RESULTS｜ CALENDAR｜RANKING｜STATISTICS
The match between Canada and the United States will be presented at 8 p.m. on RDS and RDS.ca
Canada will play its final match of the preliminary phase against the United States on Tuesday at the World Juniors in Ottawa.
First place is at stake. One of the two teams in action will be able to dislodge the provisional leader, Finland, and make an appointment with Switzerland in the quarter-finals.
This is the first time in eight years that the United States and Canada have faced off on New Year’s Eve. In the current format of the tournament, the two neighbors crossed swords nine times on December 31. The maple leaf compiled a record of 6-2-1 in these circumstances.
The host team has scored just nine goals in three games heading into the playoffs. That’s not much considering that a year ago, ÉCJ scored ten in a single match against Latvia.
No Canadian player has scored more than once since the start of the tournament. Its top scorer, Easton Cowan, has only three points to his name. Bradly Nadeau, the only player on the team from a professional environment, still has a clean sheet. Same thing for Porter Martone, who seemed destined for an important role during the preseason, but who was left out for the match against Germany.
One of the brightest prospects heading into the next NHL draft, Martone may find the motivation to bounce back against the United States and their own young prodigy. James Hagens, also considered one of the pearls of the current crop of prospects, is the most productive American so far with two goals and six points.
Captain Brayden Yager and defenseman Tanner Molendyk are other Canadian veterans whose offensive contribution is still awaited.
The current edition of ÉCJ is on track to be among the most offensively timid in the last 30 years. According to figures compiled by Stéphane Leroux, Canada finished the preliminary round with only nine goals in 1998 and 2000. It also scored only ten in its first four games in 1999.
During these three years, Canada had won once silver and once bronze in addition to being excluded from the podium in 1998 in Finland.
The current version of ECJ can still wake up in time to put itself in the driver’s seat.
