Sunday was a full day off for Team Canada at the IIHF World Championship. The players' families arrived on Friday to support the team and they'll all get to celebrate Mother's Day together, though it won't be under the best circumstances.
After Canada scored two goals on 10 shots and chased starting goaltender Jonas Hiller at the 6:28 mark of the first period, replacement Leonardo Genoni made 35 saves to shut the door the rest of the way. The Swiss came back to tie with two third-period goals, then won the game in overtime.
In the three years I've been covering World Championships, that's just the second time Team Canada has lost. But I am certainly familiar with the rhythms of late-game collapses thanks to watching the Canucks over the past couple of years...
Switzerland now sits just two points behind Canada in the Group B standings, and faces Finland in the late game tonight. With a win, the Swiss could take over first place. The Czechs have also now tied Canada with 13 points thanks to their Sunday win over France, though Canada still has a game in hand on both teams. The Canadians finish out the preliminary round with games against Norway on Monday and Finland on Tuesday—and the quarterfinal rankings are still very much up in the air.
Over in Group A, Team USA has ridden the offensive firepower of their young guns to first place after six games, with a 5-0-0-1 record. They've played one more games than the teams just behind them in the standings—Russia, at 4-1-0-0, will play Latvia on Monday and be the Americans' final opponent on Tuesday.
Sweden's also in the mix, five points behind the U.S., but with a game in hand. The Swedes also scored the biggest late 'get' from the NHL, when Henrik Lundqvist agreed to come over and join his twin brother Joel, who is Sweden's captain.
Henrik gets the start for the Swedes tonight against Denmark. He's stealing some thunder from Eddie Lack, who is backing up after recording a shutout in his first game action of the tournament on Thursday, a 2-0 win over the tough Latvians.
As for the Canucks' Alex Edler, he continues to be part of the third pairing on the outstanding Swedish defense. His ice time increased while Oliver Ekman-Larsson was out with an illness for the last two games—he has one assist and is now up to 18:39 a game, but OEL is back in the lineup for the Swedes tonight.
Before Saturday's game, I had a chance to get out and explore the neighbourhood of Montmartre, which is now known as "bo-bo"—still artsy and bohemian, but also with a dose of the bourgeoisie. Among the locals, Saturday mornings are all about coffee, the aromas of fresh-baked baguettes and pastries, and boot camp runs to the top one of Paris' biggest hills, home of Sacre Coeur.
But it's not all go-go-go. Apparently one of the most popular cafes is the one that serves all-day breakfast till 5 p.m.
Back in North America, we have a couple of new stories on Travis Green that we can digest. He has finished making his rounds in Vancouver and looped back to Utica to pack up his life there.
First, his conversation with local beat writer Ben Birnell:
Green breaks down his schedule since accepting his new gig, which included a significant amount of time in Vancouver, getting the lay of the land:
I spent ... probably eight days in Vancouver after the press conference (announcing him as head coach), just getting to know people in the organization, doing some interviews with players and training staff and management. (It was) busy, but productive. I had the opportunity to fly to my hometown in Castelgar (British Columbia) for four days, which was nice. It was my dad’s 70th birthday, so it was a good time. I flew to Toronto for a couple days to meet with some players and coaches on the staff. Doug Jarvis was out there, so I met with him. And then back to Utica to pack up. It has been busy, but good.
Green's wife and three kids have kept their permanent home base in California while he was coaching in Utica.
I still haven’t been back to see them. I’m going to head back to California (soon). I know my kids are really excited about it. My daughter (Jordyn) is graduating soon. So, it will nice to be back for that.
Green sounds especially grateful to have Doug Jarvis in the organization as an assistant coach.
Obviously, I’ve got a lot of respect for Doug. He’s been in the NHL a long time as a player and a coach, has won. You want people who have won in your organization. He’s not just a good coach, obviously, but he’s a real good person. I enjoyed my talks with him. I’ve talked with him on the phone a couple times and met with him for four hours in Toronto and had a real productive meeting.
As for the rest of his coaching staff, Green confirms that he's expecting Nolan Baumgartner to be part of the team.
He’s a good coach, first and foremost. That’s what it’s all about. He’s earned his way there. It’s not like I’m just drawing him along. He’s a good coach and for me, that’s the most important thing about Nolan. He works extremely hard. He’s a bright guy. He’s earned it. Obviously, he knows me and knows what I’m about. I know what he’s about and we read off each other well. I think that’s important as well.
Jim Cerny of Puck Daddy goes further back to focus on Green's playing days with the New York Islanders, where he spent 388 games of his 907-game NHL career.
The highlight of this piece is the backstory behind why then-Islanders coach Mike Milbury once called Green a "gutless puke" before trading him to Anaheim. His teammates remember him differently:
“He never lacked confidence in who he was, or what clothes he wore, and always had the good hair going – that great curly hair and mullet,” said retired forward Ken Belanger with a laugh. “But he was always a good team guy. And that confidence is a trait that separates people from who get a job or not, and who get the job done. People who are confident and show confidence are the ones who lead, like Travis.”
The article also touches on the leadership lessons that Green picked up from one of the all-time greats, Al Arbour, as well as from Pat Quinn, who coached him while he was part of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the early 2000s. It's a good read.
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