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World Junior Hockey 2012: Canada will give its all in battle for bronze medal

Kristen Odland, Calgary Herald January 5, 2012

Today is a new day and for 22 Canadian teenagers, it’s their last chance to celebrate a victory as a team.

And while playing Finland for a bronze medal is not what they envisioned or expected at the start of the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship, at this point it’ll have to do.

“We don’t want to go home empty-handed,” said captain Jaden Schwartz as Canada faced the music, a day after suffering a 6-5 semifinal loss to Russia. “You lose, you get nothing — you win, you get a bronze and we’re going to do whatever we can.

“As individuals, I think winning bronze is going to mean more to us than what we think right now,” said Schwartz, one of four returnees from the 2011 silver-medal squad.

The Canadians awoke Wednesday morning, sick to their stomachs and trying to remember if Tuesday’s nightmare really happened.

“It’s obviously not what we wanted,” said Canadian centreman Ryan Strome. “We wanted to play for a gold-medal game.

“But we talked last night; we have something to play for still. We can go out here with a win and that’s a positive. I’m really proud of this group. We’ve come so close and it’s not good to quit now. There’s so much to play for still. We’re going to do our very best (today).”

The players skated at Calgary’s WinSport Arena and Hockey Canada’s galactic headquarters in their final practice as a team.

Today will be their last clash in red and white Canadian silks at the Scotiabank Saddledome as they vie for a bronze medal for the first time since 2001 in Moscow.

“We had a really good practice,” Strome said. “I mean, we’re not the happiest guys, but we worked really hard. Coach wanted us to work hard and we did. I think we just have to move on as quickly as we can.”

Despite the open wounds, Strome kept things in perspective.

“We’re going to see our family a bit later — and we’re just going to have to kind of get over it a little bit,” he said. “(Today) is another game day and I think everyone’s going to be over it. And, if not, they’re going to have to figure it out quick because we have a game.”

In the other semifinal Tuesday, Finland suffered a cruel shootout defeat to Sweden. The loss stung considering the Finns scored two goals on 12 shots and held onto the lead 3:11 into the third period. Sami Aittokallio was also outstanding through three periods, overtime and the shootout, making 55 saves on 58 Swedish shots.

Canada expects an improved Finnish squad, compared to the one it beat 3-1 in exhibition play and 8-1 to open the tournament on Boxing Day.

“I think we kind of woke them up there,” said Canadian defenceman Brandon Gormley. “They played very well after we beat them pretty bad. We’re expecting a much different team.

“We have to look forward, there’s no other option. We’ll be ready for Finland.”

The bottom line, according to Schwartz, is there is no time to feel sorry for themselves.

“We came here to win a gold and we didn’t accomplish that,” he said. “We have to regroup and refocus. We have to be determined to win a bronze medal.

‘‘I don’t know how many chances you’ll ever get to put on the Maple Leaf sweater,’’ said Schwartz.