Blue And White Beat: Canada looking for gold in 2011.
On Sunday, Leaf captain Dion Phaneuf was named one of four alternate captains serving on Team Canada’s roster at the World Hockey Championships. Joining Phaneuf on the leadership front are captain Rick Nash as well as alternates Andrew Ladd, Jason Spezza and Travis Zajac.
This will be Phaneuf’s second stint wearing an “A” for Team Canada, having held the role on the 2005 World Junior “dream team” that dominated the tournament in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Fellow junior gold medalist Clarke MacArthur reunited with Phaneuf this season in Toronto, and has been touted as a possible fourth Leafs player to be named to Canada’s roster that already includes Luke Schenn and James Reimer.
Phaneuf’s appointment, not only to the roster but as an alternate captain, serves as a validation to what has been perceived as his diminishing skills. Indeed, the bruising rearguard fell off the radar during the selection process for Team Canada at the Vancouver Olympics while still with Calgary, and has endured many a miserable night on the blueline at ACC since the trade to Toronto.
Arguably, Phaneuf’s renaissance in a Leafs uniform came with the trade of Tomas Kaberle to Boston. With the departure of the Leafs’ long-time mainstay on the back end, Phaneuf was injected with new confidence that was exhibited in joining the rush – but more importantly – without sacrificing defensive responsibility.
He still made mistakes in the Toronto zone – then again which Leafs player didn’t?
But his newfound vigor translated into more production. Six of Phaneuf’s 8 goals this year – including all three that he converted on the power-play – came after the Kaberle trade.
If not for that trade, Phaneuf isn’t wearing an “A” in Slovakia this week.
Canada’s first game is Friday against Belarus.
Many of the preliminary and qualification games will be hosted in Kosice, with the elimination games being held in the host country’s capital of Bratislava.
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400 miles west of Bratislava, in Zurich, Switerland, the gold medal game of the Women’s World Championships will be played on Monday (2pm ET, TSN).
In three preliminary games, Canada outscored their opponents – Switzerland, Kazahkstan – and Finland by a combined score of 21-0.
The game against the Finns proved to be the most challenging as the Canadians were frustrated by opposing netminder Noora Raty, who turned away 48 shots. Rebecca Johnston was the only player to score with Raty between the pipes as it took Jayna Hefford’s empty netter to clinch the 2-0 win.
However, the semi-final game between the two teams played four days later proved to be less competitive as Canada skated to a 4-1 win, outshooting Finland by an overwhelming margin of 78-16.
The path to the gold medal game has been just as easy for the United States, who defeated Russia in the other semi-final while also coasting through the preliminary round.
In 12 Women’s World Hockey Championships that have been played since 1990, Canada the U.S. have played in every gold medal game. Although the Americans have been victorious only three times, each of their triumphs has come in the past four years, including the two most recent tournaments (2008 and 2009).
(YouTube: Team Canada audio – Women’s National Team)
Rob Del Mundo is the author of Blue And White Beat, and is a regular columnist at TMLfans.ca
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