Qualifying Round
May 3, 2004
Prague, CZE

By Alan Adams

PRAGUE – It was a piece of “humble pie” that could serve Canada well here at the World Hockey Championship.

Canada lost 6-2 to the Czech Republic Monday night in a hard-hitting contest. The Canadians did not do a good job at controlling their emotions and that lack of discipline ended up costing them in the end.

“The bottom line is today we leave the rink with some humble pie, no doubt about it,” said coach Mike Babcock. “But if we do not have the emotions under control now, we know what happens. We had a real good message and we can’t play like that.”

Despite the fact the Czechs outplayed Canada all night, Babcock’s glass wasn’t half empty. He says a lesson was learned and now it’s time to apply that knowledge when the medal round starts on Wednesday.

“This is a step and we’ll learn from it,” he said.
The 18,000 fans at the Sazka Arena were pumped for the game. They started singing way before the two teams took the ice and the din reminded people of the deafening roar usually reserved for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final. It was so loud that Canadian head Babcock had to tap his players on the shoulders to get their attention.

The Czechs had the game well in hand when tempers and frustrations surfaced late in the second period. The period ended with an all-out melee featuring Jaromir Jagr and Dany Heatley, and 14 minutes in minor penalties were called.

After the game, Czech coach Slava Lener was critical of the referees and thought the Canadians should have been penalized for roughing up Jagr, which sparked the scrum on the ice at the end of the second period.
Babcock reminded Lener that a) the referee saw the two alleged infractions he referred to and did not call a penalty on either one, and b) the Czechs were as much as part of it as the Canadians were.

But the Canadians admitted they have to keep their emotions in check.
“We did not control our emotions at all,” said Brendan Morrison. “We played with emotion but it wasn’t under control.”

The Czechs are first and Canada is second in E Group. Latvia finished third and will move on, while Germany is fourth with three points and Switzerland follows with a pair of points. Germany plays Switzerland on Tuesday with the winner advancing to the medal round.

In the pool being played in Ostrava, Slovakia clinched top spot thanks to a 0-0 draw with Sweden and won on goal differential. Sweden finished second. Finland was third and the United States fourth.

When the medal round begins Wednesday, it’s the Czechs vs. the United States and Sweden vs. Latvia. On Thursday, Slovakia plays the winner of Germany-Switzerland and Canada plays Finland.