With a berth in the semifinals on the line, Team Canada’s knockout stage begins with a rematch against Czechia (10:40 a.m. EST, CBC/CBC Gem).
Game Day Quotes
Jon Cooper on the areas of focus for Canada ahead of the knockout stage:
We have a couple of games under our belt. What are the holes in our game? How can we fix them? Special teams are always a big thing, no matter what. You always spend a bunch of time on that.
Brad Marchand on sitting out of games in the Olympic tournament so far:
It is always tough. You work your entire life to be here. You want to be on the ice so bad, but it is one of those things where everybody here is so excited to be here and be part of it. All you have to do is keep yourself ready and prepared. You want to do your job, whatever that is, whether it is being a voice, working hard in practice, or being the best eye in the stands. You just want to enjoy it and be grateful for it.
Josh Morrissey on the progress in Canada’s game as the tournament progresses:
It is a short tournament, and you’re coming together with the systems and trying to put everything into play. I think it is rounding into form. From watching, the guys were sharp in the last few games. Defensively, the guys have been sharp. I feel really confident in our defensive game.
Tom Wilson on the incident against France:
When there is a hit made like that, it gets you on your toes a little bit. I ended up on a shift with him. We got tangled up, and I obviously knew it was the same guy.
I think it was more about him understanding that there would be an answer. We are going to stick up for our teammates. I didn’t know it was necessarily going to be a fight, but it turned into that pretty quickly.
We ended up on the ice in a wrestling match or melee, and it was chaos. Once I got out of the pile and he ended up on the bottom, I wanted to make sure I didn’t take it too far, thinking about the more important hockey coming up.
I think they got the message that we are going to stick together as a country. We will put it in the rear view now, and focus on the quarterfinal.
Wilson on toeing the line with the IIHF rules:
You feel it out. I have been at this a long time. I have been in a lot of those situations. You feel it out, and you realize it sometimes gets chaotic. You kind of feel when it is going too far, and you have to stop.
Kyle, one of the refs who we’re familiar with in the NHL, was saying, “Tommy, enough. Enough. It’s done.” I make sure I listen to them and stop. They’re trying to do their job, and you never want to push it too far.
You feel it out, stick up for your teammate, and when enough is enough, you move on.
Wilson on the opportunity to play alongside the best players in the world:
It has been so fun to see the calibre of superstar player and the best in the world, just taking that all in and seeing how quickly they make decisions and how good they are. Playing with Connor has been a highlight of my career, obviously. He is such a great guy and a quiet leader. I can learn so much from him.
Those guys like Nate and Connor bring it every single day. They are the hardest-working guys. Sid is right there. They set the tone. They are the hardest-working guys and are executing at the highest level in practice.
I am going to try to take it all in, learn as much as I can from them, and try to create as much space for them as I can when we’re out there together.
David Pastrnak on the challenge against Canada after a 5-0 loss to them in the group stage:
It might be the best team ever, so maybe we have to put the respect aside a little bit and try to take their game to them.
Martin Necas on a do-or-die game against Canada:
It’s a good opportunity to do something special out here. We’re excited.
We’ve been waiting for this moment our whole career. We’re going to be super pumped up because it doesn’t get much better than that.
It would be different if it were a playoff series. This is one game. We’re going to give it our best.
Radko Gudas on the challenge of shutting down Connor McDavid:
I got to talk to Coop about not playing him.
Just try to be in the middle of the ice as much as possible. Try to clog the middle for him and be right on him, not giving him any space in the neutral zone.
It is going to be very hard. He is one of the top players in the world and is playing with some great players as well. It’s one of the big challenges Canada has.
Czechia assistant coach Tomas Plekanec on the challenge against Canada:
Best team in the world right now. We are going to go into the game as a one-game thing. You never know.
Team Canada Projected Lines
Forwards
#17 Macklin Celebrini – #97 Connor McDavid – #43 Tom Wilson
#38 Brandon Hagel – #29 Nathan MacKinnon – #10 Nick Suzuki
#93 Mitch Marner – #87 Sidney Crosby – #61 Mark Stone
#63 Brad Marchand – #14 Bo Horvat – #13 Sam Reinhart
#24 Seth Jarvis
Defensemen
#7 Devon Toews – #8 Cale Makar
#20 Thomas Harley – #89 Drew Doughty
#6 Travis Sanheim – #55 Colton Parayko
#27 Shea Theodore
Goaltenders
Starter: #50 Jordan Binnington
#48 Logan Thompson
Injured: Josh Morrissey
Extras: Sam Bennett, Darcy Kuemper
Team Czechia Projected Lines
Forwards
#18 Ondrej Palat – #48 Tomas Hertl – #73 Ondrej Kase
#14 Filip Chlapik – #64 David Kampf – #98 Martin Necas
#10 Roman Cervenka – #23 Lukas Sedlak – #88 David Pastrnak
#19 Jakub Flek – #96 David Tomasek – #93 Matej Stransky
#81 Dominik Kubalik
Defensemen
#51 Radim Simek – #17 Filip Hronek
#6 Michal Kempny – #3 Radko Gudas
#44 Jan Rutta – #7 David Spacek
#26 Jiri Tichacek
Goaltenders
Starter: #1 Lukas Dostal
#50 Karel Vejmelka
