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Piling on the punishment

Opponents hate Canada's intimidating style of play

By: Donna Spencer

Posted: 12/29/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Team Canada forward Ty Rattie celebrates after scoring on Slovakia during the second period on Friday. (PHOTOS BY NATHAN DENETTE / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

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Slovakia forward Patrik Luza, leaves the ice on a stretcher after being crunched along the boards by Canada's Anthony Camara during second period action at the world junior tournament in Ufa, Russia Friday. (CP)

UFA, Russia -- Canada's punishing brand of hockey is unloved by European teams and gets them into trouble with the authorities at the world junior championship.

It's also a style that produced an important second win of the tournament for Canada on Friday, even though there may be a price to pay for that victory.

A 6-3 comeback win over Slovakia hinged not only on Anthony Camara's crushing check on a Slovak player in the second period, but the Canadians rallying around what they perceived as the injustice of his ejection.

Canada was down three forwards early in the second period because both Camara and JC Lipon had been ejected from the game by then, and Boone Jenner was serving the second of a three-game suspension assessed prior to the tournament.

Trailing 3-1 midway through the second, Canada rattled off five unanswered goals to win and sit atop Pool B at 2-0.

Ryan Strome led with a pair of goals, while defenceman Morgan Rielly contributed a goal and an assist. Mark Scheifele scored the go-ahead goal with less than a minute to go in the second period. Canada also got goals from Ty Rattie and captain Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

Goaltender Malcolm Subban made 25 saves on 28 shots for his second win of the tournament. Defenceman Xavier Ouellet had two assists.

The International Ice Hockey Federation choosing not to further discipline Camara, whose check on Patrik Luza sent the Slovak defenceman off the ice on a stretcher, indicates the hit was legal. Replays show Luza had his head down when the Barrie Colt levelled him along the boards.

Canada didn't escape the long arm of the IIHF's law, however. Lipon will have a hearing this morning for his hit on Tomas Mikus behind Slovakia's net in the first period.

If the Kamloops Blazer is suspended, Canada will be minus both him and Jenner for Sunday's game against the United States.

But Friday's game turned on the reaction by both countries by the Camara check.

While Canada was galvanized after losing a second forward in the game, Slovakia's emotions over watching their teammate leave the ice on a stretcher got the better of them. Rielly and Rattie scored power-play goals to tie the game.

"Once that hit took place and Anthony came to the bench and we realized it was a clean hit and there'd be no call and then there was a call, I think our players rallied around that and I think as coaches we used that as a rallying point," Canada's head coach Steve Spott said.

"Dirty" has been applied to the Canadian team, most recently by Mikus, who used the term to describe both the hit on him and Luza.

"In my eyes, the two hits were dirty," Mikus said. "I didn't see the second one, so I can't comment on it, but there was... blood in the face so not clean."

In an English translation of a story published on the eve of the tournament, Russian forward Nail Yakupov was quoted as using "dirty" to describe the Canadian team.

The Canadians are seen as a team that tries to win by intimidation.

"Canada are aware when they play more physical, the European teams basically don't really handle it well," Slovakia's coach Ernest Bokros said.

Strome made no apologies for Canada's hard-hitting ways.

"We play the game hard," the Niagara IceDogs forward said. "That's what we've always done."

-- The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 29, 2012 C3

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