For Hockey Canada, a real rethinking is necessary

To solve a problem, you must first recognize its existence.

Canadian juniors won gold in 2023 (New window) (difficultly, in overtime, once again against the Czechs). However, a colleague from the site Athletic recalled in recent hours that if Canadian goalkeeper Thomas Milic had not made a breathtaking save in overtime against the Slovaks that year, Connor Bedard would not have had the chance to save the furniture by scoring the winning goal and we would be talking of three consecutive quarter-final eliminations for Canada.

In addition to the elimination suffered at the hands of the Czechs this week, the Canadians lowered their flag against Latvia, a country where there are only 3,700 young hockey players, during the preliminary round. The team led by Dave Cameron also needed all its spare change to defeat Germany. Undisciplined as possible, the Canadian team was also beaten 4-1 by the United States. The Americans were supposed to be Canada’s only viable opponents in this tournament.

***

Let’s put it bluntly: in principle, there are enough high-level hockey players in Canada to make four national teams and ensure that they are all competitive at the World Juniors. However, for various reasons, the matches which pit Canada against nations much less endowed in talent and financial resources now take on the appearance of epic duels whose outcome depends on the razor’s edge.

It should also be noted that this decline occurs at a time when the caliber of play in the World Junior Championship is considerably reduced by the absence of Russia. Russians have been excluded from IIHF international competitions since 2022 due to the invasion of Ukraine.

In short, there is clearly something wrong with the Canadian program. What has happened over the last two weeks adds to the observation made in this column exactly a month ago.

***

Across the country, many people try to explain the difficulties of CJE by looking for blame. Some blame the players, which is implausible. Others point the finger at head coach Dave Cameron, recruiters or Hockey Canada executives.

Yet all of these people have won gold medals in the past. So, it is not by stoning anyone on social networks that we will identify and resolve the problem. The reasons which explain this decline and poor performance are probably numerous and require in-depth reflection.

So it will be interesting to see if someone at Hockey Canada ends up raising an index during a meeting and proposing that we seriously review the way we organize hockey and our national teams. Indeed, for 50 years, Hockey Canada has stood out more for its inertia than for its propensity to innovate.

For example :

• Would it be appropriate to hire a full-time coach for the national teams? In 2021, Hockey Canada created such a position for André Tourigny. The job description called for Tourigny to lead the junior national team as well as the senior national team at the World Championships and to be part of the coaching staff for the Olympic team. However, the coach was hired by the Arizona Coyotes a few weeks after Hockey Canada’s announcement and the federation did not see fit to replace him. Several countries, however, rely on full-time coaches to supervise the progress of their players and to establish cohesion within national programs.

• Should we consider creating a permanent national development program for the best players aged 16 to 18? The Americans, who rely on a pool of players similar to that of Canada, do so. And they are having a lot of success on the international scene, in addition to seeing their number of players constantly increase in the NHL.

• Is it time to think about setting up a university hockey network worthy of the name in Canada? Twenty-two of the 25 players on the United States team at the World Juniors are playing for a university program and continuing their development by competing against players aged 20, 21, 22 and 23. By comparison, 23 of the 24 Canadian players come from Canada’s three major junior leagues, where they face players aged 16 to 20. Canada’s 24th player came from the American League.

One thing is certain, there is no harm in thinking, being open-minded and being proactive when results are no longer satisfactory on the international scene. Over the last 10 or 15 years, the Swedes, Finns, Germans and Czechs have done this successfully.

International hockey is now much more competitive than it was. And, obviously, there aren’t many countries anymore that feel intimidated by the idea of ​​stepping on the same ice as Canada’s players.

Time will tell soon enough if Hockey Canada leaders choose the status quo. In such a case, they should not be surprised to see their teams continue to slide in the international rankings. When competition is intense, inaction is equivalent to going backwards.