CP NewsAlert: Laine leads Finland past Canada

“I thought our team was very well prepared, I thought we had as good a coaching staff at the competition as anyone”, Renney said in a conference room at the team’s hotel.

Finland tied it 2-2, but Canada retook the lead. Jake Virtanen would collect the lone assist for his first point of the tournament. The pace was furious early, with both sides getting chances.

Canada dominated early on, shutting down Finland’s potent offense with some exceptional defensive play while potting two early goals from Travis Konecny and Strome. Although he looked dominant all tournament, that was his first.

Virtanen finished the game with one assist, 3 minor penalties, and no shots on goal. Julien Gauthier and Anthony Beauvillier have more to give.

It’s not just the offense, however, because Canada has given up goals which haven’t been fantastic.

“I think we had got into some penalty trouble there and they’ve got a really good power play so we were a little behind the 8-ball to start off the game”, said Blackwood.

“It’s about Finland and it’s about the next game”.

Canada started off against the Finns as if it had regained its swagger and took a 2-0 lead in the first period.

Canada has nine returning players who are eligible to compete next year, including forwards Dylan Strome, Mitch Marner and Matt Barzal.

Best of all? It’s the business end of an intriguing tournament. Canada killed the penalty, but a few minutes later, Brandon Hickey blew an edge, and Antti Kalapudas wristed one past Blackwood.

That prompted coach Jukka Jalonen to change goaltenders, with Veini Vehviläinen benched to make way for Kaapo Kahkonen. With 3-and-a-half minutes left, Marner negated a power play by punching a Finnish player in a scrum. Finally against Finland, Marner woke up and you could see his future potential and how much stronger this Canadian team could have been had he played like this throughout round robin. “And then the fins came back”. A strong penalty kill would allow the Canadians to escape to the dressing room and regroup. Canada may feel the calls didn’t go their way, but it’s critical to understand the rules and how they are applied. “We’re just going to try and come out and play our game and get a win the next time we play”.

The 2016 tournament was a tournament of questions for the Canadian squad. Felix Sandstrom was in the Swedish net for the final three minutes of the game and turned aside the only shot he faced.

And if you’re anxious that these teenagers, with National Hockey League affiliations already or soon beside their names, can’t handle the big stage, remember the words of Canadian defenceman Joe Hicketts who took the most unfortunate of penalties when he shot the puck the length of the ice and into the stands. Finland showed no mercy, and the Laine would score his sixth of the tournament, hammering the puck through Blackwood.

“They were whistled for it and they had to pay the price for it”. What if the Canadians could have capitalized on opportunities and knocked off the Swiss in regulation? Going the other way, Blackwood made a huge stop. Obviously a very weak line which did not help a struggling Marner, as the only points he scored in the rest of the tournament with this line were all on the powerplay. Point almost tied the game up with thirty seconds left, but that would be all.