World Junior 2015: Comrie starts for Canada against U.S. in New Year's classic

BROSSARD, Que. — Goaltender Eric Comrie will get the call for Canada in net against the United States on Wednesday afternoon.

The game between the two undefeated teams will decide who will earn the top seed in Group A.

Comrie’s last start was a 17 save shutout in a 4-0 win over Germany earlier in the round-robin. Zach Fucale, the starter in last year’s tournament in Malmo, Sweden, made 27 saves in a 4-1 victory over Finland on Monday night.

“We like both of our goalies and I thought Zach played well last night,” said Groulx on Tuesday morning after practice. “But I also think Eric deserves a chance to play tomorrow.

“We really feel good about both goalies, so we don’t look further ahead. It’s tomorrow (first) and then we’ll address (the rest) after.”

The Americans, who have not named a starter, will likely counter with Thatcher Demko who came up big in their 2-1 shootout victory over Finland in the opening game of the tournament.

Comrie, who plays for the WHL’s Tri-City Americans, said tomorrow’s game against the U.S., will undoubtedly be the biggest of his career to date.

“They’re an excellent team and a lot of skill up front, an excellent defence and a good goaltender,” said Comrie. “It’s Canada and the U.S.A, some of the best teams in the world, so it’s really exciting.”

The New Year’s Eve matchup between Canada and the U.S. has become one of the most anticipated games of the tournament for both teams. It’s historically produced some of the best matchups between the two nations, something that’s not lost on the players.

“Everyone talks about the New Year’s Eve rivalry playing the Americans,” said Canada’s captain Curtis Lazar. “But it’s a lot of fun. If you can’t get up for this game, there’s something wrong with you.”

This year, it has taken on even more significance considering it’s also a showdown featuring two of the biggest NHL draft prospects in years – Canada’s Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel of the U.S.

At practice both teams tried to take the focus away from the game within a game which has been hyped up in the press for months.

“It’s not at all about me versus Connor,” said Eichel, captain of the American side. “It’s a huge matchup for the top seed in our bracket, so it’s Canada and the U.S.”

McDavid had an almost identical answer.

“It’s there a little bit,” said McDavid when asked about rivalry. “But it’s been there for a long time now but at the end of the day it’s the U.S. versus Canada not about me versus him.”

As far as Eichel is concerned, what happens at the tournament here in Montreal and later in Toronto has little to no bearing on what will happen on the draft floor in June.

“There’s so much more focus on winning the tournament than focusing on something that’s going to occur months down the road,” said the 18-year-old Eichel. “You have to look at it from a team standpoint and focus on it game-by-game.”

It’s funny, because while the two players have their junior careers seemingly intertwined, they’ve never spoken or even met each other.

“They’re going to know so much about each other by the end of the year they won’t even have to meet each other,” said Lazar. “That’s a part of it, it’s a game that the media loves to get a hold of and it’s a storyline because they’re going through their draft year. They’re very special players for a reason and hopefully tomorrow they can just go out there and play.”

Groulx said he would keep the same lines for the U.S. as he had during the third period against Finland, which means that McDavid will play with Lazar and newcomer Jake Virtanen. It’ll be the 6-foot-1, 207-pound forward’s job to open up room on the ice for his linemates.

Canada will get a rare 4 p.m. start at the tournament against the U.S. They have been used to playing the later starts, while the U.S. has had earlier games. Lazar says he’s unsure if that will impact the team’s regular routine.

“I was thinking about that a little bit because we’re obviously going to have to change some stuff up,” said the Ottawa Senators rookie. “I think the Americans would be a little more comfortable with the afternoon game because they’ve played a couple, but we’re going to be ready to go regardless.

“We could play this game at six in the morning and I think it would be just as exciting.”