Canada feels heartbreak after getting KO’d from world juniors

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With the heartbreak fresh, their eyes still red from post-game tears, Canadian kids talked about the gut-wrenching disappointment they were feeling after an early elimination from the world junior hockey championship.

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For the second straight year, Czechia knocked Canada out of the tournament, winning 4-3 Thursday night at Canadian Tire Centre.

With the eyes of a hockey-hungry nation on them, our kids didn’t have enough goals in them.

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“It’s a sour taste,” alternate captain Tanner Molendyk said. “You hate losing in a tournament like this, it’s going to sting for a while.”

“It sucks we didn’t get it done for the guys who are in their last year,” Gavin McKenna, the youngest player on Canada’s roster (he turned 17 last month), said.  “I thought we deserved to win that game; the hockey gods weren’t there for us.”

Canadian coach Dave Cameron, talked about the nastiness of social media, how criticism and attacks can sideswipe a teenager doing the best he can with a maple leaf on his chest.

“There’s pressure, but that’s the business we’re in,” he said. “A lot of these guys are with club teams going for championships, they play on under-17 and under-18 teams, they’ve been in big games. Unfortunately, most of the pressure that is put on these kids comes through social media and the negativity of that. That’s what’s really unfair for these kids playing for their country and having to put up with that B.S.”

It was a game and a tournament full of discipline issues – too many penalties. The hill was a tough one to climb.

Appropriately enough, it was a penalty that allowed Czechia to score the winning goal, after Canada had battled back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game when Bradly Nadeau banged in a rebound with 4:18 left.

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When Canada tied it, the crowd of more than 18,000 was energized. Go Canada Go echoed loudly through the building.

And, then Canada did what it did too often in this tournament, a gathering of many of the best young hockey players in the world – it took a penalty, a kneeing minor to Andrew Gibson, to decide the game.

You could make an argument it was a penalty or not a penalty – I’m going to say it was. But none of that matters. It was called. And Czechia scored, with just 40 seconds left.

While we’re on the topic of penalties, let’s hit the rewind button to the first period when Canada’s Cole Beaudoin got a kneeing major and game misconduct for a hit that looked at worst to be a minor penalty. Maybe he led with his knee, but it sure didn’t look the five-minute kind of punishment. It was a dumb call by the officials, led by referees Riku Brander (Finland) and Sean MacFarlane (USA), who huddled to decide how best to deal with the infraction.

Beaudoin’s target was Czechia’s Petr Sykora, who sold the impact of the hit as soon as he realized the ref was looking at him. Oh, and after he picked himself up off the ice, he smiled. The kind of cheeky smile you see when you know you’ve gotten away with something. Interestingly enough, Sykora, who opened the scoring 43 seconds into the game, was given a diving penalty later in the game. Once an embellisher always an embellisher.

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“I didn’t think it was a five-minute penalty,” Cameron said, not elaborating on his opinion of the officiating. “Does it matter what I think?”

Late in the game, McKenna was driven into the boards face-first by an elbow. No minor, no major, no penalty. Canadian players were also clipped by high sticks a couple of times. Nothing, no penalty.

It was hard enough to beat a very talented team wearing red jerseys, but it takes it to another level when you’ve also got to overcome the guys wearing striped black and white sweaters.

“There’s nothing we can change about it so there’s no point in dwelling on it,” Canadian captain Brayden Yager said.

“You get calls, you don’t get calls, but it’s part of hockey,” alternate captain Tanner Molendyk said. “There’s no one perfect, they’re not going to make all the right calls.”

Still, it goes back to Canada foolishly putting themselves in situations that hurt the team. Discipline. Play hard, but smart.

Canada got a short-handed goal by Tanner Howe during the Beaudoin major. But Czechia got it back when Sam Dickinson tossed the puck into his own net. Canada fell behind 3-1 on a goal with three seconds left in the opening period.

Canada made it 3-2 on a Porter Martone power-play goal late in the second period.

Canada put the puck in the net with a bit more than 10 minutes left, but it was ruled goalie interference; a call that stood up through a coach’s challenge.

“I thought he was pushed (into the net),” Cameron said.

It doesn’t matter now. Nothing really matters now.

On Saturday, Czechia plays the United States and Finland plays Sweden.

One of them will be the champion, while Canada watches and waits.

Gold?

Next year, right?

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