Canada downs Italy in world hockey opener
Peter O’Neil, Canwest News Europe Correspondent Published: Saturday, May 08, 2010 http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=3004060#ixzz0oIWTZ8Kv
MANNHEIM, GERMANY -- The senior citizen on one of the youngest national teams in Canadian history rode to the rescue Saturday in Team Canada's 5-1 win over Italy in inaugural contest at the IIHF world hockey championship.
Carolina Hurricanes veteran Ray Whitney, who turned 38 Saturday and is playing on a line with 19-year-olds John Tavares and Matt Duchene, set up the two key goals that helped his team rebound from a shaky start.
Whitney, named player of the game, set up defenceman Kris Russell on a nifty feed late during a first-period power play to give the slow-starting Canadian squad, surprised by the Italians' speed, a 2-1 lead.
He then helped Canada put the game out of reach early in the second period by setting up Duchene on a similar play.
"It goes to show you that the game is as much about mental ability as it is about physical ability," Canadian coach Craig MacTavish said after the game, which drew 7,912 boisterous fans, many waving Canadian flags.
"It was a pretty critical time in the game. His playmaking ability was outstanding today. He made good decisions with the puck."
Canada continues the preliminary round with games against Latvia on Monday and Switzerland on Wednesday.
MacTavish said Team Canada, which outshot the Italians 45-24, learned a lesson Saturday after the first-period scare.
"On paper you look at Canadian history in hockey, and the championships that Canada has won over the years, and then you look at Italy and it looks like a pretty significant mismatch," he said.
"But really, at the end of the day it was a pretty close hockey game. They played very well against us."
The line of Steven Stamkos, Corey Perry and Rene Bourque, dominant in the team's only pre-tournament game, put on another impressive display Saturday, with each player chipping in a goal.
The line put immediate pressure on the Italians after the opening faceoff and scored on its second shift less than three minutes into the game.
Stamkos, the 20-year-old who tied for the NHL scoring lead with 51 goals, circled behind the net and came out for a shot on Italian goalie, Montreal-born Adam Russo, one of eight Canadian-born players in the Italian lineup.
The rebound went right to Perry in the crease, and he slapped it into the net for a 1-0 lead.
But then the Canadians fell back on their heels and made several giveaways.
Italy almost scored midway through the period, but Canadian goalie Chris Mason swatting out a puck that appeared headed into the net. The Italians thought the puck went in but a review by officials concluded it didn't.
Moments later, the Italians tied the game when Michele Strazzabosco beat Mason with a slapshot from the blue-line.
Canada continued to struggle, and Whitney acknowledged that the team was getting nervous about the idea of heading into the dressing room with a tie against one of the tournament's weakest entries.
"Whenever you're a team that's favoured and you're in a tie game, the longer you're in a tie game probably the more pressure you're going to feel," he said.
But Whitney pricked a hole in the building tension with less than a minute left in the period, faking a shot after crossing the blue-line and then feathering a pass to Russell for a one-timer goal.
"I think to get the lead back before we went in was important," Whitney said.
His linemate Duchene concurred, saying it was an ideal moment for a veteran to show leadership.
"He's a guy that's going to have that experience and that wisdom to settle things down when we needed to settle it down."
Canada went up 4-1 in the second period, with the first goal by Duchene coming on a similar feed from Whitney six minutes into the period.
Stamkos scored later in the period on a delayed penalty, burying a goalmouth pass from Duchene.
Canada dominated the final period but were stymied by Toronto-born goaltender Daniel Bellissimo, who replaced Russo in the final frame. But then Bourque made the score 5-1 on a partially screened shot with less than three minutes to play.
MacTavish said he hopes Canada, which lost gold-medal games to Russia the last two tournaments, will follow the lead of Canada's Olympic champions in February by improving with each game.
"That's what we hope to emulate, the job Team Canada did at the Olympics.
Carolina Hurricanes veteran Ray Whitney, who turned 38 Saturday and is playing on a line with 19-year-olds John Tavares and Matt Duchene, set up the two key goals that helped his team rebound from a shaky start.
Whitney, named player of the game, set up defenceman Kris Russell on a nifty feed late during a first-period power play to give the slow-starting Canadian squad, surprised by the Italians' speed, a 2-1 lead.
He then helped Canada put the game out of reach early in the second period by setting up Duchene on a similar play.
"It goes to show you that the game is as much about mental ability as it is about physical ability," Canadian coach Craig MacTavish said after the game, which drew 7,912 boisterous fans, many waving Canadian flags.
"It was a pretty critical time in the game. His playmaking ability was outstanding today. He made good decisions with the puck."
Canada continues the preliminary round with games against Latvia on Monday and Switzerland on Wednesday.
MacTavish said Team Canada, which outshot the Italians 45-24, learned a lesson Saturday after the first-period scare.
"On paper you look at Canadian history in hockey, and the championships that Canada has won over the years, and then you look at Italy and it looks like a pretty significant mismatch," he said.
"But really, at the end of the day it was a pretty close hockey game. They played very well against us."
The line of Steven Stamkos, Corey Perry and Rene Bourque, dominant in the team's only pre-tournament game, put on another impressive display Saturday, with each player chipping in a goal.
The line put immediate pressure on the Italians after the opening faceoff and scored on its second shift less than three minutes into the game.
Stamkos, the 20-year-old who tied for the NHL scoring lead with 51 goals, circled behind the net and came out for a shot on Italian goalie, Montreal-born Adam Russo, one of eight Canadian-born players in the Italian lineup.
The rebound went right to Perry in the crease, and he slapped it into the net for a 1-0 lead.
But then the Canadians fell back on their heels and made several giveaways.
Italy almost scored midway through the period, but Canadian goalie Chris Mason swatting out a puck that appeared headed into the net. The Italians thought the puck went in but a review by officials concluded it didn't.
Moments later, the Italians tied the game when Michele Strazzabosco beat Mason with a slapshot from the blue-line.
Canada continued to struggle, and Whitney acknowledged that the team was getting nervous about the idea of heading into the dressing room with a tie against one of the tournament's weakest entries.
"Whenever you're a team that's favoured and you're in a tie game, the longer you're in a tie game probably the more pressure you're going to feel," he said.
But Whitney pricked a hole in the building tension with less than a minute left in the period, faking a shot after crossing the blue-line and then feathering a pass to Russell for a one-timer goal.
"I think to get the lead back before we went in was important," Whitney said.
His linemate Duchene concurred, saying it was an ideal moment for a veteran to show leadership.
"He's a guy that's going to have that experience and that wisdom to settle things down when we needed to settle it down."
Canada went up 4-1 in the second period, with the first goal by Duchene coming on a similar feed from Whitney six minutes into the period.
Stamkos scored later in the period on a delayed penalty, burying a goalmouth pass from Duchene.
Canada dominated the final period but were stymied by Toronto-born goaltender Daniel Bellissimo, who replaced Russo in the final frame. But then Bourque made the score 5-1 on a partially screened shot with less than three minutes to play.
MacTavish said he hopes Canada, which lost gold-medal games to Russia the last two tournaments, will follow the lead of Canada's Olympic champions in February by improving with each game.
"That's what we hope to emulate, the job Team Canada did at the Olympics.
This article is called " Canada downs Italy in world hockey opener" written by Peter O’Neil, Canwest and published on Saturday, May 08, 2010 by National Post. This article is about Team Canada Hockey's team having a domiante win over Italy. some facts to support Team Canada hockey's team being dominate when the coach said "It was a pretty critical time in the game. His playmaking ability was outstanding today. He made good decisions with the puck” ( O’Neil 1). "It goes to show you that the game is as much about mental ability as it is about physical ability” ( O’Neil 1). This is a signifcant win for Team Canada since they will have the confident and moral to face against Latvia on Monday and Switzerland on Wednesday.
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