Canada’s world juniors try to figure out what went wrong

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No doubt, a crew of “brightest and best” hockey thinkers will spend weeks and months dissecting what went wrong in another disappointing and disconcerting early exit by our national team at the world junior hockey championship.

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Gone in a quarterfinal? Losing 4-3 to Czechia a year after losing 3-2 to the same team?

This is Canada. Hockey nation. The best. Kings of the frozen pond.

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We win gold; 20 times we’ve been world junior champions.

And, if it doesn’t work out that way, everybody becomes a hockey expert, all hell breaks loose and heads roll.

Canada found its world-junior groove in 1990, when it began a run of seven titles in eight years. We won gold from 2005 to 2009 and went back-to-back in 2022-23.

And, now, back-to-back whacks?

How? Why?

Blame, blame, blame, it’s something we do well.

It starts at the top with Hockey Canada, no stranger to mis-steps.

The selection process wasn’t good enough, the coaching wasn’t good enough, the playing wasn’t good enough.

The scoreboard never lies, right?

The emotionally drained 17-, 18- and 19-year-olds took losing hard. Yeah, they took too many dumb penalties, yeah, they didn’t score enough goals. But I’m not going to vilify a bunch of kids who will live with this sour taste of defeat.

“Everyone played their hearts out, we played for our country; it was just a terrible result,” said Calum Ritchie, one of Canada’s alternate captains. “This has been really special, one of the coolest things I’ve done in my life. Being able to play for your country is an honour and a privilege. I’m really sorry we didn’t get the job done. Sorry to all the fans. This will stick with me for a long time. It sucks.”

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It’s important to remember Canada did not have the services of its two best eligible players: Connor Bedard (Chicago Blackhawks) and Macklin Celebrini (San Jose Sharks), who are already big contributors for their National Hockey League teams. Does it make a difference if you have that 1-2 punch in your lineup? Would that have made Canada the gold-medal favourite?

Hockey Canada’s decision-makers, with head scout Al Murray, will come under fire.

There will also be questions about the coaching staff, led by Dave Cameron, a very good head coach for the Ottawa 67’s. And they need to be tough questions.

Then there was the way the team was put together.

Why were defencemen Zayne Parekh and top Ottawa Senators prospect Carter Yakemchuk and forwards Beckett Sennecke, Andrew Cristall, Michael Misa and Michael Hage not on the roster?

Why were many of this country’s top junior scorers left home?

In last year’s NHL draft, Sennecke went third overall to Anaheim, Yakemchuk went seventh to Ottawa, Parekh went ninth to Calgary and Hage went 21st to Montreal. Cristall, drafted 40th overall by Washington, has 26 goals and 34 assists in just 27 games for Kelowna of the Western Hockey League. Misa, who has 64 points (30 goals, 34 assists in 33 games) for Saginaw in the Ontario Hockey League, should be a top-five pick in this year’s draft.

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But, if you’re going to say this guy or that guy should have been on the team, I’ll ask this: How many times have you — yes, I’m talking to you — watched him play? If the answer is, “I haven’t,” or “not much,” how can you question the choices the selection committee made? What qualifies you that you would know more than they do?

Let’s let Hockey Canada figure this one out.

The Canadian junior roster looks like it was constructed with one thing in mind: build a team that could go toe-to-toe with the U.S. Bad plan; it didn’t work.

So, what went wrong?

“This tournament was exactly what I knew it was going to be coming in,” Cameron said in the moments after Thursday’s shattering setback. “It was going to be three to four teams that could win. No easy games, you have to win your sudden-death game. We just weren’t able to get all parts of our game clicking at the same time.

“It’s not that we weren’t clicking, we weren’t scoring. Scoring generates your emotion. We were creating chances. Could you create more? Of course. It’s the nature of the game sometimes.”

Cameron was asked if it would hurt watching this weekend’s games as a spectator and not behind the bench.

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Said the coach: “Are you asking if I’m disappointed? Yes, I’m disappointed.”

It’s never as easy as taking all of your country’s most skilled players and throwing them on the ice together.

Look at Canada’s roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, Why weren’t guys like Bedard, Zach Hyman, Mark Scheifele, Tom Wilson, Steven Stamkos and Evan Bouchard included?

The answer: There’s more to it than skills. But, if Canada tanks, you can bet the knives will be out.

There will be discussions and meetings and changes in the way Hockey Canada approaches the selection process for the world juniors. The clock is already ticking since there’s less than a year until the next opportunity for the Canadian teenagers.

“I wish we’d done more for the fans, for the people of Canada. It sucks to go out this way,” said Gavin McKenna, the youngest Canadian player. “I hate to say it, but there’s always next year.”

Yep, next year. Go get ’em, boys.

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