Columnist image

SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

| Archive

TSN's Mark Masters is with Team Canada and has the latest as the group prepares for its second World Junior Championship pre-tournament game against Czech Republic on Wednesday in Ottawa.

Team Canada cancelled its morning skate, but did hold media availability at the Canadian Tire Centre ahead of tonight's pre-tournament game against the Czech Republic. 

• Team Canada posted a convincing 5-0 win in its first pre-tournament game against Finland, but Dominique Ducharme sees room for improvement. "We want to be more consistent for 60 minutes," Canada's head coach said on Wednesday morning. "That's one thing for sure. Also, we want to stay out of the box and get used to the way the referees work. We have to be better with our sticks and not put the referees on the spot." Canada was short-handed seven times on Monday night. "Overall, I really like the way we're engaged," Ducharme noted. "We're using our speed well. It helps us on the defensive side to reduce the other team's time and space so we're receiving more pucks and transitioning to offence." What is his team's identity? "A complete team,” he said. “A team that is reliable and a team that can use its skills offensively and its speed. Same thing on the defensive side. The speed, the intensity, the way we move is very important."

• It was one year ago today that Everett Silvertips defenceman Noah Juulsen flew home from Helsinki where he had been one of the final Team Canada cuts. "That was a long flight," the Habs prospect recalled. "I flew from Helsinki to Frankfurt and then Frankfurt to Vancouver, which was a 10-hour flight. A lot of time sitting there thinking what I could have done at camp or what I should've done." In the moments after he got the bad news last year, Juulsen was emotional at the team hotel and declined an interview request. The whole experience has stuck with him ever since. "That was fire to the belly for this year for sure," Juulsen said. "Coming back from Finland last year was tough, but coming into this year that motivated me a lot just to come in and show them what I got." Juulsen is set to play a key role for Canada currently slotting in on the second pairing alongside Calgary's Jake Bean. "Just to be a shutdown, solid defender," Juulsen said when asked about his role. "Keep it simple. Don't be too fancy out there and play hard and be hard to play against."

• During an NHL preseason game in September, Flames prospect Dillon Dubé got tangled up in the corner, fell and immediately knew something was wrong. "My knee kind of gave out so I hobbled off the ice and hit the tunnel and crawled to the room. My knee was out of place a little bit." The initial prognosis wasn't positive, so Dubé thought his world junior dream was over. "At that point, I didn't think I'd be back in time. We were thinking it was really bad." Then an X-ray and MRI showed there was hope. It took seven weeks, but Dubé recovered from the fractured right knee and played 10 games with Kelowna before joining Team Canada's camp. And yet, he was still on the bubble. "It was tough. I was just hoping to get the invite to the selection camp. I don't think I was slated to make it for that reason, but I didn't want to fallback on it and say, 'The injury kept me from making it.' To push for a spot and make it was huge for me." And now, Dubé believes the injury may be a blessing in disguise, because he's feeling really fresh. 

• Dubé is among the many players relishing the opportunity to play in NHL arenas. Canada played at Montreal's Bell Centre on Monday and will play at Ottawa's Canadian Tire Centre on Wednesday night. "Just the atmosphere, especially the dressing rooms that you get to go in. There's nothing like it," Dubé said. "It feels good and hopefully you'll get there one day. It gives you an eye-opener to what it's like." What stands out the most in the dressing room? "The hot tubs are incredible," Dubé said with a grin. "I don't even have one in my house and I get to use one here all the time. It's unbelievable the space they have and the technology they have."

—

Projected Team Canada lineup for tonight's game:

Dubois-Strome-Stephens
Joseph-Barzal-Raddysh
Jost-Roy-Gauthier 
Dubé-Cirelli-Speers
McLeod 

Chabot-Myers
Bean-Juulsen
Fabbro-Clague
Lauzon

Ingram starts 
Hart