It is day six of the World Junior A Challenge (WJAC), and that means that it is time to start the medal rounds. The matchups are set, and they will be highly entertaining as Canada East hosts Sweden in the first game of the day, and Team USA faces off against Canada West in the later matchup. Fans can watch any upcoming WJAC games via Hockey Canada’s website‘s live stream.
Semifinal #1 | Sweden vs. Canada East – 1:00 p.m. Atlantic Time
This matchup will open Semifinal day, and it will be a chance for redemption for the Swedish National team. In the preliminary rounds, Canada East dominated Sweden for a full 60 minutes. In their only meeting of the tournament, Canada East (CAN-E) was able to earn a convincing 5-0 victory.
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CAN-E, who are in search of their first-ever gold medal, finished second in the round-robin with a 3-1 record, their only loss coming at the hands of first-place Team USA. The Canadian side is also in second place for goals for (19) and second in goals against (11), leaving them with a goal differential of +8, and are the only team other than the USA to have a positive goal differential. CAN-E has six players scoring at a point per game (PPG) or better, led by Dylan Edwards who is third in points (seven) at the tournament.
But for Canada, the key to victory is their goaltending. Dawson Labre has been a revelation at this tournament and has been the main weapon for the host squad, sitting firmly as the top goaltender at the tournament with a 1.33 goals against average and a sparkling .960 save percentage. He has himself firmly in the conversation as an early favourite as tournament MVP, something that is clear when listening to his team talk about his performances.
“We trust him with our life right now. He is playing unbelievable and he is winning us games. We know that he’s back there so it allows us to jump into the rush and maybe take some risks that we shouldn’t, but we know that he’s there and he’s standing tall. It’s so much fun to play in front of him right now.”
– Dylan Edwards comments after Canada East’s win over Sweden
Canada is favoured to win this matchup. However, Sweden will be motivated. The Swedes finished the round-robin in third place with a 2-2 record and have been inconsistent with their play, but they are not pushovers. Led by Anton Frondell (six points in four games) and the goal-scoring of Alexander Zetterberg, who is tied with CAN-E forward Edwards for second in the tournament for goals with four.
Sweden has proven they can start games well, coming out of the gate playing a physical style as they hope to set a tone and show their opponents they can play a North American brand of hockey. Yet, this is where the inconsistencies begin as they are unable to sustain that level of intensity for long before they fall back on old habits stemming from their lifetime of playing on larger ice surfaces in Europe.
Sweden generates quite a lot of offensive zone time but has been unable to generate a high volume of shots on goal as they want to set up for a perfect shot. When they do get their desired shooting lane, they miscalculate the time they have to release that shot and miss the opportunity as the gap is closed faster than anticipated, and the shooter loses the puck to a stick check or is separated from the puck with body contact. When Sweden plays a disciplined, structured game, they can keep pace with any team in the tournament. The issue that must be addressed if they hope to move on to the gold medal game is their inability to maintain their intensity for a full 60 minutes. Also, they need to ensure they raise their intensity levels to match the adjustments made by their opponents.
Semifinal #2 | Canada West vs. United States – 5:00 p.m. Atlantic Time
The fourth place, Canada West (CAN-W), will have its hands full trying to move on to the finals. That being said, it is an opportunity for them to avenge their earlier 5-1 loss to the USA. When Canada sticks to their game plan and focuses on executing their system correctly, they can win this matchup. The keys for them will be to outwork their opponents, to provide their full measure on each shift, consistency and a strong performance by their goaltender, Erick Roest. The Canadians will need to have a better start as their slow start in their round-robin matchup put them too far behind to give them a chance to win.
“I thought giving up a couple of goals early in the first period cost us a bit, but then we settled in. We made some mistakes in the defensive zone and with USA, if you give them an inch, they will take three feet and will make you pay. We know we can play with them, and it looks like we might get another chance later in the week, so I’m excited to see how we learn from this moving forward.”
-Canada East head coach Billy McGuigan after the round-robin loss to the USA
For Team USA, this is the part of the tournament they had been preparing for, the medal rounds. The returning gold medalists from the 2022 WJAC, the 4-0 Team USA, have been the top team in nearly every category.
Fueled by the top offence at the WJAC, led by seven PPG or better players, including the top goal scorer in the tournament, James Reeder (six goals). When it came to their games against Canada, the Americans seemed to find another gear and took the game fro the Canadians.
“I think regardless of the score, the things we wanted to improve from our last game really showed. Lots of guys were moving, working, playing hard. I am proud of the effort, the process and how we performed tonight. With the passion of the rivalry, there was just a different buzz in the air and that is an exciting thing. It was a great atmosphere here tonight and our guys handled it well.”
– United States head coach Matt Smaby after the round-robin win over CAN-W
The USA has played a structured, even methodical, style of game. Despite that, they haven’t been robotic in their approach, they have played with intensity and emotion. While they seemed to have been focused on playing their system the right way all week, they do fall into the trap of playing undisciplined at times when they let their emotions get out of control. When frustrated, or outworked, they tend to take penalties, which, in turn, hurt them as their penalty kill (PK) is vulnerable to a patient power play (PP). Their PK tends to over-attack the puck carrier, putting two, or even three penalty killers out of position as they try to outnumber the opponent in a small area. A patient PP specialist should be able to move the puck to an open teammate, leaving a four-on-one. Something that has happened at times against the USA.
Team USA is the clear favourite to win this matchup, and repeat as gold medalists, but there are no guarantees in any international hockey tournament, especially when Canada is playing their rivals. The winners of today’s games move on to the gold medal game, meaning the fans in Truro, Nova Scotia, will be witnessing some of the most exciting hockey this tournament has to offer.
