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Faced with first genuine test of 2021 world juniors, Canada falls short – Sportsnet.ca

Published

4 years ago

January 6, 2021

EDMONTON — Some like the cakewalk, those fluffy two weeks of beating the spread against teams that don’t have a single player who could make Team Canada, had they been born here.

Some look at the cakewalk as a Canadian’s chance to be loud and proud. To paint our faces and travel in groups to foreign lands like hockey vikings. Then, when we predictably beat up on a Germany, a Switzerland, a Latvia — or even a Russia — us Canadians go full Uncle Sam in our chest thumping.

Full disclosure: The world junior team has always been our Dream Team. We may say, “I’m sorry,” more than any other nation, but from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5 we become the Ugly Canadians as often as not.

Somehow we’ve created ‘A Holiday Tradition’ out of watching our kids demolish kids from other countries in lopsided affairs that one would think Canadians, of all people, would be more likely to apologize for than celebrate. Instead, we justify it with a chorus of, “It’s not our boys’ fault that they put us on the weak side of the draw.”

As it turns out though, it can be our boys’ problem.

After two weeks of never giving up an even-strength goal, of outscoring their opponents 41-4, of recording shutouts in every second game — OF NEVER TRAILING EVEN FOR A SINGLE SECOND — Canada was defeated 2-0 in the gold-medal game by the United States Tuesday night in Edmonton.

Trevor Zegras had a goal and an assist for Team USA, but his most accurate shots came before the game, when he put into words what every Canadian fan was quietly fearing.

“I don’t think they’ve been tested by a real team yet,” Zegras said. “I don’t think this goalie has been tested five-on-five yet.”

Hey, it’s not bragging if you can do it.

“There are a lot of good teams in this tournament, and they’re one of them,” said the magnificent Canadian defenceman Bowen Byram after the game. “We made the best push we could in the third. We had a lot of chances. It didn’t go in.”

Canada opened the game with a 7-2 run on the shot clock, and then Team USA took over. American defenceman Drew Helleson drifted a harmless wrist shot towards the net, and Alex Turcotte (Alfie’s boy) cruised through the slot and redirected the puck past Devon Levi, and suddenly the record books were wiped clean.

Canada’s even-strength goal streak? Gone in their seventh game.

Levi’s 148 minute, 20 second shutout streak? History.

You haven’t trailed the entire tournament? Well, boys, you’re trailing now.

Zegras scored early in Period 2 and the score was 2-0 after 40 minutes, but there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that the game was still absolutely up for grabs.

“Going into the third we have to believe we’re going to tie the game,” said Dylan Cozens, Canada’s best player here. “We had our looks. (Goalie Spencer) Knight played great, but we didn’t get the bounces.”

Had the Hockey Gods dispensed all of Canada’s fortune on goals against the Germans (16 of them), the Swiss (10) and Russia (a 5-0 win)? Had Canada used all its luck up at the 25-cent slots, and now gone hungry at the $20 table?

Look, there are a lot of ways to diagnose a power outage by a team that had scored 41 times in seven games prior to this silver-medal game. We would start with crediting the opponent, and the fabulous play of Knight in the Team USA net.

But something sticks with me:

Throughout the tournament, Canadian coach Andre Tourigny repeatedly sought to find adversity in every game, no matter what the score, that Canada had overcome to find victory. Whether it was a penalty kill in a 4-1 game, the 53 days spent in hotels since training camp opened, the 14-day quarantine in Red Deer or a bad few shifts against Slovakia, Tourigny’s mantra after every game was that his team was learning to deal with adversity and that was a welcome and necessary lesson.

Looking back, was he inventing that adversity? Had it really existed, to the extent that they knew what to do in the face of the genuine article that the Americans threw at them Tuesday?

“The COVID test we had in camp, we had to quarantine for 14 days by ourselves. That’s adversity that we battled through,” declared Cozens. “We played great through all the games, and we ran into a good team like this. But it’s not the first adversity we faced.”

OK, then perhaps the better question is this: Can the adversity of playing a team that is your equal be manufactured elsewhere, using quarantines and a bunch teams that don’t deserve to be on the same ice as Canada?

Is it impossible to manufacture adversity, the way Tourigny tried to?

“It’s the first team that really pushed back, we were not used to it, and we didn’t have enough time to get back at it,” the coach said. “After we adjusted we were really good. But, no one will remember that.

“They’ll remember the score.”

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Sports

Champions Trophy host Pakistan says it’s not been told India wants to play cricket games elsewhere

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.

“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”

Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.

The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.

Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.

“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”

Pakistan hosted last year’s Asia Cup but all India games were played in Sri Lanka under a hybrid model for the tournament. Only months later Pakistan did travel to India for the 50-over World Cup.

Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.

“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”

The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.

“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”

Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.

“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.

___

AP cricket:

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Sports

Dabrowski, Routlife into WTA doubles final with win over Melichar-Martinez, Perez

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.

Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.

The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.

The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.

Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.

Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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Sports

Winger Tajon Buchanan back with Canada after recovering from broken leg

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

Inter Milan winger Tajon Buchanan, recovered from a broken leg suffered in training at this summer’s Copa America, is back in Jesse Marsch’s Canada squad for the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal against Suriname.

The 25-year-old from Brampton, Ont., underwent surgery July 3 to repair a fractured tibia in Texas.

Canada, ranked 35th in the world, plays No. 136 Suriname on Nov. 15 in Paramaribo. The second leg of the aggregate series is four days later at Toronto’s BMO Field.

There is also a return for veteran winger Junior Hoilett, who last played for Canada in June in a 4-0 loss to the Netherlands in Marsch’s debut at the Canadian helm. The 34-year-old from Brampton, now with Scotland’s Hibernian, has 15 goals in 63 senior appearances for Canada.

Midfielder Ismael Kone, recovered from an ankle injury sustained on club duty with France’s Marseille, also returns. He missed Canada’s last three matches since the fourth-place Copa America loss to Uruguay in July.

But Canada will be without centre back Derek Cornelius, who exited Marseille’s win Sunday over Nantes on a stretcher after suffering an apparent rib injury.

The Canadian men will prepare for Suriname next week at a camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

“We are looking forward to getting the group together again with the mindset that there is a trophy on the line,” Marsch said in a statement. “We want to end 2024 the right way with two excellent performances against a competitive Suriname squad and continue building on our tremendous growth this past summer.”

The quarterfinal winners advance to the Nations League Finals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., with the two semifinals scheduled for March 20 and the final and third-place playoff March 23, and qualify for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Thirteen of the 23 players on the Canadian roster are 25 or younger, with 19-year-old defender Jamie Knight-Lebel, currently playing for England’s Crewe Alexandra on loan from Bristol City, the youngest.

Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies captains the side with Stephen Eustaquio, Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea, Alistair Johnston and Kamal Miller adding veteran support.

Jonathan David, Cyle Larin and Theo Bair are joined in attack by Minnesota United’s Tani Oluwaseyi.

Niko Sigur, a 21-year-old midfielder with Croatia’s Hadjuk Split, continues in the squad after making his debut in the September friendly against Mexico.

Suriname made it to the Nations League quarterfinals by finishing second to Costa Rica in Group A of the Nations League, ahead of No. 104 Guatemala, No. 161 Guyana and unranked Martinique and Guadeloupe.

“A good team,” Osorio said of Suriname. “These games are always tricky and they’re not easy at all … Suriname is a (former) Dutch colony and they’ll have Dutch players playing at high levels.”

“They won’t be someone we overlook at all,” added the Toronto FC captain, who has 81 Canada caps to his credit.

Located on the northeast coast of South America between Guyana and French Guiana, Suriname was granted independence in 1975 by the Netherlands.

Canada has faced Suriname twice before, both in World Cup qualifying play, winning 4-0 in suburban Chicago in June 2021 and 2-1 in Mexico City in October 1977.

The Canadian men, along with Mexico, the United States and Panama, received a bye into the final eight of the CONCACAF Nations League.

Canada, No. 2 in the CONCACAF rankings, drew Suriname as the best-placed runner-up from League A play.

Canada lost to Jamaica in last year’s Nations League quarterfinal, ousted on the away-goals rule after the series ended in a 4-4 draw. The Canadians lost 2-0 to the U.S. in the final of the 2022-23 tournament and finished fifth in 2019-20.

Canada defeated Panama 2-1 last time out, in an Oct. 15 friendly in Toronto.

Goalkeepers Maxime Crepeau and Jonathan Sirois, defenders Joel Waterman, Laryea and Miller and Osorio took part in a pre-camp this week in Toronto for North America-based players.

Canada Roster

Goalkeepers: Maxime Crepeau, Portland Timbers (MLS); Jonathan Sirois, CF Montreal (MLS); Dayne St. Clair, Minnesota United FC (MLS).

Defenders: Moise Bombito, OGC Nice (France); Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich (Germany); Richie Laryea, Toronto FC (MLS); Alistair Johnston, Celtic (Scotland); Jamie Knight-Lebel. Crewe Alexandra, on loan from Bristol City (England); Kamal Miller, Portland Timbers (MLS); Joel Waterman, CF Montreal (MLS).

Midfielders: Ali Ahmed. Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Tajon Buchanan, Inter Milan (Italy); Mathieu Choiniere, Grasshopper Zurich (Switzerland); Stephen Eustaquio, FC Porto (Portugal); Junior Hoilett, Hibernian FC (Scotland); Ismael Kone, Olympique Marseille (France); Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC (MLS); Jacob Shaffelburg, Nashville SC (MLS); Niko Sigur, Hadjuk Split (Croatia).

Forwards: Theo Bair, AJ Auxerre (France); Jonathan David, LOSC Lille (France); Cyle Larin, RCD Mallorca (Spain); Tani Oluwaseyi, Minnesota United (MLS).

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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