Keep up to date on all the news and injury reports from the World Junior Hockey Championship.

Team Canada is rallying around assistant coach Dominique Ducharme, who is mourning the loss of his father, Jacques, who passed away in his sleep yesterday. Ducharme learned of his father's death following Canada's 3-2 win over Switzerland. "The kids were kind of shocked," said head coach Dave Lowry. "We know we have a very strong group and the kids have shown a tremendous amount of support for him." Brayden Point says Ducharme gave a heartfelt address to the players. "He's obviously a very impressive man and a very strong man for that and we appreciate it."

Several players skated over and shook Ducharme's hand at the end of practice. "We're all here for him," said Lawson Crouse. "We're going to do whatever we can to win him and his family a gold medal." Ducharme, who is the head coach of the Halifax Mooseheads, will remain with the Canadian squad through the end of the tournament. In an interview with RDS, Ducharme said his father was extremely proud that he was working for Hockey Canada at the world juniors and that he would want him to stay on and finish the job.

Lowry and Mitch Marner had a chat that lasted several minutes on the ice before practice began. "The one thing we want him to understand is we'll win as a group and we'll score by committee and he just has to play responsibly and he'll generate his chances," Lowry said. "I think Mitch is still finding his way. He has to enjoy the game and he's put an enormous amount of pressure on himself. He feels like he has to be one of the guys who leads the offence." Marner, who has three points in three games, was asked how he feels he's playing so far. "Not to my capabilities," he said. "I think I can play a lot better."

Marner said he hasn't felt like himself since arriving in Finland. "It feels like I'm not preparing my body right for the games," he said. When pressed for details he suggested the time change and/or 8pm start times have contributed to him feeling a bit off. "It's just trying to get used to the napping time and stuff like that and making sure you get back to your routine."

Like Marner, Point admitted he has not been playing up to his own rather lofty standards. "I've been OK, obviously there's a lot more I can give," Team Canada's captain said. "I think that goes for all of us." Monday and Tuesday marked the first time Point has played games on consecutive days since Nov. 13-14. He was asked if a lack of game action, due to a shoulder injury sustained on Nov. 17, has contributed to his slow start to the world juniors. "Maybe," he said, before quickly adding, "but there's no excuses."

Lowry stopped practice several times to try and hammer home points to the players. Where would he like the team to improve the most? "I just want to see us continue to get better. Obviously, we have a certain foundation that we believe is going to give us a chance to win and a lot of it is how we play with the puck, how we manage the ice and we want to make sure we continue to work on that." Point was a little more specific.

"A lot of skating, a lot of tracking back," Point said when asked about the practice session. "I think that's something we have to do better is our back-check and creating more turnovers."

William Nylander will not play against Canada tomorrow, but he is nearing a return. "He's feeling good," said Alexander Nylander, William's younger brother and Swedish teammate. "He's been biking at the hotel and feeling good. He might be back soon." But how soon? Per Adolf Bergsten, Sweden's team doctor, was asked when Nylander may be able to skate again. "You could guess maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day, if everything goes as we expect," he said. Dr. Bergsten said Nylander would need to go through at least one practice with contact before returning to game action.

Head coach Rikard Grönborg vows Sweden will approach tomorrow's game against Canada the same way they would any other even though his team has already clinched first place in Group A. "I think you're in trouble if you start approaching games differently here," Grönborg said. "We'll have a game plan for the Canadian team. We won't approach this game differently at all."

Lines:

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

Chabot-Hicketts
Fleury-Hickey
Sanheim-Dermott
McKeown

Blackwood
McDonald
Montembeault