'It's a character thing': Canada running out of time to solve penalty problem

Team Canada held a meeting and media availability at Canadian Tire Centre on Wednesday. 

Team Canada held a meeting on Wednesday to address their parade to the penalty box at the World Juniors. The message was straightforward. 

"You can't take them," said head coach Dave Cameron, who led the discipline discussion. 

The United States scored three power-play goals on seven chances in Tuesday's 4-1 win over Canada. 

"The good thing about last night's penalties is that they were so obvious that there's no denying we can't take them," Cameron said.

Did the coach like the response he got in the meeting? 

"I'll tell you tomorrow at 7:30," he said. "It's not about understanding. It's about how they're going to act on it. The time for talking is over." 

Canada (2-1-1) will faced Czechia (3-1-0) on Thursday at 7:30 pm in a do-or-die quarterfinal.

Canada split its four games in the preliminary round, but one consistent element in the games has been undisciplined play. Canada leads the tournament with 29 minor penalties, which is seven more than any other team. 

The players have struggled to adapt to the stricter standard in the international game, but Cameron isn't interested in excuses. 

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no," he said. "The standard's the standard. Those penalties are nothing to do with the referee."

Canadian centre Berkly Catton wonders if the electric atmosphere in Ottawa may be leading his team to be too amped up. 

"Maybe lots of emotions," the Seattle Kraken prospect theorized. "We have a fifth line out there with our fans. They give us lots of energy and maybe we're using it in the wrong ways in terms of taking it out on the other team sometimes when we should be creating offence or blocking shots instead."

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On top of the Cameron-led meeting, the players also discussed the issue amongst themselves. 

"We have to have a little chat and just make sure everybody's on the same page going into these next couple games," captain Brayden Yager said in the immediate aftermath of Tuesday's game.  

"We had a good talk within the players," forward Carson Rehkopf confirmed on Wednesday. "We're ready to fix that next game."

Rehkopf took a pair of penalties, including an interference call for knocking away the dropped stick of USA goalie Trey Augustine. 

"It was a dumb penalty," said Rehkopf, who is one of four returning players from last year's World Juniors. "That's on me. I gotta make better choices."

Easton Cowan, another returning player, was whistled for boarding in the third period, which led to an insurance goal by Cole Eiserman. 

"Starts with me," the Toronto Maple Leafs prospect said. "I took a dumb penalty late. It cost us the goal and cost us the game. We all know we need to be more disciplined, so we will be."

Eiserman skated toward the Canadian bench to taunt Cowan after scoring. 

"It's just competitiveness," Cowan said. "Everyone's competitive. He scored a goal and he was giving it to me and [I] deserved it. I took a bad penalty."

Alternate captain Tanner Molendyk took a hooking penalty in the third period. 

"I took a dumb one too," the defenceman admitted. "Guys have to be held accountable." 

Cameron feels the tournament is too short to start benching players every time they take a penalty. So, it's on the players to police this themselves. 

"It's a character thing," Cameron said. "They have to decide and I'm pretty sure they will ... I think lesson learned." 

Canada finished third in Group A despite allowing a tournament-low six goals with none coming in 5-on-5 play. 

"When we've been playing 5-on-5 I'd say we've been the best team in the tournament," said defenceman Sam Dickinson, who took two minors on Tuesday. "At this point, it's just about staying 5-on-5 and not letting discipline and dumb penalties get in the way of that."

The penalties have disrupted momentum and kept some of Canada's top scoring threats from getting in a rhythm. Catton leads the team in shots (22), but is stuck on just one assist so far. Linemate Gavin McKenna is third on the team in shots (17), but has just one goal, which came in the Boxing Day opener. 

"Taking penalties is the biggest detriment to that line," Cameron said. "Not enough ice time because we've been taking penalties."

Catton, who has 47 points in 28 games with the Spokane Chiefs, can't recall going through a similar dry spell to this. He hasn't gone more than one game without a point so far this season in the Western Hockey League. 

"Maybe now that it's, I call it 'a new tournament,' that might flip," Catton said. "It's so close, like, we're getting so many chances ... We have a saying in our team that if you keep hitting a rock, you might notice anything, but eventually it will crack."

That saying comes from Hockey Canada's mental performance consultant Lucas Madill, who has been helping the players navigate this snakebitten stretch. 

"He showed us this one video of a guy trying to hammer a rock open," Cowan said. "He kept going and kept going and eventually it split apart. If we keep shooting, keep shooting, eventually it will go in."  

Of course, there's more to it than that. Cameron is looking for Catton, McKenna and Luca Pinelli to make a change on Thursday. 

"One of the big adjustments they have to make is they have to hit the net on their shots," the coach said. "That's the big thing. And they have to get inside maybe a bit more and find a way to bury those chances."

Czechia finished second in Group B while also playing a stingy style. They allowed just nine goals in four games. 

"They're big and strong and they don't really mess up a whole lot," Catton said. "When we do get our chances these upcoming games you gotta bury. Life's on the line now. No excuses for us."

Canada has scored just 10 times in four games, including two empty-net goals, three power-play goals and one shorthanded goal.

Three of Canada's four goals in 5-on-5 play came in the first game of the tournament. The only one since then came from defenceman Caden Price, who saw his point shot hit off the end boards and bank in off German goalie Nico Pertuch.

Canada's shooting percentage is 5.78, which is dead last in the tournament. Czechia is first in that department at 19.7.

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Cameron will add some offensive punch to Canada's lineup on Thursday as draft-eligible winger Porter Martone returns after sitting out the last two games as a healthy scratch. 

"When he's on his game, he plays a 200-foot game," said Cameron. "He's physical. He's making plays. He's going. I think he's been overthinking it a little bit, which has slowed him down a bit, but I expect a big game."

Martone failed to hit the scoresheet in the first two games of the tournament. He does have 56 points in 24 games with the Brampton Steelheads. Only McKenna, who leads the WHL with 60 points in 30 games, has racked up more points this season among Team Canada's players. 

Cameron has not decided, who will come out of the lineup against Czechia. Rehkopf was a healthy scratch in the first two games, but earned some shifts with the top line on Tuesday night. 

"I've done a good job with the opportunities I've gotten," said Rehkopf, who plays with Martone in Brampton. "I felt good last game. I felt like I created a lot. There were a lot of penalties in the second half of the game, which slowed it down a bit, but with the chances I got I've been doing a good job. But gotta bear down and gotta put some pucks in and keep bringing the energy for the boys."

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After allowing eight goals in his first two starts, Augustine stepped up in a big way on Tuesday night. The Detroit Red Wings prospect stopped 38 of 39 shots to earn his 10th World Juniors win, which matches Jack Campbell for the all-time American record. 

"It's pretty special," said Augustine, who backstopped Team USA to gold last year in Sweden. "It's definitely up there in my list of games played, but we're not here to beat Canada [on New Year's Eve]. We're here to win a gold medal."

This is the third World Juniors for the Michigan State star, who wasn't fazed despite a slow start to the Ottawa tournament. 

"I've been playing hockey for a long time," he said. "I've been playing at a high level for a long time and bad games are going to happen. You have to watch the film, understand what went wrong, and get back at it … I was ready to go."

Augustine received reassurance from goalie coach A.J. Walczak and focused on getting "back to the basics" on New Year's Eve. 

"He was voicing to us that he wasn't happy with how he was playing," said USA captain Ryan Leonard. "You know that big situations and the big games, he's the backbone and you can trust him. He was tremendous. I expected nothing less.

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Team Canada will face another big challenge in net on Thursday. Literally. 

UMass-Amherst's Michael Hrabal stands 6-foot-6 in the crease and already has a knockout stage win against Canada on his resume from last year's World Juniors. 

"With a guy like that, you have to get him moving," Catton said. "If he sees the puck he's probably going to save it. So get him moving. If you have a breakaway get him moving, maybe cross-ice passes and stuff like that. Ultimately it's just going to be about bearing down and, when you have a chance, you have an open net, put it home."

Hrabal stopped 28 of 30 shots in Czechia's 3-2 win over Canada in the quarterfinals last year. 

"Try to get in his eyes if you even can," Cowan said. "Just keep throwing pucks on net and eventually they're going to fall. I think we've had like 40 shots every game so eventually they're going fall."

Canada beat Czechia 3-2 in their final pre-tournament game on Dec. 23. McKenna scored twice and Bradly Nadeau got the other Canadian goal. Hrabal stopped 36 of 39 shots. 

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Cameron isn't concerned about his penalty kill despite the three goals against on Tuesday. 

"They got to stop killing eight penalties a game," he said. "That will be the biggest adjustment and we'll be fine after that."

USA defenceman Cole Hutson opened the scoring with a snipe from the high slot. 

"To be honest I didn't really see it," Hutson said. "I thought I put it wide so I was skating to go get it on the other side.  When I heard the whole crowd start to boo I knew it went in so that was pretty funny."

Hutson celebrated by covering his ears with his hands and staring up into the crowd. The move was inspired by Boston University teammate Ryan Greene, who celebrated the same way after a shootout winner in Maine this season.

"Beating them in their home country, I don't think it gets much better than that," Hutson said. 

Hutson set up Danny Nelson for the game-winning goal in the third period. The Washington Capitals prospect is now tied for the tournament scoring lead with eight points. 

"I knew he was good with the puck, I didn't quite know it was that good, the deception and the ability to attack," said USA coach David Carle. "It felt like he was picking his spots a little bit more, which we've been on our whole D core about, so the D are playing D and the forwards can play forward. Certainly there's times to attack but we want to be in and out. I thought Cole was more calculated, still was able to have a huge impact on the game, but in a little bit more of a controlled manner."

Hutson seems to control the game whenever he's on the ice right now. 

"The plays are coming my way a little bit," he said. "I'm not really forcing too many and hopefully it keeps going here."

It's been an impressive run for the Hutson family. Big brother Lane Hutson, who patrols the blue line for the Montreal Canadiens, was named the NHL's rookie of the month for December. 

"I was just texting him in the locker room and told him, 'Congrats,'" Cole said. "He went out for the rookie dinner last night so that will be a heavy bill for him to pay, but he's loving it so far ... He's one of the hardest working kids I've ever met so he's earned everything he's gotten so far. I think there's only more to come." 

Cole has surpassed Lane's point total (six) from last year's World Juniors and is just three away from passing his combined total of 10 from the two World Juniors he played. 

"I want to be better than him if I can be," Cole said. "It's just a competition out of love. We love each other and we want the best for each other so that's what's helped us so far." 

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Finnish winger Kasper Halttunen finally got on the board at this World Juniors with a classic one-time goal against Latvia on New Year's Eve. 

"I get the first one out of the way and it felt really, really good," the San Jose Sharks prospect said with a smile. 

It lifted the entire team. 

"It was a huge relief to see him get that big one-T going," said goalie Petteri Rimpinen. "You gotta look out for him now. He's going to score a lot still. I hope so, at least. Maybe it was the steak dinner we had after the last game. We have to go again. I don't know the name of the spot, but right next to the Delta Hotel."  

Teams have sold out to take away Halttunen's one-timer all tournament. 

"It's not easy," the London Knights star admitted. "Guys are willing to block shots and it's tough. It was pretty nice to get the first one." 

The one-timer is central to Halttunen's identity as a player.

"Try and work on it every day," he said. "It's always been kind of my thing." 

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Rimpinen recorded his first World Junior shutout on Thursday. 

"It feels great," the 18-year-old said. "When you look at where I was last year, one year ago, I would much rather be here playing hockey and enjoying that."

After being passed over in the NHL draft last year, Rimpinen is enjoying a breakout season with Espoo in Finland's Liiga where he has a .916 save percentage in 24 games.  

"Much better guy," he said of his growth. "It's probably [because I] look myself in the mirror. Of course it's all about mentality. How you practice. All that stuff. I'm happy, but not finished yet." 

Rimpinen's making a name for himself at the World Juniors with a .947 save percentage in four starts. 

He already has a pretty cool nickname. Excited by his strong play of late, Rimpinen's skate manufacturer put the word 'Showtime' on his blades, which quickly caught the eye of teammate Janne Hämäläinen in Espoo. 

"He saw the skate blades and he was giving me a hard time about it, but now it's funny," Rimpinen said. "I can't use it in the big world, but in Finland I can be that still. Patty Kane [who's also nicknamed 'Showtime'], I'm not at level yet and probably never, but we'll see." 

Rimpinen models his style on Tuukka Rask. 

"He was so aggressive," Rimpinen said. "If he doesn't make a save he can be mad sometimes. But also all his desperation saves, he's never giving up. His compete level, it's awesome."

Does Rimpinen have a temper like Rask? 

"For sure," he said with a laugh. "You can ask the guys."

What gets him angry?  

"Getting scored on," he said. "Some guys in the crease hitting me, stuff like that. It gets me going too. It's not like it's getting overly mad. It gets me going."

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Team Canada lines at the start of Tuesday's game: 

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

Molendyk - Gibson
Dickinson - Bonk 
Mynio - Price 
Akey

George 
Ivankovic 

Not dressed: Martone, Bjarnason 

Injured: Schaefer (collarbone)