Canada vs Switzerland

Team Canada took to the ice for their second round robin game of the WJHC yesterday against the Switz. After Canada's dominating performance against Latvia two days prior, it didn't take them long to get the ball rolling again. Infact, it only took 23 seconds for Canada to put the puck in the net. They continued their dominance throughout the game and were on the better half of a final score of 6-0. Jake Allen was in goal for Canada once again, and once again got the shutout.

The Switz were definitely far better competition then the Latvian's but were still no match for the Canadian kids. The Switz had a few great chances, but rang the post and then the cross bar on two of them. McMillan finished the night with three goals, and Jordan Eberle had 1 goal and 4 assists. That line of McMillan-Schenn-Eberle sure seems to be clicking and are begining to establish amazing chemistry. I still think Schenn can be more of a force offensively and on the scoresheet then he has been, but he has been a great contributor in the little details which isn't going unnoticed.

Canada's special teams have been unreal as of late. The power-play is running at over 50%, and the penalty-killing has been perfect, killing all 6 penalties in the 2 round robin games so far. The first power play unit is slated right now as: Kadri-Hall-Eberle with Pietrangelo-Ellis on the back end. It would not suprise me at all if Canada tried McMillan in place of Kadri on the power play because of the amazing chemistry between himself and Jordan Eberle.

Canada has been preaching "discipline" the whole tournament and have been doing a lot better in that area in the round robin games than they had in the pre-tournament games. Canada set a goal for themselves of only giving up 4 power-plays per game, they matched that goal against the Switz and only gave up 2 power-plays to Latvia. However, Canada also hasn't been pushed very hard yet, so it has been easy for them to not get to "over-the-top". The real test for Canada's discipline probably won't come until New Years Eve when they take on USA. It was against USA last year that Della Rovere got into trouble and became best friends with the penalty box. I'm also a little worried about how Kadri will handle the pressure, he already had a "war of words" with Niederreiter so the coaches will be looking to keep him in check and reign him in if need be.

It looks like Martin Jones will get the start tonight, allowing for Allen to get some rest heading into the battle with the Americans. Defensemen de Haan will not be playing in tonights game, he was shaken up in the game yesterday and headed off the ice with the trainer and did not return. As of right now, Coach says that the injury does not look to be serious and he expects that de Haan will be back at some point, he's just not exactly sure when.

Team Canada looks to face another level up of competition when they take on Slovakia tonight. Good Luck Boys!