Canada is in the final of the Ice Hockey World Championship in Latvia and is reaching for the title.
At first glance, the news does not seem really surprising, after all, we are talking about the homeland of ice hockey. In the last six World Championships alone, “Maple Leaves” – including in 2021 – made it to the final five times. Canada is always a favorite.
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However, this time coach Gerard Calland had to rely heavily on younger players and/or people who do not play a big role in their clubs due to countless disapprovals from the NHL. The ice hockey superpower became a team of the nameless.
Canada has a historically poor start at the World Cup
And it had a historically poor start in Latvia. Canada started the tournament with three losses for the first time in World Cup history. A 2–0 loss against the hosts was followed by a 5–1 loss against the USA. It was the biggest ever defeat in a World Cup against an opponent. Against Germany, the favorite had to give up 1: 3.
Canada then won against Norway, Kazakhstan and Italy, but lost in a penalty shoot-out in the last group game against Finland.
Result: Canada could no longer make it to the quarter-finals on its own. The Canadian team reached the knockout round only with the aid of Germany’s rifle.
But then Canada really changed that. In the quarterfinals, gold favorites Russia lost 2–1 after extra time. In the semi-finals, the United States reunited – this time with a better ending for Canada, who won 4–2 and made an all-out place in the final.
Canada got “some chemicals”
His team’s striker Justin Danforth said, “When we first played against America, we were only together for a short time, but in the last few games we have progressed as a team and we found a special chemistry is.” development.
He continued: “I think we’ve been up to 60 minutes in the last few games. Even in difficult moments, our leaders make sure we have the right attitude.”
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With success against the United States – which had previously delivered a nearly flawless World Cup performance with seven consecutive victories – Canada continues an impressive line of improvement.
“It was a crazy tournament,” said Andrew Mangiapen, who scored two goals against the US and topped the scorers list with Great Britain’s Liam Kirk with seven.
“We started 3-0 as a team. Now that we’re playing our best ice hockey, we’re taking that momentum with us. We still have a game ahead of us. It’s great how we Let’s play. It’s great how we came back,” said the MVP candidate, who was not yet available for his team in the first three games.
From exterior to finalist
“We have been the underdog in every single game and we have shown it to people over and over again. It’s great to see people’s character, fighting spirit,” Mangiapane said. . “
Because: Canada now naturally wants to crown its resurgence with the title. It comes to the final re-edition of 2019 (Live from 5 pm game1) between the 26-time title holder and Finland, which the DEB team defeated 2–1 in offense.
Two years ago the Finns won (3: 1) – just like in the duel between the two teams in the preliminary round. But this time Canada’s selection in the tournament was also showing a completely different face.
