MILAN — One of the truisms in the past for Team Canada at some best-on-best events is needing a few games to find its game.
It was true in Vancouver in 2010, and especially true in Salt Lake City in 2002. And I mean, they never came together in 2006 at Torino at all.
And there’s a reason for that first hurdle, no matter the finish.
“I don’t think people realize the Canadian kids grow up with having a lot of teams having different systems,” Wayne Gretzky said on Thursday. “So we’ve been notoriously known for starting these tournaments a little sluggish. I think the 4 Nations really helped in the sense the players knew what (coach) Jon Cooper and his staff wanted. That was a really big stepping stone for Team Canada to get that under its belt. And when you play against a team like the Czechs, they grow up playing mostly one system so when they get together, they’re a really good team, they all know the system. Whereas in the NHL, you have so many different systems and styles. So I really think the 4 Nations was a good thing for Team Canada.”
“The Czechs are a really good team, that’s how good Team Canada played today,” added Gretzky, who played on the 1998 Nagano Olympic team for Canada and was its GM in 2002 and 2006.
Team Canada dominated a very good Czech team 5-0 Thursday to open its Olympic tournament, and in many ways it felt like a continuation of what began at the 4 Nations Face-Off a year ago.
Many of the same payers are back; they know what to expect in terms of system and style and expectations. And there’s a clear chemistry that’s formed.
“It’s just one game, but the way we’ve started and the way today has gone, I’m pretty proud and confident in the way this team is going to play,” Cooper said postgame.
The Canadian engine at best-on-best just kept on humming Thursday.
Macklin Celebrini scored in his Olympic debut on Thursday. (Stefano Guidi / Getty Images)
“I think it helps that we’ve played together at 4 Nations,” said Team Canada captain Sidney Crosby. “That helps. But at the same time, there’s a lot of new combinations and that sort of thing. I think it’s good. It’s something that you’ve got to continue to improve through games, through practices, whether it’s your structure, your line, all that stuff, you’re trying to get better. But I thought our intentions were really good with the way we played. I thought we were physical, we were moving our feet. The execution, sometimes that comes with time. But even other times we did some good things and executed well. Just a matter of building off of that.”
The forward lines are indeed different from 4 Nations. Part of that is because there’s some newcomers, and three of them scored Thursday: Macklin Celebrini, Bo Horvat and Nick Suzuki.
But it’s also because Cooper and the coaching staff learned an important lesson from 4 Nations, as colleague Arpon Basu wrote the other day, that 23 minutes in the NHL is like 16 minutes at best on best because the pace is so fast, so the intention for this Olympic tournament was not to be top-heavy with the biggest stars but rather present a balanced, spread-out attack.
Hence Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Crosby on three different lines.
The result? Members of all four forward lines scored Thursday in the opener.
“I believe that was the goal, that was the plan,” Cooper said of the approach working in the opener. “You’re not sure how it’s going to work out. I thought everybody contributed in their own way. You need that. To me, in this tournament, you need depth. And if you can go four lines deep, and kind of push play in your favor, you give yourself that chance. I thought that happened tonight.”
The prettiest goal of the night came from the fourth-line center, Horvat, bursting through the middle of the Czech Republic defense and going in alone to make it 3-0.
Horvat laughed postgame when I asked him if that beauty goal was his way to remind everyone that it’s not just the three-headed monster of McDavid, MacKinnon and Crosby at center for Team Canada.
“Yeah, no, those guys deserve all the limelight and all the credit they’re getting,” Horvat said, almost blushing. “You’re just trying to contribute the best you can, wherever slotted. I would fill up water bottles to be here.”
Still, the premise of what Cooper is trying to do with his forward depth was on full display Thursday.
“Yeah, for sure. All four lines were humming tonight,” said Horvat. “All throughout our lineup, everyone was going, everyone was contributing. That’s what we were looking for. We weren’t backing down, we weren’t letting off the gas. I thought overall it was a really good team game. They’re a good opponent, they played us hard, it feels good getting the win.”
The three-headed monster at center for Team Canada will be difficult for opponents match-up wise, to be sure.
“I said to a friend before the game, ‘You watch, they got Crosby down as the third line. You don’t go by that,’” Gretzky said. “But Crosby, (Mitch) Marner and (Mark) Stone, they’re going to have the puck the whole game. Because they’re unselfish, they play hard, and they’re solid defensively.
“I thought their line was really good,” Gretzky added. “If that’s the so-called third line with those three guys? You’ve got a pretty good team.”
And if your fourth line is Horvat between Brad Marchand and Sam Reinhart, with Bennett — the Conn Smythe Trophy winner last spring — as the 13th forward sprinkled in with some shifts, well, that’s a new definition of depth at best-on-best.
“Yeah, I mean, you got 14 superstars on one team, it doesn’t matter where you put them,” said Team Canada winger Brandon Hagel. “You’re very fortunate to play on whatever line when you go out there. Every line has a chance. Just like you saw tonight. It was great.”
Said Reinhart: “I think you show up and you don’t know what the lineup is going to look like. You see a couple of centermen down the middle leading the way, that’s what you want. It lets us know right away that everyone is going to contribute. There’s certainly roles to fill, but it’s certainly a mindset. It’s nice to see everyone (each line) get a goal under their belt. Let’s roll it into tomorrow.”
It’s only one game, but Team Canada not only wowed with its scoring depth Thursday, but also its dizzying speed and element of physicality. McDavid, the world No. 1, set the tone early with a thunderous hit. The whole bench got energized by that.
“It just shows you when you put this jersey on, there’s nobody in that room that’s entitled or anything like that,” Cooper said of No. 97. “This is game on. They do everything possible to win. And if your contribution is hitting, then that’s what guys will do, even if that’s not what they’re used to doing in the NHL. And that’s what’s great about this group.”
Of course Tom Wilson and Bennett hit everything in sight, too. Team Canada aims to terrorize with skill, speed and physicality in this tournament.
Lightning and thunder, baby.
“It was fast, especially the first period, physical,” said MacKinnon, who threw his weight around as well. “I’m sure Czech was fired up to hit us. We obviously threw some hits of our own. And I think that was great hockey. I’m sure everyone really enjoyed it.”
Everyone in the Great White North will enjoy it for the next 10 days if that’s the show from here on in.