The trauma is far from over in Canada. On CBC News Network yesterday morning, two subjects held attention, namely the resignation of Justin Trudeau as well as the discomfiture of Junior Team Canada, more than 72 hours after the elimination of the team against the Czech Republic in quarter final.
This is because our Canadian junior team is no longer what it was internationally, not because the talent no longer exists, but above all because the composition of the teams has been questionable for several years. We are depriving ourselves of very offensively skilled players in favor of aggressive players. A losing recipe that has never had success in this type of tournament.
Same problem in a month?
The 4 Nations Showdown will take place from February 12 to 20 in Montreal and Boston. Finland, Sweden, the United States and Canada will compete in this tournament which will be very tough. However, if we look at the composition of the Canadian team, we can wonder about the absence of a few players. The first question is very simple. How is it possible that Mark Scheifele was not chosen to participate in this tournament? I know that in the hearts of Canadiens fans, the Jets player is not the favorite following his blow to the head of Jake Evans in the 2021 playoffs (Scheifele was suspended for three games). But the fact remains that he is one of the best Canadian players in the NHL currently.
Second NHL scorer
Leon Draisaitl leads the NHL in scoring with 29 goals and Scheifele is second (heading into Monday’s games) with 23 goals, tied with four other players. Thirteen of his 23 goals were scored at five-on-five.
-At 6’3″ and 210 lbs, the center is imposing on the ice and also brings a lot of emotion to games. How is it possible that he was excluded from the tournament? Because Canada already has Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby? Really?
The danger of depriving yourself
There isn’t a player on the Canadian roster that I wouldn’t take on my team during the regular season. But the game in an international hockey tournament is very different from what we know in the regular season and in the playoffs. What often makes the difference is the quality of the talented players and not the role players, there being a little too many in the Canadian team which will go to the 4 Nations Showdown.
Learn from failures
One of Canada’s first failures (in modern history) on the international stage was at the Nagano Olympics when Shayne Corson, Keith Primeau and Rob Zamuner were on the team. In 2006, in Turin, the leaders of the Canadian team repeated the same mistake, this time with players like Kris Draper and Bryan McCabe, who were part of this formation. This year, should we be worried about Seth Jarvis instead of Scheifele? To ask the question is to answer it. The objective here is not to denigrate a few players who will wear the maple leaf in February, but when there are at least four players on the Canadian team who were not on the list of many observers, there are something to worry about. I sincerely hope I’m wrong, but with the trauma junior training put us through, another disaster next month will be even harder to swallow.
Related News :