Canada kicked off its men’s Olympic hockey tournament on Thursday with a 5-0 win over Czechia, and I’ve got thoughts.
Boy howdy, we might just have a hockey team here.
1. Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon set the tone
When it comes to big games, players can get nervy. They can be full of energy, but not sure where to direct it. It can even freeze them up sometimes, as the thoughts run fast like a bunch of wide-shouldered linebackers trying to get through a door frame at the same time.
Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon have been there before. A Stanley Cup for MacKinnon and two runs to the final for McDavid, both were winners at the 4 Nations, and damned if they didn’t look exactly like they knew how to handle another big moment in the Olympic opener. Both guys put a Czech player on their backs in the opening minutes, their feet were flying, and it was immediately obvious that they were going to be the guys dictating the pace. MacKinnon even opened the scoring before it was waved off for a Nick Suzuki tripping penalty.
Say what you like about the other Canadian forwards — three of the four players who were added to the 4 Nations carryovers scored — but there were opportunities because MacKinnon and McDavid put Czechia on its heels.
2. Canada was extremely physical
It wasn’t just Tom Wilson or Sam Bennett or the guys I mentioned above, but the whole team consistently went through the Czechs. Colton Parayko and Thomas Harley, Cale Makar and Brandon Hagel, I’ve got a notebook full of comments about hits.
It’s not common this happens in a single game, but by the third period the Czech defence wanted nothing to do with going back on pucks, which is why it looked like they laid down at the end. They knew what was coming and started pulling up.
One more note on that…
3. Tom Wilson was one of Canada’s most noticeable players
I don’t know how many actual hits he had — eight maybe? — but he knew what he was out there to do, and he did it clean, competitive, and helped win back pucks for his line. There was a time when a Czech player turned his numbers to Wilson, and he pulled up to not take a penalty. There were times he threatened players who almost immediately hit the brakes and stopped skating to avoid the blow. And so, Wilson helped McDavid and Macklin Celebrini play in the offensive zone a lot.
Now, one thing I am curious about is the trade-off between the offensive zone gain Wilson delivers and the reality of him being on the ice with McDavid and Celebrini as they hunt for offence. Wilson can obviously get to the net and do different things, but there was an offensive zone possession where he threw a wobbler up to the point and it hopped out (he loves the low-to-high pass), and other moments where he threw the puck back off the wall into the corners, leaving his linemates trying to make something of it. That’s all well and good, but you can’t help but think it’d be neat if it was another of the many talented players Canada has at its disposal on that line.
In the end, Wilson is a great and very effective player, and I think when there’s less room against better teams — when any offensive zone possession time would be a win — he’ll help them be there and create space. He was all over the ice, so in sum, it was a great start for big 43.
4. Jordan Binnington was perfect
And I don’t just mean he didn’t get scored on, he was about as good as a goalie could be. Yes, he stopped all 26 shots that came his way, but his rebound control was generally good, his puck plays were great, he timed his aggressive pokechecks well, and didn’t overreact when someone bumped him.
There’s been a lot of handwringing about starting Binnington, and I’ll include myself there, but his performance validated a lot of the confidence the Canadian coaching staff has shown in him. Great start for ol’ 50 as well.
5. Jon Cooper used everyone
I truly dislike and don’t understand why teams are allowed to dress so many skaters. In the NHL it’s 18, but in the Olympics it’s 20. So instead of 12 forwards and six defencemen, you’ve got 13 and seven. Some teams (like Sweden) designated two guys to dress but not play (Filip Forsberg!), but Cooper used everyone, with Sam Bennett getting the least amount of ice time, yet still saw over seven minutes.
These are all good players, and you want to get everyone involved, particularly once Canada started to pull away with the game. Josh Morrissey also got hurt, which left them with a steady six blueliners to rotate, and somewhat surprisingly elevated Harley to the top of the Canadian time on ice chart with 20:35.
Quick aside: everything the Canadian staff touched in terms of roster selection turned to gold, at least in the first game. While we all clamoured for Matthew Schaefer and Evan Bouchard, Harley (who many people would’ve taken out) led in ice time, and was plus-two with two assists. He looked great.
But I do think it’ll be interesting to see how the players are deployed going forward. MacKinnon played 14:44 (!) and McDavid 18:04, so in closer games they’ll see way more ice.
6. The power play is gross (in a good way)
Really cool to get a goal that involves MacKinnon, McDavid and Crosby on the score sheet, but it wasn’t the first time was it?
Canada’s whole power play is just ridiculous to watch though. Like, how are you supposed to defend McDavid on a double-drop entry? They move it quick, hard, and there are just so many weapons, chief of which are their hockey IQs.
7. Macklin Celebrini is gonna be OK
One of my favourite moments was about three-and-a-half minutes into the game when a puck came near Celebrini — the youngest NHL player in the tournament with little big game experience — and he just absolutely heated up a one-timer. Full send, as they say.
It’s just an insane amount of (fully justified!) confidence to play like that, and he showed he’s not afraid of the big stage. He scored the game winner on a tip-in too. No big deal.
8. They probably want to get Seth Jarvis in, so who comes out?
Pretty much everyone was good, but I’m guessing they’re going to want to get everyone involved (to give them all a chance to earn a spot in the big games), so I’m not sure who you pull out of the lineup. If Jarvis goes in, who comes out? Dressing 13 forwards, surely one guy makes sense to come out?
Only negative notes I have (so, so few) were that I didn’t love the all-Florida line in the two attempts they gave it. Suzuki was just OK but had one flip off his blade and in, so he probably stays. I’m guessing it’s Sam Bennett, who played the fewest minutes and was a late addition to the team, but I actually really liked his minutes. Good hits, one shot plus another attempt, and he skated well.
Would Brad Marchand come out? He had a grade A chance in the first period and was fine. It’s just hard to see who they’d tap if they’re going to add Jarvis (so maybe they don’t add him at all). I’ll guess Bennett, but if it weren’t for legend status, I might personally go with Marchand.
9. Devon Toews is not just riding Cale Makar’s coattails
I think Toews has this reputation of feasting off Makar’s greatness, at least to some degree, but man is he a good defenceman. There’s just no particular thing he isn’t good at. He reads plays well, can make plays of his own, and defends hard. He deserves more credit than he gets.
10. MacKinnon’s fascinating playing style
There’s a funny Crosby/MacKinnon interview floating around where MacKinnon calls his style “choppy,” and Crosby laughs. “You’re choppy?” he says in disbelief.
And he isn’t choppy, not quite anyway, he’s just such a force of power, particularly when compared to McDavid. I loved the idea of MacKinnon playing with Hagel (fast and pesky with skill) and Sam Reinhart (smart and plotting and dangerous), but after just one game, I’m not sure anymore.
Hagel can keep up and made some great plays, but on the other side, someone more like Bennett — who can clean up the scraps MacKinnon creates at the crease — might be more fitting than Reinhart, who finds soft spots to get a pass so well.
I think Horvat or Suzuki could play that wing too, but these are all names who are at the low end of the totem pole for Canada. If you’re going to be playing MacKinnon 20 minutes a night in the bigger games, I’m not sure you’d want to make either of those substitutions. If Reinhart wants to keep that spot, he’ll need to figure MacKinnon out, and soon.
11. The flashes from star NHLers on the “lesser” teams is jarring
Czechia was only OK, but there was a third period rush from Martin Necas where it was like “Oh crap,” and same for a David Pastrnak dangle into the middle of the ice. You can’t sleep on the lesser teams, because if they get some saves (and Lukas Dostal gave them plenty) you just never know when it’s suddenly going to be an NHL all-star who gets a touch in the wrong spot.
But it’s also a reminder for when Canada plays Sweden or the USA. On those teams, every guy is one of those stars, and there’s some very different hockey coming in the week ahead.
12. Outside the Morrissey injury, this was the perfect start
Canada put up a great goal differential to start with a plus-five win against the next-best team in their group. Sometimes it can be harder to get up when you’re playing against one of the “lesser” teams, but with this win Canada can probably be “bad” and still win its group now, so a quarterfinal game against a mediocre opponent looks all but guaranteed.
The goaltending was awesome, the best players were elite, and Canada looked just how you’d want them to out of the gate. On Friday they’ve got Switzerland, then France on the weekend.
After that, this thing will really start to heat up.
