decision was made by the team’s leadership group.

“Whatever we do, we’ll do as a team,” Kuemper added. “We’re going to make the decision that we feel is giving us the best chance to win.”

Most of the rooms at the Village are designed for two people, which means most players had roommates in the dorm-style setup. It’s much different than the accommodations they are used to in the NHL. The beds, for example, are smaller.

“A guy like me, it’s a little smaller, but it wasn’t too bad,” said the 6-foot-4 Thompson. “I got a good enough sleep. I was okay with it.”

Canada will still spend some time at the Village, which will be their meeting point before going to games and drop-off point afterwards.

“We tell the players: ‘This is the Olympics,’” Cooper said. “‘This is an experience we may never get to be a part of again. So, enjoy yourself. Enjoy yourself in the Village. Introduce yourself to other athletes. Become part of this, but when it’s rink time, it’s our time and then it’s focus time, but I’m encouraging these guys to have a lot fun.”

But if some of the higher-profile players want to find some quiet time, the hotel is probably the best place to be.

“McDavid and Crosby, you see everyone is just staring at them because they’re the superstars,” Thompson said. “It’s cool to see how other countries really notice them and how they all want to come over and say hi to Crosby and McDavid and those guys.”

Team USA, meanwhile, made the decision to stay in the Village for the entire Olympics before even landing in Milan.

“I mean, I wouldn’t want to do it any other way,” said winger Matthew Tkachuk. “We’re all with each other 24/7 making Olympic memories. This what the Olympics are pretty much all about, you know, hanging out with your teammates, seeing the other athletes. I’ve met so many great people in other sports, other countries and it’s been one day. Hockey comes first, but the whole experience, you want to be able to enjoy it too.”

Tkachuk is rooming with younger brother Brady.

“Just laughing so hard for the whole night,” Matthew said. “He was at one end of the room, I was at the other end and, I don’t know, we were just watching videos and pictures and stuff from the day and throwing the phone across, showing each other. It’s cool. It’s really amazing to go through the whole experience with him. I mean, 24/7 with each other and pretty much everybody. It’s been an honour to represent our country but an even greater honour to do it with him.”

Tkachuk brothers share more laughs than sleep on night one in Olympic village Matthew Tkachuk discusses rooming with his brother Brady and explains why they were just laughing the whole night after some rearranging of their room.

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Team Canada lines at Monday’s closed practice, per Cooper:

Celebrini – McDavid – Wilson

Marchand – MacKinnon – Suzuki

Marner – Crosby – Stone

Hagel – Horvat – Reinhart

Jarvis, Bennett

Toews – Makar

Morrissey – Parayko

Theodore – Sanheim

Harley – Doughty

Binnington

Kuemper

Thompson

Team USA lines at Monday’s practice:

B. Tkachuk – Eichel – M. Tkachuk

Guentzel – Matthews – Boldy

Connor – Larkin – Thompson

Miller – Nelson/Trocheck – J. Hughes

Keller

Q. Hughes – McAvoy

Slavin – Faber

Hanifin – Werenski

Sanderson – Lacombe

Hellebuyck

Oettinger

Swayman

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