First Out Of The Tournament Again

If you look at the picture to the left, there's something significant about that image. That picture was taken with 5:18 to play after Sparta Praha went up 2-1 on Canada when Filip Chlapík scored from former Winnipeg Jets forward Kristian Vesalainen, and you may notice that there's only one white jersey in the entire picture. Far be it for me to suggest that's how Canada played this entire Spengler Cup tournament, but scoring just two goals in two losses when they had a chance to earn the bye pretty much sums up the entire problem with Canada's player selection process for the Spengler Cup. Canada's first out at the tournament for the second-straight year, and it might be time to start asking the hard questions about why Canada has become also-rans in Davos, Switzerland.

I'm not here to question heart or passion from the men who pulled the Canada jerseys on in Davos, but the roster didn't leave me much hope when it came to scoring goals in bunches. San Diego's Nikolas Brouillard pushed the offence from the blue line and Rockford's Brett Seney looked good for most shifts, but what this team had for effort was lost in speed up and down the ice. As we see in most hockey games, speed creates scoring opportunities. Team Canada had none.

This team played 180 minutes of hockey. Outside of a ten-minute span against the US Collegiate Selects where they scored three times, Canada looked like it was back on its heels most shifts. Canada never led again in the tournament, being outscored by HC Davos and HC Sparta Praha by a combined 9-2 score, surrendering eight of those goals in the third periods against those two teams when games were tied. Those results suggest a bigger problem with this team, and history will show Canada going home earlier than they wanted. Again.

I'm not sure why Canada asked Michel Therrien to coach this team either. The last time he was a head coach was in 2016-17 with the Montreal Canadiens. He worked as an assistant coach in Philadelphia for three seasons before being fired, but he had spent more time out of hockey than in it when he was announced as Team Canada's head coach. Giving him a roster that was already thin on scoring didn't look good, but Canada scoring just five times in three games while giving up 11 goals reinforces how his systems aren't suited for the big ice.

General Manager Marc Bergevin should likely be dismissed as well since this roster and the coaching staff never really found their game. Bergevin had lots of options for coaches that could have produced, at worst, the same results, but he desperately needed a coach who could squeeze every last bit of talent and effort out of the Canadian roster for at least three games. Names like Pete DeBoer and Gardiner MacDougall would have been better choices while coaches like Dave Tippett, Jay Woodcroft, and Bruce Boudreau likely would have accepted the opportunity. I'm not sure if any were asked.

One has to wonder why Canada wasn't more aggressive in bringing in younger and higher-scoring players like Gregor McLeod who is fourth in DEL in scoring, defender Alex Breton who leads all DEL defenders in scoring, or forward Samuel Dove-Falls who has a ton of speed and 14 goals in the DEL. Maxime Fortier is third in scoring in Finland's Liiga for SaiPa while Alex Beaucage is tied for sixth in scoring with Lukko. Defender David Quenneville is tied for seventh in SHL scoring while former Canadiens forward Charles Hudon has 22 points in 29 games in the SHL. There were lots of good players who could have been asked to play for Canada, but we'll never know if they were or not.

Look, some of this is written out of frustration after watching Canada implode today, but today's game was tied at 1-1 with 6:53 to play before Canada lost 5-1. Canada and Davos were tied 1-1 with 15 minutes to play before Davos scored three goals to win 4-1. Maybe it was the altitude where some players just lost their legs. Maybe it was bigger ice than on what the AHL guys were used to playing. Whatever the case, Canada scored two goals in 150 minutes of action while giving up 11 in the same span, and their tournament is officially over.

The Spengler Cup used to be a tournament in which Canadian players wanted to play and took pride in being asked to play for their country. Make no mistake that every single player and coach in the Canadian room today likely had that pride as well, but I'm wondering what kind of work is being done to bring the best Canadian players from across Europe to Davos for one week of hockey fun. Some of the guys who played this year likely should be included on that list, but the players mentioned above either not being released, opting not to play, or simply not being asked is proving that something is broken with how Canada builds its annual team for the Spengler Cup.

Do we need some sort of major change? Possibly, but perhaps Jason was right on The Hockey Show when it suggested that a U SPORTS team should go over and play as Team Canada. Send the top-ranked team in men's hockey over as a reward for their solid season thus far, and let's see how they play. If that was to happen, the UBC Thunderbirds men's team would be in Davos right now, and dare I say they probably would have scored more than five goals in three goals.

I'll still be watching the remainder of the 2025 Spengler Cup, but there's less to cheer for now with Canada out. For those needing some sort of carrot to chase, we can still see one of Davos try to capture it's 17th championship, Fribourg-Gottéron defend its championship, Sparta Praha try to win a third Spengler Cup, or the US Collegiate Selects shock the world with a Spengler Cup title. Having Canada eliminated first today really sucks, and it will be 52 more weeks before we'll know if Canada's going to be a contender again.

The semifinals go tomorrow before the final is played on Wednesday. It will still be a fun finish this year, but with less national pride.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!