Canada faces biggest pre-tournament test as rivalry with Sweden heats up

Team Canada held a media availability at the hotel on Saturday in Ottawa.

Two of the favourites in the World Juniors will clash on Saturday when Canada faces Sweden in pre-tournament play. 

"It's the closest you're going to get to a real tournament game in exhibition," said Team Canada defenceman Tanner Molendyk.

"It's going to be a tight game. It's going to be tight-checking and a step up from last game, but I think we're ready. We know what's coming." 

Canada beat Switzerland 7-1 on Thursday in its exhibition opener. 

"The level of competition is going to be a little bit higher, no disrespect to Switzerland," Team Canada head coach Dave Cameron said. "If the competition is higher you have to elevate every part of your game, the speed, the positional play, the execution off it, so we're just looking to get better."

They're also looking for some payback. Sweden beat Canada 3-2 in a shootout on July 31 in Windsor, Ont. at the World Junior Summer Showcase. After that game, Canadian players expressed displeasure with how Swedes Felix Nilsson and Otto Stenberg celebrated their shootout goals. 

"They did some things that are not going to sit well with us," Molendyk said back in July. "It's the middle of the summer, but we're still going to take that into Christmas."

Nilsson made a kissing motion at the Canadian players after scoring while Stenberg stared down the bench. 

"It's definitely on guys minds," Team Canada forward Tanner Howe confirmed on Saturday morning. "We're looking to get a little revenge, but we're not going into the game with that mindset."

Molendyk eventually shared a laugh with Nilsson, a fellow Nashville Predators prospect, about the game and is downplaying the revenge angle ahead of the rematch. 

"When it happened, it was a little bit of a touchy subject," he said. "But it's over with and it's a clean slate."

Melker Thelin starts for the Swedes on Saturday. He was the first star of the game in the summer making 44 saves before slamming door in the shootout. Carson Rehkopf scored both Canadian goals.  

"We don't like to lose," newly-named Canadian captain Brayden Yager said after the game in the summer. "It leaves a little bitter taste in your mouth regardless that it's July 31st. It motivates us for December. We know they're a good hockey team and we know what we're capable of. With the group that we have we can build a special hockey team here, and come December be ready to give it back to them."

Jack Ivankovic and Carson Bjarnason will both see action in the Canadian net on Saturday. 
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With 46 points in 26 games, Sam Dickinson arrived at Team Canada's selection camp as the leading scorer among Ontario Hockey League defencemen. But the London Knight found himself as a healthy scratch in the first pre-tournament game. 

"I understand this is the World Junior team for Canada, like, there's a lot of guys not here who could be on this team," Dickinson said. "I understand roles and all that kind of stuff. I'm just here to play my role and if that's going to be my role I'm ready for it, and if my time comes to get in the lineup, I'll be ready for it."

Dickinson will get his first chance on Saturday. The 11th overall pick to the San Jose Sharks in June's draft will slide into the third pair beside Barrie Colt Beau Akey. 

"Sam's the whole package in terms of being big, strong, physical, and with real good offensive instincts," Cameron said. "We just need him to not force the offence. He's strong at that. He'll read that. That will happen. And just use that big body to defend."

At 6-foot-3, 210 pounds Dickinson is the second biggest blueliner on Team Canada behind only Soo Greyhound Andrew Gibson. He made it clear that his focus is on defence, first and foremost. 

"Play a tough, hard game," Dickinson said of his mindset. "Obviously we're going to be playing a lot of good teams here so just focusing on the defensive side of the game and taking care of that side is going to be the thing that separates me when I get in the lineup."

Luca Pinelli, who plays for Cameron's 67s in the OHL, will draw in up front. He's expected to start on a line with Spokane Chiefs centre Berkly Catton and Medicine Hat Tigers winger Gavin McKenna.

"Play to the style that got you here," Cameron advised the fresh bodies coming in. "That's easier said than done, especially when you've sat out." 

Brampton Steelheads winger Porter Martone will miss the game after watching Friday's practice from the glass. 

"The hockey word is 'maintenance day,'" Cameron said. "It was a tweak day. The guys out today are not performance related."

Vancouver Canucks prospect Sawyer Mynio practised on Friday but will be the odd man out on defence.  

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Howe left the summer game against Sweden after just one period. 

"We were on the penalty kill, I was in the middle of the ice and got a slap shot right to the teeth and lost a coupe jibs and broke my palette," the Pittsburgh Penguins prospect said. "So, that wasn't fun. I'm still missing this [front] tooth."

Howe was forced to leave Hockey Canada's summer camp early as a result of the injury. He's been limited to 16 games so far this season after suffering a broken hand in the Western Hockey League. But the 19-year-old still earned a spot on Team Canada thanks to his gritty game. 

"I bring a lot of energy," the native of Prince Albert, Sask. said. "I'm really good on the forecheck. I can turn over pucks. I can be that energy boost for the team, and score the odd goal."

Howe credits his father Jason, who works as a mechanic for farming store Redhead Equipment, for instilling a blue-collar approach.

"He coached me until Pee-Wee hockey," Howe said. "I remember getting benched in Atom hockey because I wasn't trying or something. Yeah, he was always hard on me and now I look back on it and I'm very grateful for that."

Now, Howe doesn't stop working. He didn't pick up a point on Thursday, but still earned a shout out from the coach. 

"One of the highlights for me was we're up 7-1 and Howey's tracking back like it's a 1-1 game," Cameron said. 

Teammates appreciate how the Calgary Hitmen workhorse never backs down despite standing just 5-foot-11, 182 pounds. 

"I've never seen a guy get in the corners as much as he does," Molendyk noted. "It's a different game. Not a lot of guys will go there any more, but to see a guy like him go in there and get dirty, he's coming out with a lot of bruises. It's something you need on your team." 

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Howe needed to improve his skating to make it to this stage. 

"In the past three years I've worked on it lots," he said. "To make the next level, I needed to be a way better skater. It's something I've put a lot of work into and I think it's come a long way."

Molendyk, meanwhile, has always been known for his skating. Teammates marvel at how he moves on the ice.  

"Hockey just looks so easy for Moly," Yager said. "It's like he's floating around on the ice. He's just going way faster than everybody. It just looks easy for him."

"I think a lot of people say this, but he could be a top-10 skater in the NHL," said Knights winger Easton Cowan, who scored three goals on Thursday. "His skating's unreal. It's actually very cool to watch."

Molendyk can only shrug when asked about the secret to his smooth stride.

"I never took power skating, never did any of that, so I got no answer for you," he said. 

Molendyk eventually theorizes that growing up in tiny McBride, B.C. may have helped. The village in the Robson Valley region is home to just 588 people, per the 2021 census. 

"I was on the ice almost every day," he recalled. "I mean, in McBride we had no one really skating so I was always out there with my grandpa, my dad [Jamie Molendyk who played in the BCHL]. My dad, he was always a pretty good skater so maybe it was just watching him and seeing how he does it."

Who's he watching now? 

"I like Miro Heiskanen. Just the way he skates and moves, it's second to none. He's so shifty and he's not always pushing off, but I just like how smooth he is. It's crazy to watch."

Canadian fans will enjoy watching Molendyk dance all over the ice at the World Juniors. He's got 21 points in 21 games this season with the Saskatoon Blades. 

And Molendyk is already on the scoresheet with Team Canada in Ottawa. He picked up the primary assist on a goal by defence partner Gibson on Thursday. Molendyk ended up below the net on the sequence leading to the goal. 

"I'm just covering for him, honestly, making sure if they come back the other way I'm defending it," Gibson said with a smile. "We both got down low a couple times. At one point I remembering seeing him and both of us were below the tops of the circles. We had a lot of good movement there, a lot of chemistry going, so it's been good."

Defenceman Caden Price also scored against the Swiss. Canada will be looking for its defencemen to generate offence throughout the World Juniors.  

"That's the game now," Cameron said. "Teams defend really well, you have to get your D up in the rush and we did that. The one thing about our defence is we're mobile."

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Team Canada's lines for Saturday's game: 

Nadeau - Ritchie - Cowan 
McKenna - Catton - Pinelli 
Howe - Luchanko - Cataford 
Beaudoin - Yager - Gauthier 
Rehkopf 

Molendyk - Gibson 
Schaefer - Bonk 
Dickinson - Akey
Price 

Ivankovic starts 
Bjarnason 

Team Sweden lines for Saturday's games: 

Stenberg - Edstrom - Under Sorum
Vuollet - Forsfjall - Traff
Hedqvist - Berglund - Granberg 
Altorn - Nilsson - Eklund 
Eriksson 

Gustafsson - Sandin-Pellikka 
Lindstein  Willander 
Bergqvist - Hallquisth 
Hurtig - Kostadinski 

Thelin starts 
Gidlof