Team Canada is headed to the Olympics to win a gold medal, not just to beat the United States.
That’s the message head coach Jon Cooper passed along to TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun in The Athletic on Monday ahead of Wednesday’s roster selection deadline.
The Tampa Bay Lightning bench boss, who guided Canada to a win at this past February’s 4 Nations Face-Off over Team USA in a thrilling overtime final, says it would be folly to think a Canada-US rematch at Milano Cortina is inevitable.
“I would not sit here and say by any means are we resting on the fact that we won a one-goal game in overtime that’s a big save away from going the other way,” Cooper said of last winter’s tournament. “We’re well aware of the task ahead of us. The rush to say it’s going to be a Canada-U.S. final, I think that’s a huge miscalculation.”
Canada, who last won Olympic gold at Sochi in 2014, will play in Group A, alongside Czechia, Switzerland and France. The Red and White open their tournament on Feb. 12 in Milan against the Czechs. The quarter-finals will begin on Feb. 18.
Cooper cautions that Canada might not even face off with their North American rivals at all in Italy.
“We may not even play the U.S. in this tournament,” Cooper said. “We still have to get through a whole bunch of countries to get to that gold medal game. So we’re building a team to make sure we can get to that gold medal game and hopefully will win gold.”
As the Canada braintrust, led by general manager Doug Armstrong, finalizes its roster - “I’d say we’re crossing our T’s and dotting our I’s at this point,” Cooper said - Cooper says there’s one major difference between putting together this group than what he did last year ahead of the 4 Nations Face-Off.
“I think what makes it harder probably for me is that this time, I’ve coached a lot of the players, and where I hadn’t in the last tournament,” Cooper said. “So for me, there’s probably a little sentiment in there.
“But we primarily have the same group that’s picking the 4 Nations that’s picking this one. I have the utmost trust in everybody that’s involved. It’s just hard because there’s a lot of guys that are going to be left off that have some pretty impressive resumes.”
Canada’s roster will be comprised of 25 players. Six were already named this past summer. Already assured of seats on the plane to Italy are Colorado Avalanche defenceman Cale Makar and forwards Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers, Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, Sam Reinhart of the Florida Panthers, Makar’s Avs teammate Nathan MacKinnon and Brayden Point of Cooper’s Lightning.
