Canada WJHC Gameday Preview: Canada vs. Sweden #HereWeGo

We’re 1-0 when we do a game preview at ENS so might as well. Here we go!

Lineup

Team Canada lines v SWE

Chartier-Point-Marner
Crouse-Strome-Virtanen
Beauvillier-Barzal-Gauthier
Quenneville-Stephens-Konecny
Perlini

— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) December 31, 2015

Team Canada D v SWE

Chabot-Hicketts
Fleury-Hickey
Sanheim-Dermott
McKeown

Blackwood starts

— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) December 31, 2015

The Gauthier-Barzal duo has been my favourite pair in the tournament. They stick together with Beauvillier on the third line.

What Needs To Happen

After a shaky start against the Swiss, Blackwood really settled down and made some good saves to keep us in the game. He starts again tonight, and will need to be even better. The Swedes are about a trillion times better than the Swiss. We’ve already established that this isn’t the best Canada roster we’ve ever assembled, so for the first time since maybe Price we’re going to need a goalie to stand on his head and steal us some games.

Jake Virtanen straight up needs to get going. He’s been a monumental disappointment thus far. Lawson Crouse somehow managed to find his game against the Swiss, and seemed to gel fairly decently with Strome, who’s straight up carrying us at this point. Hopefully a full game with Strome can get Crouse and Virtanen going.

Also, just literally do whatever it was they did against the Swedes in the pre-tourney, minus the collapse.

What Can’t Happen

Don’t let the Swedes intimidate us. We’re fucking Canada. This is our sport. We got this shit. I see the standings, everybody sees the standings. But know what else I seen? I seen us score a touchdown on these blonde haired dicks right before the tournament began. And Sweden’s now missing their best player. We can do it.

 

What Will Happen

Upset (?) time! We’re hungry for a regulation W and we’re about to feast. Canada wins 4-3 in a goddamn nail biter. Barzal and Gauthier each score, Chabot adds one from the point. Strome continues his MVP-like play and scores late in the third for us to win it. Happy fucking New Years.