Team Canada held an optional practice on Thursday in Milan. Team Finland held a full practice.
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Team Canada is still awaiting word on the status of captain Sidney Crosby.
“Sid is by no means ruled out of the tournament,” said coach Jon Cooper. “We got the best of the best looking at him.”
Crosby left Wednesday’s quarter-final win over Czechia with an apparent right leg injury. He was due to get an MRI on Thursday.
How is Canada dealing with the uncertainty of the situation?
“There’s not much we can do about it,” said defenceman Drew Doughty. “If he can’t play, we gotta step up. He’s still around the boys, still around the room, still able to help with his leadership and making us feel comfortable.”
Crosby’s status and who wears the ‘C’ if he can’t go all hot topics as Canada preps for SF Mark Masters is joined by Pierre LeBrun, Ryan Rishaug and Arpon Basu with the latest on Sidney Crosby’s status as Canada prepares for Finland in the semi-finals. They also touch on who wears the ‘C’ if Crosby isn’t available, the play of Nick Suzuki and Connor McDavid and more.
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It’s impossible to quantify how much Crosby means to the team.
“He’s probably the best leader there ever was,” said centre Sam Bennett.
“Nobody’s replacing Sidney Crosby,” said Cooper. “He’s one of one.”
But Team Canada boasts a deep lineup in both talent and leadership.
During last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off, Cooper noticed players really leaned on Crosby as well as fellow veterans Doughty and Brad Marchand for leadership.
“I’m seeing much more out of the group now, especially Connor [McDavid],” Canada’s head coach said. “Not that he wasn’t comfortable [last year], but I think there was a lot of uncertainty because we hadn’t seen best-on-best and this group hadn’t been together for so long, and in this tournament he’s been fabulous.”
McDavid leads the Olympics in scoring with 11 points, which is tied for the most ever by an NHL player on this stage. He’s made tone-setting plays in every game so far, including setting up Macklin Celebrini for the opening goal against Czechia in Wednesday’s quarter-final win.
“Geez, I can’t say enough about that guy,” Doughty gushed. “I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve been in the league a long time, I’ve never seen anybody play the way he plays. He steps up. He’s a fun guy when it’s not game time. When it’s game time, he’s serious and he’s dialled in and he’s ready to go. He shows a lot of leadership through that.”
Per IIHF rules, a player must wear the ‘C’ for a team in all games. If Crosby is unable to play in Friday’s semifinal against Finland, McDavid is the obvious choice to fill in.
“It’s incredible,” said Bennett, who played with McDavid during their minor hockey days. “It’s amazing to watch. You can see how important this is to him; how much he wants it. He’s giving everything he’s got, playing physical and doing everything he does. He’s on another level right now.”
McDavid not dwelling on the possibility of not having Crosby moving forward With Sidney Crosby’s status still unknown for their semi-final matchup with Finland, Connor McDavid says they’ll be ready to go no matter who is in the lineup and trusts every man on the roster to play their role.
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What’s the game plan to slow down McDavid?
“I think Sasha Barkov, he’s going to help me about that,” said Finnish coach Antti Pennanen with a smile. “I have to call Sasha and he can give me some advice.”
Aleksander Barkov led the Florida Panthers past McDavid’s Edmonton Oilers in the past two Stanley Cup Finals. Barkov is missing the Olympics due to injury, but can perhaps offer some insight from afar.
Even tapping into Barkov’s brain may not be enough with the way McDavid is going right now.
“He’s the best player in this tournament,” Pennanen said. “It’s not an easy thing.”
Finland coach Pennanen on game planning for McDavid: ‘Barkov is going to help me’ Finland head coach Antti Pennanen jokes that he needs to call Panthers’ captain Sasha Barkov to get some pointers on how they can slow down Connor McDavid.
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It’s not just McDavid’s speed that will be a challenge for the Finns.
“All four lines can play fast and they have mobile defence too who can join the rush,” said winger Mikko Rantanen when asked what stands out about Canada. “I think [David Pastrnak] said it’s probably the best team ever. I would probably agree with that with the players they have.”
Pastrnak and the Czechs led Canada late in the third period on Wednesday before Nick Suzuki tied it and Mitch Marner played the hero in overtime. That close result gives the Finns hope that a major upset is possible.
“I saw they went to OT with Czech yesterday,” said defenceman Esa Lindell. “One game, you never know what happens.”
“Of course, we are an underdog,” said Pennanen. “But we are a confident underdog.”
Finland also rallied late in their quarter-final game scoring twice in the final third of the third period to force overtime against Switzerland before Artturi Lehkonen scored the winner.
“We showed it’s never over until the final buzzer,” Rantanen said. “Mentality is good. There’s no quit in the team, which is important.”
“I don’t care where you are, what tournament it is, the Finns always seem to be standing when it comes to medal time,” said Cooper. “If you remotely take that team lightly, they’re going to bite you.”
‘Probably the best team ever’: Finland embraces underdog role against speedy Canada As Finland prepares for Canada in the semi-finals after narrowly getting out of the quarters, Mikko Rantanen echo’s David Pastrnak’s comments that the Canadians might be the ‘best team ever’.
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Bennett sat out Wednesday’s game due to an illness.
“It’s stressful watching from the stands,” the Panthers centre said. “That’s probably the most stressed I’ve ever been in a game.”
Bennett was the last forward on the ice at Thursday’s practice and declared afterwards that he’s feeling much better now and is available for Friday’s game. The reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner is ready to make an impression in the medal round.
“That’s part of one of my strengths is bringing the intensity especially in the big games,” Bennett said. “I’m excited for the opportunity and just really willing to do whatever I can to help this team.”
Bennett is set to face three of his Panthers teammates – centre Anton Lundell, winger Eetu Luostarinen and defenceman Niko Mikkola – on Friday. There will be no friends on the ice in Milan.
“They all understand how important this is, how much we want this,” Bennett said. “I mean, they’re not going to take anything personal on the ice. You’re going out there to win a hockey game and you’re doing whatever it takes. Yeah, you can flip that switch pretty easily.”
Bennett ready for any role he’s given, even filling the water bottles Sam Bennett talks about watching from the stands but says he’s happy with any role he’s given on Team Canada, but says he’ll be ready to bring the energy if he’s given the opportunity moving forward.
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Defenceman Josh Morrissey skated again on Thursday. He’s missed the last three games after sustaining an undisclosed injury in the Olympic opener.
Cooper described Morrissey as being “in the same boat” as Crosby.
“We’re taking this day by day,” the coach said.
Canada’s top-pair defencemen Cale Makar and Devon Toews stayed off the ice on Thursday as did Marchand and Nathan MacKinnon, who have both been dealing with injury issues.
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When Ondrej Palat scored in the third period on Wednesday, Czechia had six skaters on the ice.
“None of us had any clue,” Doughty said. “I know [Mark Stone] mentioned after, ‘I thought I counted three guys below me, so I thought I was good on the backcheck.’”
“A little crazy,” said winger Seth Jarvis. “Yeah, I didn’t find out until after the game … I saw a picture of them in the huddle with six guys, saw six guys going for the flybys and said, ‘That’s a little strange.’”
It seems like the tension of the moment blinded everyone.
“I think because of the enormity of the situation,” Cooper theorized. “It probably took a lot of people’s mind off, okay, how many people are actually on the ice. I’m telling you, I’ve been on the bench it feels like a long time now and somebody [always] sees it. Somebody usually says it. The players are more aware than anyone else and I didn’t hear anyone say it. It’s one of those unique situations that snuck by everybody with their eyes wide open.”
It was an anomaly, but also something the team is vowing to learn from.
“I’m upset we didn’t see it,” McDavid said. “The refs didn’t see it, nobody saw it, it seemed like. Glad that it didn’t cost us our tournament. With that being said, definitely got to be more aware of what’s going on out there.”
Can you imagine if Canada lost on Ondrej Palat’s goal with too many men on the ice? Bryan Hayes, Jamie McLennan and Jeff O’Neill revisit Canada’s incredible comeback win over Czechia and talk about what the discourse would sound like if Canada lost on Palat’s goal with 6 players on the ice for Czechia.
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Canada feels it can tighten up defensively on Friday.
“It’s going to be a tough match, our toughest one yet and we got to perform a lot better than we did last night,” Doughty said.
The Los Angeles Kings defenceman called himself out for a subpar performance.
“I didn’t love it last game,” Doughty said of his play. “I think that was my worst one. But I got more to come. I got more game in me and in these big moments, this is when I step up.”
But even when Doughty isn’t at his best, he’s still able to contribute with his personality. He kept the group loose on Wednesday.
“Mood on the bench was very positive,” said Makar. “Everybody had a lot of belief. That started with Dewy on the back. He was being a little chatterbox and making sure everybody was still up.”
“When the tension is at its peak he finds his way to poke a pin in it and just defuse it,” Cooper said. “It’s a special talent. He doesn’t compound the problem, he alleviates it.”
Doughty expecting their ‘toughest match’ yet against battle tested Finland Drew Doughty joins Ryan Rishaug to discuss the possibility of playing without Sidney Crosby moving forward and why everyone will have to step up. He also touches on Finland, who also barely made it out of their quarter-final matchup.
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Lines at Finland’s practice:
Lehkonen – Aho – Rantanen
Granlund – Hintz – Teräväinen
Luostarinen – Lundell – Kakko
Tolvanen – Haula- Armia
Kiviranta, Kapanen
Lindell – Heiskanen
Mikkola – Ristolainen
Määttä – Matinpalo
Jokiharju