By Alan Adams
PRAGUE – Mike Babcock was much happier with Canada’s effort in a 3-1 win over Switzerland and he feels the
Canadians can only get better by the day.
“We think we can get better and we really believe that,” said Babcock after Wednesday’s game. “We think we
can get a lot better and I think our guys now believe now if we play our game we will be fine.”
The Canadians sputtered in the first period but talked things through in the intermission and came out a much
different team in the second.
The Canadians owed the middle period, and Dany Heatley scored 44 seconds after the opening faceoff – the
first of two goals on the night - to put Canada ahead 1-0. The Canadians then started laying on the body and
the Swiss were never in it
“In the second period they were not holding on to the puck as much and they were just chipping and trying to
give their trouble to somebody else because we were coming so strong,” said Daniel Briere. “That is the kind
of game Canada needs to play and that is the type of game we played last year to get us to the gold medal.
There is no secret. That is what Canadians do.”
“We always knew we could do it and we know the guys in there could do it but we had to get going,” said
Brendan Morrison, who had Canada’s other goal.” We could not wait that much longer. Games get more important
each step of the way and you want to make sure you are building momentum and getting better every day.”
The victory means Canada carries three points into the qualifying round, its win over France discarded
because the French didn't advance. The Swiss advance with only one point while surprising Austria has
two.
The Canadians will face Arturs Irbe and Latvia n Friday, Olie Kolzig and Germany on Sunday and Jaromir Jagr
and the host Czech Republic on Monday. The Czech-Canada game will definitely be the hottest ticket in
town.
The Swiss had their game in full gear and were definitely the better team in the opening 20 minutes. But they
ran into a wall in the form of Roberto Luongo, who is a finalist for the Vezina Trophy which honors the NHL’s
top goalie.
“We really needed to play a good team game and I think this was our best effort,” said Luongo.
The Canadians headed to the dressing room outshot 12-6 and outchanced in the opening period and Babcock then
shuffled his forward lines, putting Brenden Morrow with Heatley and Daniel Briere. The trio scored 44 seconds
into the second period, with Heatley scoring on a rebound.
The Canadians came on strong and the Swiss were outmatched.
“"They're a strong team getting stronger every game," said Swiss Head Coach Ralph Krueger.
Brendan Morrison made it 2-0 when he scored on a wraparound at 11:07 and Heatley collected his second of the
night 3:19 into the third period.
“There is no reason why we can’t repeat as champions as long as we play hard every night,” says Luongo.
Canada is unbeaten all-time versus the Swiss at the world championship at 21-0-2, but the gap has definitely
narrowed.
“It is a long tournament and we want to get better every game,” says Heatley. “We took a big step
tonight.”
In Wednesday’s other games, the United States moved on to the qualifying round with a 7-1 win over Ukraine.
With the win, the Americans avoided going to the relegation round for a second straight year. Russia beat
Japan 6-1, the Czech Republic beat Germany 5-1 and Slovakia beat Finland 5-2.
Thursday is an off day in the 16-team competition and the schedule resumes Friday with the 12-team qualifying
round, with eight teams then moving on to the medal round starting next Wednesday.
The Canadians will face Arturs Irbe and Latvia on Friday, Olie Kolzig and Germany on Sunday and Jaromir Jagr
and the host Czech Republic on Monday. The Czech-Canada game will definitely be the hottest ticket in
town.
Box Score |
CAN |
0
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
Compte |
SUI |
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
First Period/Première période |
Scoring/Buts:
-
Penalties/Pénalités:
13:40 15:40 CAN 2min 19 MORROW Brenden Elbowing
14:55 16:55 CAN 2min 22 COOKE Matt Roughing
14:55 16:55 SUI 2min 16 AMBUHL Andres Roughing
15:50 17:50 SUI 2min 30 JENNI Marcel Interference
|
Second Period/Deuxième période |
Scoring/Buts:
20:44 1:0 CAN EQ 15 HEATLEY Dany 27 NIEDERMAYER Scott
48 BRIERE Danny
31:07 2:0 CAN EQ 7 MORRISON Brendan 22 COOKE Matt
Penalties/Pénalités:
24:09 26:09 SUI 2min 16 AMBUHL Andres Cross-checking
25:44 27:44 CAN 2min 19 MORROW Brenden Highsticking
31:56 33:56 SUI 2min 30 JENNI Marcel Hooking
35:58 37:58 SUI 2min 21 FISCHER Patrick Tripping
|
Third Period/Troisième période |
Scoring/Buts:
43:19 3:0 CAN PP1 15 HEATLEY Dany 53 MORRIS Derek
48 BRIERE Danny
53:17 3:1 SUI EQ 30 JENNI Marcel 57 BEZINA Goran
38 ZIEGLER Thomas
Penalties/Pénalités:
41:16 43:16 SUI 2min 38 ZIEGLER Thomas Highsticking
41:33 43:19 SUI 2min 3 VAUCLAIR Julien Checking to the head
43:19 53:19 SUI 10min 3 VAUCLAIR Julien Misconduct
45:12 47:12 SUI 2min 35 JEANNIN Sandy Tripping
46:44 48:44 CAN 2min 19 MORROW Brenden Hooking
47:39 49:39 SUI 2min 30 JENNI Marcel Highsticking
|
Goaltenders |
CAN |
1 LUONGO Roberto |
Gardiennes de but |
SUI |
26 GERBER Martin |
|
Shots on Goal |
Team |
1 p
|
2 p
|
3 p
|
Final
|
Shots on Goal |
CAN |
6
|
18
|
10
|
34
|
Tirs au but |
SUI |
12
|
3
|
6
|
22
|
|
Referee/Arbitre |
LARKING Christer |
Linesmen/Juges des lignes |
LESNJAK Ales, POUZAR Roman |
|
Attendance/Assistance |
14 892 |
|