Almost every Canadian when they are a kid has something in conman. They dream about one day playing hockey for Team Canada. The majority of these kids will never reach the goal. Very few will reach their goal. They all spend their childhood having five in the morning practices and picture themselves scoring the winning goal on their backyard ice rink.
Canada has thrived on hockey talent for decades upon decades. They dominated the sport until post World War II years. Despite the rest of the world catching up to Canada, the Canadians still are tied for the most IIHF World Championship titles with 24 (tied with Russia/USSR). Nevertheless, the IIHF rankings say that Canada currently isn’t the top team in Canada. According to the rankings, Canada is fourth next to co-hosts Sweden and Finland. Russia is on top of the rankings.
Canada opens the 2012 World Champions against Slovakia. It’s a game Canada should win if they expect to come claim gold for the first time in the tournament since 2007. It is the third longest drought in Canadian hockey history. It is something that the 22 players wearing the red and white want to change. You can view Canada’s roster right here.
It should be noted that these are not the best players in Canada right now. It is obvious that there are still great players still playing for their club team in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Furthermore, there are also players that have finished their NHL season and have either declined an invitation from Team Canada or their General Manager of their respected teams don’t want a few players playing in the tournament.
The coach of the Canadian team is Brent Sutter. It is an interesting choice however I believe it is the right choice. Despite his recent failures with the Calgary Flames, Sutter has had great success with Team Canada at the World Junior level. In addition, he has accomplished many goals with the WHL’s Red Deer Rebels as he coached them to a Memorial Cup title in 2001. Sutter won’t have junior kids to be able to relate to this time, which is the only reason I question Hockey Canada’s choice. My first pick would have been former NHL coach and current TSN annalist Marc Crawford. However Brent Sutter would have been my second pick so I really can’t complain.
My gut feeling for Canada in this tournament is a Bronze medal finish. They’ll get past the Quarter Finals this year. The past two years Canada has not had very good luck in the Quarters. In 2010 the Canadians fell to the eventual silver medalists Russia and last year they lost to Russia again in a 2-1 heart breaker. For Canada to take home gold its going to take an amazing effort. Russia is always poised to win the gold and Sweden and Finland will not be easy out playing on home ice. Canada will also have to adjust to the big European ice surface.
In every sports tournament there is always a Cinderella that surprises everyone. The last few years it has been Germany and Switzerland. Germany surprised hockey fans around the world with a fourth place finish in 2010 and Switzerland has always played Canada tough ever since they upset Canada in the 2006 Olympics.
This years tournament has a different format to it. Instead of having four groups of four, IIHF has gone to a two groups of eight format. After the round robin is completed, the tournament goes right into the Quarter Finals. In previous tournaments, after the round robin was completed the top three in each group of four to the second round where there would be two groups of six and more round robin play. I don’t mind the change. The IIHF had the same format for eleven years in a row. The change is worth a try and hopefully it increases the competitiveness of the tournament.
Canada’s first game is today at 6:00AM and its on TSN.
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