Slovakia has plan to stop red-hot Bedard in quarters

Team Canada held a meeting at their hotel in Halifax on Monday, while Team Slovakia skated at the RBC Centre in Dartmouth, N.S. ahead of their World Junior Hockey Championship quarter-final meeting later on Monday.

Connor Bedard is dominating the World Juniors, but Slovakia has a plan to stop him. 

"It's unbelievable what he's doing," said Slovak forward Servac Petrovsky, "but we have a couple guys to take care of him."

Like who? 

"Robert Baco and a couple stronger guys," Petrovsky said with a smile. "So, I think it will be good."

"We know each other," said Baco, a Moose Jaw Warriors forward, who faces Bedard in the Western Hockey League. "I'm ready for him. I'll keep an eye on him."

This is nothing new for the Regina Pats phenom, who leads the tournament in scoring with 18 points.  

"Every team is always up on him," noted defenceman Brandt Clarke, "always up in his grill and shadowing him at 5-on-5 and on the power play. He embraces it. He enjoys that kind of attention. It won't really effect him. He still knows how to get his stick available. When he's under pressure, he knows where everyone else is on the ice and where to put the puck."

"Connor can battle through that," agreed left winger Brennan Othmann. "He's strong. His legs are huge. He's a mature kid, so whatever someone throws at him, he'll be able to handle it."

Othmann points out that Bedard is a physical player in his own right. 

"You saw it last game," Othmann said. "He had four assists, but also delivered some good hits. They don't have to be big hits, but they're key hits at key moments and on key players."

No one has had an answer for Bedard this season. He's on a 27-game point streak in the WHL. He's hit the scoresheet in every game since arriving at Canada's camp, although the Slovaks did hold him to just one secondary assist in a pre-tournament game on Dec. 21. 

"You try and slow him down," said Slovakia assistant coach Scott Moser. "Is there a way to completely stop him? Nobody's done it yet. But, certainly, slowing him down is something we've talked about the last couple days."

How exactly do you do that? 

"Well, we don't need him having an extra guy on the ice," Moser said. "Staying out of the penalty box is No. 1 for us."

Canada leads the World Juniors with a 57 per-cent conversion rate on the power play.  

"You got to know when he's on the ice," Moser continued. "They are the home team, so I'm sure they'll get a couple match-ups that they're looking for throughout the night, but we also have a lineup that we feel confident in."

"We're well prepared and ready to rock," said Baco.

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Slovak defenceman Simon Nemec leads the tournament in ice time at 26:33 per game. 

"He has IQ, for sure," said Moser. "You can see that when you watch him play. He's also been gritty this tournament. He hasn't slowed down for one instant when it comes to battles around the net or taking a guy 1-on-1 in the corner. People know him for his offensive ability, but he has shown just how well he can shut plays down. We'll have him out there for plenty of minutes tonight."

Nemec has been playing for the Utica Comets in the American Hockey League this season. One of his teammates is Graeme Clarke, who is Brandt's older brother. The siblings touched base to talk about the second overall pick in July's NHL draft. 

"I said, 'What do you think about this guy?' Graeme said he's a phenomenal player and kid...I watch him a lot. He's quite the player. He's a really quality defenceman. He runs that power play really well and is probably the key contributor on why they're doing so well in that department. He's someone we have to look out for."

Slovakia is second in power-play percentage at 44 per cent. 

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With the Ontario Hockey League suspended during the pandemic, Clarke played 26 games for Nove Zamky Mikron in Slovakia. 

"It was my first experience with pro hockey and something I'll treasure for a long time," the 19-year-old from Nepean, Ont. said. "I still have a lot of friends over there. I still talk to a lot of guys. There's some guys who smirked at me when we played them in the pre-tournament game, but no friends tonight."

Is Clarke able to trash talk the Slovaks in their native tongue? 

"I'm not, actually," he said. "I know, 'Hello' and 'Thank you,' but in the three months I didn't master the art of getting in people's heads."

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Shane Wright has three goals and three assists in four games, but only one of his points (an assist) came at even strength.

"I'm doing okay," the Seattle Kraken centre said. "I can definitely do a lot of things better. I can maybe try and get more pucks to the net and try to create a few more opportunities. Overall, I've been playing pretty well."

Wright has fired 11 shots on net, which ranks eighth on the team.  

Wright, Othmann and Dylan Guenther formed an explosive line at the 2021 under-18 World Championship, but have yet to breakthrough in Halifax. 

"We just got to get more pucks to the net," said Othmann. "We do a good job forechecking and getting hard in there and reloading and stuff like that, but getting a guy to the net and throwing pucks to the net and outworking and outmuscling down low is big for us. We're three strong guys that can work hard in the corners, so if we can do that tonight and going forward, our line will be in good shape 5-on-5."

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Adam Gajan, who plays for the Chippewa Steel in the North American Hockey League, is among the break-out players at the World Juniors. 

"Super powerful and athletic," said Moser. "At his first practice with us, there was a 'Wow' moment from some of the coaches. We said, 'Hey, he's got ability. Let's see how it looks in a game.' And he's been calm so far in games. That's one thing that's stood out. Can you couple athleticism with mindset? So far he's done that."

Gajan is a big reason why Slovakia upset the United States in the preliminary round. He's among the tournament leaders with a .939 save percentage.

"I see a guy coming out of nowhere," said Kelly Guard, Hockey Canada's goalie consultant. "Those guys are dangerous, not going to lie. There's not a big book on him. We had to be selective about what we picked. We got a good feel on what we need to do. The guys have been receptive and sharp on that stuff."

Guard's pre-scout helped Canada beat Carl Lindbom and Sweden on New Year's Eve. Lindbom entered the game with the tournament's top save percentage.  

"We brought up Lindbom's glove side and they exposed it," said Guard. "It's good to know they're taking it in."

What's the book on Gajan? 

"I'll give you the inside scoop after," Guard said with a smile. 

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Canada's goalies – Thomas Milic and Ben Gaudreau – are the only ones who hit the ice before the quarterfinals.

"I run it by them and see if they want to go out," Guard said. "[Milic], since he's starting it is his crease, so we do what he wants to do and see what touches he wants."

What did he want on Monday? 

"Mostly getting his eyes on the puck and feeling it," Guard said. "Not a lot of skating, but being able to control pucks and hopefully that goes into tonight's game."

Guard is the only one firing pucks during these sessions. 

"I have a heavy shot," he said with a chuckle. 

Whatever they're doing, it's working. Milic appears to be in a zone. 

"He's a little more calm and steady," Guard observed. "He's got his feet underneath him. It's a big stage for him. It's his first time playing in front of a crowd this size...He's a really intelligent kid. He's really receptive. You bring something up, he gets it right away and is quick at implementing what you show him."

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Projected Team Canada lineup for Monday's quarterfinal: 

Roy - Stankoven - Bedard 
Othmann - Wright - Guenther 
Dean - Gaucher - Ostapchuk 
Schaefer - Bankier - Fantilli 
Beck 

Del Mastro - Zellweger 
Allan - Clarke 
Hinds - Korchinski
Matier 

Milic starts 
Gaudreau 

Injured: Dach