OAKVILLE, Ontario — When Canada embarks on its quest for a gold medal at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship, it will be looking to win for a third consecutive year.
It is a feat no team has accomplished since Canada’s run of five straight gold medals from 2005-09.
The players are aware of what is at stake when they begin play in Gothenburg, Sweden, against Finland on Tuesday (8:30 a.m. ET, NHLN, TSN). The tournament runs through Jan. 5.
“The [management] told us about it,” defenseman Maveric Lamoureux (Arizona Coyotes) said. “The expectations are really, really high. The main goal is to go for gold and nothing less and they told us about it multiple times, so I feel like expectations are really high and the objective is to win and that’s it.”
While the pressure that comes along with those expectations is admittedly high, Lamoureux said he wouldn’t want it any other way.
“I feel it’s always better to have high expectations than lower,” said Lamoureux, who has 27 points (seven goals, 20 assists) in 25 games with Drummondville of the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League this season. “It just brings up the level of everyone. It was such a competitive [selection] camp; everyone wants to help the team to go win it, so I feel like everyone is just playing even better because the expectations are higher.”
It is understandable that for a group of players 17-19 years old, preparing to skate in the biggest games they have played to this point in their careers, that the pressure could seem immense. Though the management and coaching staff has made clear to the group that a gold medal is the expectation, coach Alan Letang is doing his best to put it into perspective.
“We talked about kind of staying in the moment and so we don’t want to get too, too far ahead of ourselves,” he said. “But you know what? I think you know we put a good group together. We wanted this camp to be super competitive to push the guys because we know what we’re going to come up against. We know the teams we’re going to face over in Europe.
“We know the intensity, we know how important those little moments are. And I think if we just stay focused and stay true to that identity, I think we’ll be fine.”
Forward Owen Beck (Montreal Canadiens) is the only returning player from Canada’s gold-medal winning team at the 2023 WJC, playing three games in the medal round as an injury replacement for forward Colton Dach (Chicago Blackhawks). Forwards Connor Bedard (Chicago Blackhawks), Adam Fantilli (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Shane Wright (Seattle Kraken) and defenseman Kevin Korchinski (Blackhawks), each part of that group, are eligible for the 2024 WJC but were not released by their NHL teams.
While Canada is light on World Junior experience, Beck, a second-round pick (No. 33) in the 2022 NHL Draft, is doing his best to fill the void.
“My first year I was a little nervous, definitely walking on eggshells, and it’s definitely a little bit easier and more comfortable this year knowing what’s going on and knowing where to be,” Beck said. “If I can help guys out, that’s what I want to do.”
Canada lost to Czechia 5-2 in its tournament-opening game last year but recovered to win its final three round-robin games, against Germany, Austria and Sweden, by a combined score of 27-3. They won 4-3 in overtime against Slovakia in the quarterfinals, beat the United States 6-2 in the semifinals and then won 3-2 in overtime against Czechia in the gold-medal game.
“We learned last year you’ve just got to win the games that are important,” Letang said. “Losing in the [preliminary] round, it’s not ideal, but sometimes if you have some character, you overcome it.”
Fraser Minten, a second-round pick (No. 38) by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2022 who played four games with them this season, said none of the players are shying away from the ultimate goal of winning a gold medal.
“Camp was really competitive, always is, such good players here,” said Minten, who has 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in 13 games with Kamloops and Saskatoon of the Western Hockey League this season. “That’s the standard. That’s what everybody believes is possible and what everybody wants to achieve.
“I think it’s more just opportunity. I think everybody here has grown up just dying to get an opportunity like this, so I think it’s something guys are more grateful than the pressure that they feel. I’ve always wanted to wear the maple leaf for Team Canada. I haven’t had the chance so far, [but] it’s been a goal of mine for sure. It feels good to be here.”
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.
The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.
The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.
Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
