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SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

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TSN's Mark Masters is with Team Canada and has the latest as the group plays in the world junior championship. Team Canada cancelled its morning skate, but did hold a media availability at the Air Canada Centre ahead of Monday’s game against Russia. 

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- Head coach Dominique Ducharme announced that Carter Hart will get the start Monday night. Team Canada will not be making goalies available for pregame interviews, but on Sunday Hart explained how he relies on routine in the face of pressure-packed situations. Through his work with sports psychologist John Stevenson, Hart has devised a pregame routine that he follows religiously. "I don't think we have enough time," Hart joked when asked to outline some of the specifics. The routine, apparently, applies even to his pre-game meal. "My billet in Everett gets pretty sick of making chicken penne Alfredo every single pre-game at home. He's like, 'Don't you want to mix it up a little bit?' It's just something I like. I'm starting to get sick of it, but it's what I do. It's what I eat. I'm the same for a lot of things. On game days, I eat the same breakfast (three eggs, two pieces of toast, chocolate milk). I really like routine." Hart is quick to stress that this isn't a superstition. For example, he'll eat whatever Hockey Canada serves as the pregame meal tonight without giving it a second thought. It's just that he's a regimented guy. "His focus is unbelievable," said forward Dillon Dubé. "He acts like a pro and he's only 18. He's one of the younger guys on the team and he's one of the most professional guys on the team so you got to give him credit for that. His routine is always the same. Some people think it's crazy, the superstitions people have, but it just shows how professional he is."

Hart said it was likely he would touch base with Stevenson on the eve of the tournament. "Usually I talk to him before big events like this," he said. "Sometimes we'll talk about hockey and other times we'll just talk about what's going on in life, because he's a great friend as well and a great resources to have." Hart has worked with Stevenson for almost a decade. 

- Opening the round robin against Russia doesn't give Canada a chance to ease into the event, but Thomas Chabot doesn't mind. "I don't think it could start any better than this," the defenceman said. Russia has won four of the last six meetings with Canada at the world juniors although the most recent encounter, two years ago in the gold-medal game at the ACC, went Canada's way. "It's going to be crazy," said Dubé. "Even in warm-up when you're looking across the red line, you don't like those guys too much. Even at the Ivan Hlinka tournament, every time you play them there's lots of hatred so it will be a good way to start off the tournament and I think the fans will be into it right away." The Russians are ready for a hostile environment. "We have to be ready for the first 10 minutes," said Regina Pats defenceman Sergei Zborovski. "It will be, the whole crowd, whole place will be cheering for them. We must play fast, play hard and take the big hits they will take on us."

- Dubé's favourite Canada-Russia moment was the Jordan Eberle tying goal in the dying seconds in the 2009 world junior semi-final. For captain Dylan Strome, the moment that sticks with him the most is the 2012 semi-final in Calgary when Canada's comeback fell just short. Dylan was in the stands and watched as his brother Ryan hit the post in the last minute. The siblings caught up for a few hours Sunday, but didn't really talk about Ryan's world junior experience. That is still a sore subject. For Dylan, the moral of the story is these moments tend to live on for a long time. "When a game from 1972 is still being talked about to this day, it obviously means something," Strome said when asked about the rivalry. "The two teams that play tonight are pretty special. I've seen a lot of games between Canada and Russia and they never seem to disappoint." The two countries have split their 38 world junior meetings (18-18-2).

- In his conversations with teammates, Strome has stressed the need for a strong start to the tournament. Last year, Canada lost its first game of the round robin and never seemed to get on track en route to a sixth-place finish. Five times Canada has lost its first game at the world juniors (1979, 1980, 1984, 1998 and 2016) and all five times the country has failed to reach the podium. 

* Projected Team Canada lineup: 

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

Chabot-Myers
Bean-Juulsen
Clague-Fabbro
Lauzon

Hart
Ingram

Power play units

Chabot^
Barzal-Raddysh-Strome
Dubois

Myers
Bean/Clague-Gauthier-Jost
Roy 

^ Chabot said Saint John employed a one-defenceman, four-forward PP approach all of last season and does it sometimes this year so he's very comfortable with the alignment 

 

5-on-3:

Chabot-Myers
Strome-Barzal
Roy