HALIFAX | If they hope to defeat the United States, Junior Team Canada will need to tighten up their defence, which assistant coach Stéphane Julien, who is in charge of defense, saw as having the “worst game” of the tournament against Slovakia on Monday .
• Also read: World Juniors: Lane Hutson the Illusionist
• Also read: Junior World Championship: A special moment for Connor Bedard’s father
The ECJ was particularly ineffective in the third period before the ongoing preliminary control of its opponents.
“I would say it was the worst game for our defenders. We moved the puck too fast, our recovery wasn’t as good. […] I don’t think it’s a matter of physical play, it’s more pressure. We weren’t physically shaken by anyone, but the pressure they put on us meant our defenders didn’t make the right decisions and our defensive retreats weren’t good enough either. »
Quebec defender Tyson Hinds echoed his coach’s words.
“We will have to improve our communication in the defensive zone. Many times we were wrong, we went in pairs with the same guy. Those are mistakes that we need to correct because it will hurt against the USA. »
THE MOST CONSTANT
If the ECJ emerged victorious from their quarterfinal game, they certainly owe much credit to Hinds. With about 11:30 to go in the third game and Canada 3-2, Hinds literally stole a goal from the Slovaks as he threw himself full-length behind goalkeeper Thomas Milic, who had just made the first save to block what how a goal looked sure target for Adam Sykora.
“It’s instinctive. You step back, just in case. I was in the right place at the right time, but I don’t know if I could do it again if it happened again! »
In the case of Hinds, according to Julien, it was another demonstration of his usefulness.
“Tyson is probably our most consistent guy game after game. I watched the video three or four times [de son arrêt] and you can tell he has a sense of urgency in his game.” He went behind Milic to stop the puck and it shows his competitiveness and will to win. »
“I was lucky that he was there,” added goalkeeper Milic. My arm got trapped and I had to stretch out to save and luckily he was there on the setback. Also, he was smart not to wrap his hand around the puck to avoid a penalty. »