Time to bring on the Yanks

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Slovakian blue-liner Martin Marincin gives Canadian forward Nazem Kadri a jolt during second-period action Tuesday night. (NATHAN DENETTE / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

SASKATOON -- So three guys are standing in the washroom at the Credit Union Centre, doing their business.

It's barely halfway through the first period between the Canadian lads and the Slovakians -- the Canucks are already up 3-0 -- and the conversation goes something like this...

"A bit of a cakewalk, eh?" said one, like the rest, clad in red.

"I thought the Slovakians would have given them more of a test," says a guy wearing a Team Canada jersey with "Nash" on the back.

"I'm worried about the Swedes," piped up the guy at the end. "They're down in Regina getting all the tough competition."

True story.

Forget Pierre McGuire. You don't need Bob McKenzie weighing in his two cents. The scenario unfolding at the 2010 world juniors doesn't exactly require any special depth of knowledge. No years of experience or inside information.

It took a row of guys in the bathroom about 10 minutes to figure it out: Three games in, the Canadians haven't experienced so much as a speed bump, not that the Latvians (16-0) or the Swiss (6-0) were expected to give the home team a scare, and in this country that's not necessarily the source of a fuzzy feeling.

After all, there was a point during the shutout of the Swiss on Monday where Team Canada had allowed 21 shots on net... and scored 21 goals.

Yawn.

At least the Slovaks, in losing 8-2, ended the Canadian's tournament shutout streak at 157:25 with a power-play goal in the second. The visitors also tested Team Canada netminder Martin Jones, making his first tournament start, with 27 shots -- two more than the total teammate Jake Allen had faced in the first two games against the Latvians and Swiss.

And for the record, the Slovaks brought the wood, too. The bodies were flying like closing time at the Road House bar. Where's Patrick Swayze when you need him?

But it took Canada's Taylor Hall all of 17 seconds to reply, upping the Canucks lead to 6-1, when the Windsor Spitfires sniper completed his hat trick. Less than a minute later, it was 7-1 Canada before the second intermission.

Game over.

Hey, it's not the kid's fault. They're here to dominate and the literal luck of the draw isn't the Canadian's doing.

Maybe the Canadians are just that good. Perhaps less formidable foes are simply overwhelmed playing in a forum where they are the Christians, not the lions.

Either way, how do you sharpen your knife on such a flat grindstone?

In fact, the only adversity the Canadians have faced, it seems, is in the media mixed zone, where the subject of complacency and dearth of even a hint of a challenge has been a common theme from the outset.

It's a conversation that makes Team Canada head coach Willie Desjardins bristle, just a bit. "There's lots of different weapons in our pool," Desjardins has said, repeatedly. "We have to be ready for every game to play hard."

Fair enough.

For what it's worth, though, down in Regina, the highly-touted Swedes were busy burying the Czech Republic 10-1, before dispatching the Russians 4-1 Tuesday. We're just sayin'.

All the while in Saskatoon, it feels like the Canadian's preliminary round so far has been little more than the perfunctory obligation in preparation for their New Year's Eve showdown with Team USA, which will determine what nation earns a pivotal bye into the tournament semifinal.

"We've been having a little bit of success here," noted Team Canada's Nazem Kadri, after the Slovaks were in the rear-view mirror, "but our big test is against the Americans coming up. It's going to be a big challenge for us."

True that.

So where are the Canadians, now that the vulcanized rubber is about to meet the road?

"I think the first game (against Latvia), you can see for yourself what that was like," said defenceman Ryan Ellis, who chipped in with a goal and two assists. "The next two games have been a lot better.

"On paper, 8-2 might look a little lop-sided. But that was a solid team (the Slovaks). They were hitting, they were forechecking. They had their chances. We just fortunately scored more than they did."

Added Desjardins of the Slovakians: "They deserved a better fate. We had our hands full tonight."

The bottom line, however, is three games played for Team Canada; 30 goals for, 2 against. The time for posturing and blowouts is over.

Bring on the Yanks.

At least, we're pretty sure that's what the washroom analysts would say, too.

randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca

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Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 30, 2009 C1