Game Notes

Canada vs Russia - 4am et - (TSN, TSN.ca, TSN Mobile TV)

Never met in a bronze medal game

CAN beat RUS 4-1 in pre-lim round

CAN has never beat RUS twice in same tournament (2002, 2011, CAN won 1st meeting, lost 2nd)

CAN:

Binnington last started a meaningful game on Dec 8th

RNH had 3A vs RUS in pre-lim game

Strome has 0PTS past 2GP

CAN has a medal in 14 straight WJC

CAN had 2PPG vs RUS in earlier match-up, CAN did not have a PPG in last game vs US

RUS:

Kucherov (5G, 3A) leads team in goals-points, he scored lone goal vs CAN in pre-lim game

Yakupov (1G, 15 shots) and Grigorenko (2G, 27 shots) have combined for 3G on 42 shots

Vasilevski is 2nd in sv% .950

Have allowed 40+ shots on net in 5 straight games

PP ranks 7th (20.8%)

Game Notes

Canada vs USA - 4am et - (TSN, TSN.ca, TSN Mobile TV)

CAN beat the US 2-1 in pre-lim round, CAN has won 9 of past 10 vs US

4 of the past 5 games between teams decided by 1G

Last met in SF in 2011, CAN won 4-1

CAN:

Rank 3rd on PP (6/19, 31.6%) and 3rd on PK (14/18, 77.8%)

RNH (3G, 8A) leads the tournament in PTS

Subban .930 ranks 3rd in sv%

Have 6 players with 2 or more goals

Have allowed 3G over their past 8 periods

USA:

Best PP (12/33, 36.4%) and Best PK (21/23, 91%)

Lead tournament in team sv% .953

Trouba (4G, 4A) leads all d-men in goals and points

Gaudreau (5) is T-1st in goals

Scored tournament high 26G, but just 2G against teams remaining (CAN-1, RUS-1)

Gibson .950 ranks 2nd in sv%

Game Notes

Canada (9PTS) vs Russia (8PTS) - 9am et - Dec. 31 (TSN, TSN.ca, TSN Mobile TV)

Winner of the game wins group and a bye to semi-finals

Last time in same group was 2011

Only met once previous on New Years Eve (1997)

RUS beat CAN in SF last year 6-5

RUS has won 2 straight vs CAN

RUS last won 3 straight vs CAN (4 straight) 1998-2001

CAN:

Have gone 45:16 without a goal

Lead tournament with 17G

4/14 on PP, 12/16 on PK

Nugent-Hopkins (3G, 5A) and Strome (4G,2A) are 1-2 in tournament in PTS

Subban .925 ranks 5th in sv%

RUS:

Have not trailed in tournament

.974 team sv%, best in tournament

3/13 on PP, 9/11 on PK

Kosov and Yarullin are tied for team lead in goals (3)

Vasilevski .973 ranks 1st in sv%

Game Notes

Canada vs USA - 4am et - Dec. 30 (TSN, TSN.ca, TSN Mobile TV)

Teams were in same group last year, CAN won 3-2

CAN has won 8 of the past 9 meetings between the teams

3 of past 4 games between teams decided by 1G

CAN:

RNH leads tournament in PTS (2G, 5A), Strome is 2nd (3G, 2A)

Strome (6G, 7A) PT in 7 of past 8 WJC games

Strome 1G in 1GP vs Gibson this season

Strome and McNeil T-3rd in tournament on the face-off 71.4%

Lipon, Danault, McNeil only forwards without a PT

Subban ranks 9th in sv% .893

USA:

Relegated last year, finishing 7th, worst finish since an 8th in 1999

Gibson .959sv%, 3rd best in tournament

Gibson plays under Spott in Kitchener

Gibson last 6GP in OHL before WJC 2-4-0, 3.33GAA, .902sv%

Trouba leads team in goals 2G, Galchenyuk leads in PTS (1G, 3A)

Jones lead team in +/- +4 and shots (9)

Head coach Steve Spott confirmed after Canada's 9-3 win over Germany that Malcolm Subban will start in goal against Slovakia on Friday.

Game Notes

Canada vs Germany - 4am et - Dec. 26 (TSN, TSN.ca, TSN Mobile TV)

Teams opened WJ against each other previously in 1997, 1992, 1983

Last time in same group was 2009

CAN is 10-0-0 all-time vs GER (1992-Present)

GER has scored 5G over past 7GP vs CAN

CAN:

CAN has won 13 straight tournament openers

First four Canadians drafted in 2011 are on team

Last time 6 returnees was in 2010

Lost 2 prelim round games past 10 tournaments (both to SWE 2008/2011)

Nugent-Hopkins is 5th captain from BC, first since Alzner in 2008

GER:

Finished 10th in 2011

Haven't finished better than 9th since an 8th place finish in 1996

6 players from CHL on team

Goalie Cupper plays for Shawinigan in the QMJHL 6-17-3, .895sv%, 3.57GAA

Head coach Steve Spott indicates anything longer than a three-game suspension would have led to Boone Jenner being dropped from the roster.

"There's nothing I can do now," said Jenner. "Obviously it's really tough. I really want to play in this tournament and be out there with my teammates."

With Jenner out, Canada's bottom-six forward group now looks like this:

Danault-McNeill-Lipon
Camara-MacKinnon-Rattie

Ryan Murphy has been promoted to the top PP unit where he'll line up beside Dougie Hamilton

Spott has made a decision on a starting goalie, but hasn't told either Malcolm Subban or Jordan Binnington yet so he was unwilling to say anything publicly.

- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (hip flexor) did not take part in Sunday's practice; head coach Steve Spott called it a maintenance day and says it's more about fatigue than anything else.

- Mark McNeill, who arrived in Helsinki Saturday night, practised on a line with LW Anthony Camara and RW JC Lipon; that trio also played together in the last game of the selection camp; Spott confirmed they will likely start the tournament as the fourth line with MacKinnon rotating in.

- Brett Ritchie took part in his first full practice since sustaining an upper-body injury in Thursday's game against Finland; he rejoined LW Jonathan Drouin and C Ryan Strome on the second line.

- Canada flies to Ufa later today on a flight that also includes Teams USA, Sweden and Finland; Jonathan Huberdeau says the Canadians plan to be the 'most polite' team on board

Practice lines:

Forwards
Huberdeau - MacKinnon* - Scheifele
Drouin - Strome - Ritchie
Danault - Jenner - Rattie
Camara - McNeill - Lipon

Defence
Harrington - Hamilton
Rielly - Wotherspoon
Reinhart - Ouellet
Murphy

Goaltender
Binnington
Subban
Paterson

* Placeholder for Nugent-Hopkins

- Charles Hudon (back) left the ice after about 25 minutes in obvious discomfort; it was later determined the Habs prospect would be unable to play at the tournament. "When he came into training camp in Calgary he did have some lingering lower back pain, but nothing that wasn't manageable," said head coach Steve Spott. "But today in practice, he definitely pulled a muscle. They don't know if it's disc-related, it could be, and ultimately they said it was something that would definitely have an affect as we go forward. We met with Charles and, obviously, had to make a tough decision, one that's devastating to him, and one that, unfortunately, we had to make, but, ultimately, you can't go into an event like this with players that aren't up to 100 per cent." Prince Albert's Mark McNeill will take Hudon's spot on the roster. "It was a specific role that we were looking for, somebody that could play in a depth position, kill penalties, bring energy, bring grit," said Spott. "He's obviously a little bit bigger than Charles. He can play centre or the wing."

- Brett Ritchie, who sustained an upper-body injury during Thursday's game, practiced for about 30 minutes before leaving the ice due to soreness. "Brett's going to be OK," said Spott. "He'll be questionable for tomorrow night, but ultimately you saw him skate today and shoot some pucks. He's a little bit sore, but, ultimately, the good news is he'll play on the 26th ... we dodged a little bit of a bullet with him."

- Coach Spott will likely shuffle up his defensive pairings with Dougie Hamilton expected to line up beside Scott Harrington. Morgan Rielly will drop down to play with Xavier Ouellet.

- Steve Yzerman, in town scouting the pre-tournament games, attended the practice and addressed the team afterwards; his message was that although there's a ton of talent in the locker room everyone has a role to play; he also shared memories of his time in international hockey.

Team Canada's projected lines for Saturday:

Forwards
Huberdeau - Nugent-Hopkins - Scheifele
Drouin - Strome - Rattie
Danault - Jenner - Lipon
Camara - MacKinnon

Defence
Harrington - Hamilton
Rielly - Ouellet
Wotherspoon - Reinhart
Murphy

Goaltender
Binnington (starts)
Subban

- Team Canada practised in Helsinki today ahead of its first pre-tournament game on Thursday against Finland.

- Jonathan Huberdeau's QMJHL suspension has opened the door for Ty Rattie to jump up to the first line with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, whom he also played with at the U17 championship. Head coach Steve Spott says if Rattie, who has been practising on the third line, performs well he could very well earn himself a spot in the top-six forwards and that's exactly how the Blues prospect sees the situation. "I might as well take it like that," said Rattie. "If Huby has to sit out that just gives one more guy an opportunity. I'll do the best I can and hopefully it's enough."

- Xavier Ouellet, who missed all the games in the selection camp while recovering from an ankle injury, finally gets a chance to get in a game. "I'm very excited," he said. "I've been waiting for this moment for a couple weeks now, I can't wait to play this game." Should we expect any rust? "I'll have to adjust for sure, but I feel good. I'm in shape. I've been working out a lot. My body's ready."

- Waterloo (USHL) defenceman Victor Newell, a good friend of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (they're both from Burnaby, B.C.), was involved in a car accident Monday night, which landed him in hospital. "I've heard he's doing well," said Nugent-Hopkins. "I don't think there were any serious injuries so that's good, but it's definitely scary when something like that happens to one of your close buddies." How far back to Newell and Nugent-Hopkins go? "As far as you can remember. Started playing together in novice and were almost on the same team almost until we went on to juniors." Being in Finland makes it tough for the Canadian captain to get a message through to Newell. "I gave him a text, but he hasn't replied yet. Hopefully I can talk to him today and see how he's doing."

Team Canada's projected lines for Thursday:

Forwards
Rattie-Nugent - Hopkins - Scheifele
Drouin - Strome - Ritchie
Hudon - Jenner - Lipon
Camara - Danault - MacKinnon

Defence
Rielly - Hamilton
Harrington - Ouellet
Wotherspoon - Reinhart
Murphy

Goaltender
Subban
Binnington

Team Finland's projected lines for Thursday:

Forwards
Salomäki - Granlund - Armia
Teräväinen - Aaltonen - Ikonen
Nykopp - Leino - Järveläinen
Lamberg - Salminen - Hännikäinen

Defence
Määttä - Vainonen
Riikola - Vainio
Lindbohm - Lindell
Auvinen - Valkonen
Haapala

Goaltender
Juvonen
Laurikainen

- The team practised this afternoon in Vierumaki, Fin.; the lines were unchanged from Monday's on-ice workout

- Jonathan Huberdeau will sit out Thursday's pre-tournament game against Finland as he serves the final game of his QMJHL suspension; head coach Steve Spott is not sure who will replace him on the No. 1 line; Spott did confirm Ty Rattie will take Huberdeau's position on the top power-play unit

- Spott says the plan is to have Malcolm Subban and Jordan Binnington each play one pre-tournament game, but he has not yet decided who starts on Thursday

- Both Nate MacKinnon and JC Lipon saw action on the penalty-kill unit today; they join Anthony Camara, Phillip Danault, Boone Jenner and Charles Hudon as forwards who have practised in that role so far

- Spott (@Regal9) has joined Twitter

- Culture shock: the team lunch was fish, but the players didn't like the look of it so ordered up some pizza instead; "Safe to say I'm not dreading the fact we're bringing our own chef over to Russia #mysterymeats" tweeted goalie Jake Paterson (@JakePaterson57)

- Team Canada will leave Vierumaki tomorrow morning after breakfast and head to Helskinki; they will practice in the Finnish capital at 1330 FT / 0630 ET on Wednesday

Team Canada lines at Tuesday's practice:

Forwards
Huberdeau - Nugent-Hopkins - Scheifele
Drouin - Strome - Ritchie
Hudon - Jenner - Rattie
Camara/Lipon - Danault - MacKinnon

Defence
Rielly - Hamilton
Harrington - Ouellet
Wotherspoon - Reinhart
Murphy

Goaltender
Subban-Binnington
Paterson

Team Canada practice lines:

Forwards
Huberdeau - Nugent-Hopkins - Scheifele
Drouin - Strome - Ritchie
Hudon - Jenner - Rattie
Camara/Lipon - Danault - MacKinnon

Defence
Rielly - Hamilton
Harrington - Ouellet
Wotherpoon - Reinhart
Murphy

- It is still an open competition between Malcolm Subban and Jordan Binnington for the number one job in net, while Jake Paterson will be Canada's third netminder.

- Victoriaville Tigres centre and Chicago Blackhawks prospect Phillip Danault had some dental work done and did not take part in Canada's first full practice on Saturday, instead watching from the bench.

Team Canada lines at Saturday's practice:

Forwards
Huberdeau - Nugent-Hopkins - Scheifele
Drouin - Strome - Ritchie
Hudon - Jenner - Rattie
Camara - MacKinnon - Lipon

Defence
Rielly - Hamilton
Harrington - Ouellet
Wotherspoon - Reinhart
Murphy

- Head coach Steve Spott says Hockey Canada reached out to the Oilers before they named Ryan Nugent-Hopkins captain on Friday: "[Senior director, hockey operations] Scott Salmond did have some contact with the Edmonton Oilers and they were fully supportive of the decision and excited for Ryan, but we made sure we spoke with Edmonton and they were part of the process. "With Ryan, obviously he's able to handle some of the media pressure that comes with it, he's played in the men's world championship already and in the NHL so, for us, we feel very comfortable with Ryan."

But there is still no assurance from the Oilers that Nugent-Hopkins will stay if CBA resolved.

- No decision on the goalie situation has been made: "We have to discuss it," said Spott. "We will make sure that the goaltender we deem at three will be announced soon or later, but we were kidding this morning that maybe we'll take 1A, 1B & 1C because I really don't think there's a 'three' amongst this group."

- The top unit of Huberdeau - Nugent-Hopkins - Scheifele will be together at tomorrow's first practice: "The challenge right now is Mark Scheifele. We want to start him at right wing ... that's a line we're going to try, but it's going to be a process, because it's going to be new for Mark Scheifele and it's going to be a challenge for him, but he's a world-class player and we think he can handle it.

- Halifax linemates Jonathan Drouin and Nate MacKinnon will not be on the same unit, according to Spott.

- Defencemen Mathew Dumba, Frank Corrado and Ryan Sproul, forwards Hunter Shinkaruk, Tom Wilson, Mark McNeill and Daniel Catenacci and goaltender Laurent Brossoit were the final eight players released from the team on Thursday.

- Canada wrapped up its selection camp on Thursday with a 2-0 win over a group of CIS West players in Calgary. 31 players began the day in camp, and eight will be cut after the game to bring the roster to its final 23 players.

- Canada will cut four forwards, three defencemen, and one goalie, according to TSN Insider Bob McKenzie.

- All four of the goalies that Canada has in camp played in the game against the CIS. Laurent Brossoit and Malcolm Subban for Canada, and Jordan Binnington and Jake Paterson for the CIS.

Team Canada lines for Thursday vs. CIS team:

Forwards
Drouin - Danault - Rattie
Hudon - MacKinnon - Ritchie
Shinkaruk - Catenacci - Wilson
Camara - McNeill - Lipon

Defence
Reinhart - Corrado
Murphy - Sproul
Wotherspoon - Dumba

Goalies
Brossoit
Subban

- Forwards Sean Monahan, Francis Beauvillier and Tyler Graovac as well as defencemen Adam Pelech and Derrick Pouliot were released.

- Team Canada's scratches for Wednesday's game against the University of Alberta Golden Bears were Nugent-Hopkins, Ritchie, Hudon, Huberdeau, Jenner, Strome, Scheifele, Danault, Hamilton, Harrington, Ouellet, and Rielly. Traditionally players who are likely to make the team are rested after the Red/White game.

- All four of the goalies that Canada has in camp played in the game against Alberta. Jordan Binnington and Malcolm Subban played for Canada, while Jake Paterson and Laurent Brossoit played for the Golden Bears.

Team Canada lines for Wednesday vs. Alberta:

Forwards
Drouin - Monahan - Rattie
Shinkaruk - MacKinnon - Lipon
Camara - Graovac - Catenacci
Beauvillier - McNeill - Wilson

Defence
Reinhart - Murphy
Pouliot - Corrado
Wotherspoon - Sproul
Pelech - Dumba

Goalies
Binnington
Subban

- Team Canada held their first practice at Markin MacPhail Centre in Calgary today, with a Red-White intra-squad game scheduled for 9pm et/6pm pt this evening.

- Team Canada will face the University of Alberta Golden Bears on Wednesday and Thursday evening in preparation for the upcoming tournament.

- Morgan Rielly begins camp on the likely top pairing with Bruins prospect Dougie Hamilton. "Obviously with Ryan Murray out we need somebody to fill those minutes and Morgan's going to get an opportunity here to play with Dougie and hopefully he takes advantage of that," head coach Steve Spott said.

- Spott on the goaltending battle, dismissing presumptions about the presumed starter Malcolm Subban. "We've got four guys that are going to push for jobs here. And contrary to belief, there's no starting job that's been given out, I can tell you guys that."

- Defenceman Xavier Ouellet has been dealing with a high-ankle sprain. Spott wasn't sure if he'd play tonight.

- First cuts may arrive before Thursday. Coach Spott said there's a chance the coaching staff makes the first batch of cuts following Wednesday's game against the CIS squad.

- One interesting sub-plot this week is the relationship being established between Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nathan MacKinnon. The potential number one in next year's NHL draft, MacKinnon is rooming with the Oilers star, who went number one overall in 2011.

Team Red:

Forwards
Huberdeau - Nugent-Hopkins - Scheifele
Drouin - MacKinnon - Lipon
Camara - Danault - Wilson
Beauvillier

Defence
Rielly - Hamilton
Wotherspoon - Corrado
Reinhart - Dumba

Goalies
Binnington
Brossoit

Team White:

Forwards
Hudon - Strome - Ritchie
Catenacci - Jenner - Rattie
Monahan - Graovac - McNeill
Shinkaruk

Defence
Harrington - Ouellet
Pelech - Murphy
Pouliot - Sproul

Goalies
Paterson
Subban