Canada vs. Russia: 5 keys to World Cup of Hockey showdown

TORONTO – Contrary to perceptions, Canada occasionally loses international hockey tournaments. Like the 2008 IIHF world championships in Quebec City, when Alex Ovechkin and Russia defeated Jonathan Toews’s Team Canada in overtime.

“Yeah, I remember the celebration. That was not fun to watch. Especially on home ice,” said Toews. “At the same time, it was a good learning experience. I think the guys that were a part of that team were definitely ready for the opportunity in [the Vancouver Olympics]. We came out flying in that tournament. But yeah, you can’t win them all I guess.”

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Canada, of course, beat Russia en route to the gold medal in Vancouver in a 7-3 blowout. And there’s decades of history between these two nations, making Saturday night’s World Cup of Hockey semifinal one of the most anticipated hockey games in years.

“Some of those games back in the old Canada Cups were pretty spectacular. Obviously the great Soviet teams and players, they had some great battles. I wasn’t alive then but I’ve certainly seen a lot of the highlights, I’ve seen a lot of documentaries about it, ’72 was obviously special too, many Olympic games,” said center John Tavares of Canada. “There’s so much history between the two teams, we come from such different parts of the world, we grew up playing the game maybe a little bit differently. We’re two great hockey countries that battle hard. I know for us, we’re going to try to leave it all on the line and play as hard as we can.”

Here are five keys to the Canada vs. Russia showdown in Toronto, with a trip to the World Cup finals against either Sweden or Team Europe on the line:

Sid Vs. Ovie

Yeah, this again.

We don’t want to say the Crosby vs. Ovechkin “rivalry” is unbalanced, but it makes the Canada vs. USA rivalry look competitive by comparison. Crosby has two Stanley Cups, two gold medals and three wins over Ovechkin’s team – one in the Olympics and twice en route to his NHL championships.

That said, there’s an undeniable moment here for Ovechkin to get one over on Crosby, were the Russians to somehow eliminate Canada in their own tournament.

“It’s Canada vs. Russia. It isn’t two players. Of course you guys want to do something special about it, but for us, I think it’s most important thing to get a victory and move forward,” said Ovechkin. “It’s going to be a fun game. It’s nice to be a part of obviously. Two teams with a great history. Again, it’s going to be tough. It’s going to be hard because we play here in Canada. But it’s going to be fun, fun game.”

The Pace

Canada has controlled every game they’ve played at the World Cup, going 3-0-0 in the preliminary round and playing with machine-like efficiency. They’ve scored 14 goals and given up three. They’ve trailed for – and this is not a typo – 89 seconds of the World Cup tournament, a.k.a. the greatest 89 seconds Team USA played in Toronto.

Dictating terms against Russia may seem impossible, but it’s what Ovechkin says his team has to do.

“I think they’re just going to play their style of game and we have to match it and we have to dictate our style of game. They have pretty good offensive lines and we have [good] offensive lines as well,” he said. “So, we have to manage our speed and try to play more in the offensive zone than in the defensive zone, don’t give them any chances to be around the net and stay with the puck.”

‘The Bob’

The terms “Team Russia” and “best goalie in the tournament” aren’t exactly used in close proximity much, but here we are: Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky has been stellar in the World Cup, stopping 91 of 96 shots for a 1.68 goals-against average – three of those goals coming in his game against offensive juggernaut Team North America.

“Their goaltender has been their best player and I think that’s evident,” said Canada coach Mike Babcock.

Bobrovsky, whose coach referred to him as “The Bob” recently, is the kind of goalie that can steal a game on his own. If he does it in the semifinals, Russia could advance.

Russia’s Inexplicably Bad Power Play

The assemblage of offensive talent at forward for Russia should be absolutely frightening to face on the power play. And yet the Russians have been pathetic on the man advantage, going 0-for-8 in the tournament. Factor in the exhibition schedule, and you’re talking about a group that’s gone 2-for-24 on the power play.

All they’ll have to do is figure out how to score against a Canadian penalty kill that’s gone 10-for-10 in the tournament.

“We have analyzed this component and have come to a mutual conclusion. We know the reasons behind this and will try to put it right,” said Russian national team coach Harijs Vitolins.

The Atmosphere

There’s no doubt that the Air Canada Centre will be rocking, with heavy partisan support for Canada. But playing on your home ice can be a double-edged sword if things go a little bit sideways for the home team.

There might be tension! Maybe even panic!

Or not.

“One of the qualities I’ve always mentioned why we had a lot of success there is that even in moments where you can be in a playoff series down two or 3-1, there’s never that feeling that anyone’s hitting the panic button,” sad Toews.

“Everyone is calm and knowing that we’re confident knowing we’re a really tough team to put away and it’s the same thing here. I think we’ve got ourselves. If we do get ourselves in a tough situation, there’s that feeling that we’re just calm. There’s plenty of guys in the room and if not everybody can go up there and do the job, make things happen for us to get back into it.”

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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