TORONTO — This World Cup of Hockey isn’t technically a best-on-best tournament because, if it were, then Johnny Gaudreau and Brandon Saad would surely be skating for the Red, White and Blue of Team USA rather than for the Black and Red of the Team North America Under-24’s.
But essentially every one of the best (and healthy) hockey players in the world is competing in this spotlight eight-team event — well, not the uninvited Phil Kessel, Taylor Hall or P.K. Subban — that opens Saturday afternoon with the Yanks going against Team Europe before Canada faces off against the Czech Republic that night.
No, this is not the Olympics, but this will be a high-stakes, high-caliber tournament that leaves no room for an easing-in period during the preliminary round. The U.S., Canada, Czech and Europe (an amalgamation of players from European countries excluding Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic) are in Group A. Sweden, Russia, North America and Finland make up Group B.
The top two finishers from each group advance to the semifinals on Sept. 24 and 25, with the winners meeting in a best-of-three final commencing Sept. 27. So there will be no time to waste.
Twenty years ago, Team USA won what is now a famous victory over Canada in the final (“Save by Richter!”) for the World Cup championship that stands as the only best-on-best title in U.S.A. hockey history, the Americans coming up with silver medals to Canada’s gold in both the 2002 and 2010 Olympic Games.
Then, Team USA was a powerhouse. Now, not so much. Indeed, the Yanks are a significant underdog in this tournament that surely will be a showcase for the best hockey anyone sees until the NHL’s playoffs commence next April.
The favorite
Oh, Canada is stacked, all right, a prohibitive favorite so strong that John Tavares, the marquee, linchpin Islanders’ center will play a support role on left wing for this team that features Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, Drew Doughty, Steven Stamkos, Shea Weber and a cast of thousands. Carey Price, the 2014 Sochi gold medalist who hasn’t played in a meaningful game since last Thanksgiving Eve when he sustained a season-ending knee injury against the Rangers at the Garden, is his country’s unquestioned No. 1 in nets.
“It’s trial by fire, right into the boiling pot, so to speak,” Price, who was in nets for two pre-tournament games, said Thursday. “It’s still going to be a progression, but I wouldn’t want to have it any other way.”
Canada, of course, is expected to win every elite level international event, and certainly so a tournament on its home soil. If that represents a burden, coach Mike Babcock says to bring it on.
“Pressure is a privilege,” Babcock said. “If you don’t have any pressure, it means you have no chance. Do you want to come to the tournament with no chance or do you want to come to the tournament with pressure?”
That, by the way, was a rhetorical question.
The contenders
Team USA has a two-time Cup winner in goal in Jonathan Quick and an attitude as the meanest guys on the block fostered by head coach John Tortorella, whose team all but bullied Team Canada in its first pre-tournament match (before Canada evened the score in Round Two). The Yanks don’t seem to be loaded with talent or speed, but there is a commitment, in the words of Ryan McDonagh, “To be the hardest team in the tournament to play against.” Note this too: Brandon Dubinsky vs. Crosby.
Sweden will rely primarily on an elite defense corps that features the resplendent Erik Karlsson, the Tampa Bay top tandem of Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman (Ouch!) and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, the goaltending of Henrik Lundqvist and the combination of talent and speed up front led by Henrik and Daniel Sedin, Nicklas Backstrom, Gabriel Landeskog and Carl Hagelin (Ditto!). The 2006 Olympic gold medalists and 2014 silver medalists are always to reckoned with.
And then there is Russia, monumental flops in each of the last two Olympic Games but loaded with firepower up front with the likes of Alexander Ovechkin, Nikita Kucherov, Evgeni Malkin, Vladimir Tarasenko, Artemi Panarin and Evgeny Kuznetsov. The defense is questionable and so is netminder Sergei Bobrovsky, who had a bad 2015-16 for Columbus but will start in goal for Game 1.
The buzz team
North America, loaded with speed and skill, has created the biggest pre-tournament buzz with a run-and-gun approach that’s been dizzying. There may never be another amalgamation like this one featuring Connor McDavid, Austin Matthews, Jack Eichel, Nathan MacKinnon, Aaron Ekblad, Jonathan Drouin, Gaudreau and Saad.
The pretenders
Finland, always tough in international competition boasts No. 2 overall draft pick Patrik Laine, the goaltending tandem of Pekka Rinne and Tuukka Rask and a very young defense. Team Europe has top-end talent in Anze Kopitar, Marian Gaborik, Marian Hossa, Leon Draisaitl and Mats Zuccarello up front and Roman Josi and Zdeno Chara on the back and the Islander netminding tandem of Jaro Halak and Thomas Greiss.
Outlook
Semifinals: Canada over Sweden; USA over Russia.
Final: Canada over USA.