The World Junior semi-final between the United States and the Czech Republic will be presented at 7:30 p.m. this evening on RDS and RDS.ca.
RESULTS｜ CALENDAR｜RANKING｜STATISTICS
OTTAWA – Ryan Leonard’s face tells two different stories after the United States beat Switzerland in the World Junior quarterfinals.
His bandaged nose, variegated and abnormally inclined, testified to suffering and sacrifice.
His mouth, arched to form a smile that he tried poorly to hide, expressed satisfaction, pride and a sense of accomplishment.
These two observations should not be complementary. But Leonard, the captain of the American team, is both masochist and torturer. He can play to hurt, but sometimes gives the impression of finding satisfaction in the pain inflicted on him.
This is what we saw during the match against Switzerland. He punched, he took some, and he asked for more. And when he wasn’t looking for chaos himself, chaos was busy finding him. It was a blocked shot, deflected at an unfortunate angle by his own stick, that set him up in a way that, once the initial pain subsided, seemed to amuse him.
Whether it’s an understandably emotional game against Canada on New Year’s Eve, or a virtually foregone conclusion against a lesser rival, the Washington Capitals’ first-round pick demonstrates the same intensity. At this World Juniors, he is the perfect leader for a team that has only two obstacles to overcome to win gold for a second consecutive year.
“He’s so competitive, he never refuses to go where it hurts,” teammate Zeev Buium said after the Switzerland match. He can ring the bell once, twice, three times, it will continue. »
“When there is a chicane, it is generally not far away,” confirms his teammate Gabriel Perreault. He likes it when things get difficult and he’s always there to defend you. It’s good to have a captain like him. »
“He’s a guy who stands out in big moments,” noted James Hagens. I made fun of him on the bench, telling him we probably wouldn’t use his modeling services after this, but it’s part of his identity. The next time he was there, he was ready to go again. This shows the kind of leader he is. Nothing seems to affect it. »
This is not necessarily true. Like any player who thrives on chaos, Leonard has a tendency to go too far. We saw him during the match against Canada, receiving a penalty for roughness a few seconds after the siren announcing the end of the second period. Canada created equality while he served his sentence.
With that costly escapade in mind, it wasn’t his hard-hitting strikes, blocked shots or even the two goals he scored that coach David Carle took away from his performance against Switzerland. It is rather a sequence in the third period during which his veteran, after being thrown to the ground by an opponent, wisely moved away from the scene instead of seeking revenge.
“For me, it’s a sign of maturity and discipline,” Carle said. Ryan is an emotional leader. It’s a trait of his personality that his teammates rally around. But at this precise moment, it was not the time to seek to stir up trouble. It made me happy to see that he understood it. The more I know him, the more I see a guy in control of his emotions. »
Leonard is also aware that the more he controls his emotions, the more people watching him play find it difficult to contain theirs. He became enemy number one last year in Gothenburg, where the Americans shattered the dreams of the local favorites. We still talk about his celebration, an arrogant kiss to the Swedish fans, after a goal that put the icing on the cake in the grand final.
When he was heckled unreservedly during the match against Canada on December 31, he considered it a normal reaction from a very partisan crowd. When he received his player of the game award to the same boos two days later, he understood that he really hadn’t made any friends in Ottawa.
A reporter suggested to him that he was probably the most hated man in town. He smiled, not even trying to hide his joy this time. “It’s cool to be hated. »
