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It was a pleasure serving as the manager for Team Canada this season. I would like to share with you my thoughts on this season.


SEASON 9

In my candidancy presentation I outlined how I would construct this team. I would take the learning experiences I had from running the team in season 7 and try and improve a team that was already very well put together. I set out to find the best seven at each postion and get them the chemistry needed to compete in the World Championships. There were not many changes to this group but three new additions did play in the World's. This made up 35 of the 50 man roster. The team had 5 goalies, one #1, two backups, and two very good prospects. The other 10 spots were left open for exceptional prospects. I think we had about ten new faces on the squad this season. We finished the season with 49 players on the team, I will guess that 45 of those players will find themselves on a World Championship roster at one point in their careers. I also focussed on getting different manager involved with the team, I used a number of assistants throughout the year and they were responsible for the preparation of our friendlies. The friendly season went well, we won our fair share of games, and built chemistry for all of the top players. We went into the World Champioships's with 95% plus chemistry for 25 players, and 80% plus for the other three. deadrick was the assistant for the WC's and selected the style of play for each game. He did great for us, he hit tactics twice, missed once, and drew 3 times. I did this because I felt that opposing managers would be studying my tendancies, plus my track record with tactics in the season 7 tournament was not so good. Thank you deadrick, great job.

THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

I'll go through my approach for each game:

THE PRELIMINARY ROUND

Team Canada would face Season 8 silver medalist Belarus, the powerhouse Slovaks, and Belgium. With the help of deadrick and canucks357, I made up 5 lines of players that would each play in two of the first 3 games. This was done to help conserve energy early in hopes that it would pay dividends in the later stages of the tournament. Lines 1 and 2 were made up of our best, most experienced players. Lines 3,4,and 5 were balanced out to be about equal in terms of skill.

Game 1 vs. Belarus
In my opinion, this was the most important game to win. We were the 2nd seed in our group, Belarus was the 3rd. If it went as planned, both of our teams should advance to round 2. Winning this game would likely bring us 3 points into round 2. I went with lines 2,3 and 5 and started the game with 'High' importance. Belarus, also realizing the importance of this game, countered with a full out 'Very High'. The game sheet was even but the score was not. A 4-1 loss, and we were behind the eight ball after one game. My big regret, not playing both top lines in this game.

Game 2 vs. Belgium
A must win after the first game loss. Belgium is team we should beat, but at the same time could not be taken lightly. 'High Importance' again, they did the same. They got us on tactics and outshot us badly. Tierney stood tall and we escape with a 2-1 victory. Tierney was named player of the day in a Finnish PPM magazine article.

Game 3 vs. Slovakia
A trip to the Qualifying Round was likely, but not secured. I'm faced with a dilema. Go all out for the win, or save energy for the next round. I choose option 2. If we play 'Very High', there is still a good chance that the Slovak team will win. I would rather take the loss without expending any extra energy. Lines 1,2,4,and 5 play today and Tierney gets a rest. We get them on tactics but still lose 5-1. Things work out in the other game, Belarus and Belgium go to overtime and we finish in 3rd place. Had Belgium won in regulation, we would be in the relegation round. Team Belgium manager Brotherke23 sends me a friendly PM telling me how lucky we were today. I know. My small regret, not playing Tierney. I wanted to get our other two goalies into half a game each, but the negative 4 goal differential was costly.

THE QUALIFYING ROUND

Team Canada would face Hungary, Czech Republic, and Slovenia. We started this round in last place with an 0-0-0-2 record. It would be an uphill climb to the playoffs. We would need points in all three games to get to there.

Game 4 vs. Hungary
The first of three must win games. The lines got reworked for this game. I built 3 equally good lines made up of our best players. A 4th line is made to play in the first period only. Canada jumped out to a 2-0 lead after one, this triggers a reduction in game importance down to 'Normal'. After two, the game was back to even. Back to 'Very High' for the third period, the powerplay connected for Canada midway and Tierney withstood a barrage. But with their goalie pulled, Hungary got the equalizer past Canada's best player. A 4-3 shootout loss was the final result. Canada's playoff hopes were all but dead.

Game 5 vs. Czech Republic
Needing a regulation time win against the #3 team in the world meant it's 'Very High' for all 3 periods. deadrick picks 'Offensive' for style of play. My first thought is that 'Offensive' is probably not the best choice against such a strong team. Then on second thought, this is a tactic I wouldn't choose and it's not a tactic they could possibly expect. It's perfect! The power play connects 3 times and d-man Ian Gautier nets 4 playing on a line with a lowly 83 shooting strength. Canada wins 6-4 against the pre-tournament favourite. It defied logic and all of sudden, the Czech's playoff hopes were in jeopardy and Canada had a chance.

Game 6 vs. Slovenia
Based on the success from the previous game, the lines stayed almost the same. In our most important game of the tournament, deadrick nailed the tactics. Canada played it's most dominant game of the tournament. Shots were 38-17, offensive zone time at 62%. The result, a 3-1 victory. In true Canadian fashion, our boys showed strong when it was needed most. To make the playoffs we still had to get help from other teams and, unfortunately, that didn't happen. The Czech's won against Slovakia, and Belarus didn't lose their game by enough goals.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Starting the tournament, making it to the playoff round was our hope. Coming up one goal short was disappointing, but we finished the tournament well. A 2-0-1-2 record is usually good enough to advance, but in our case it wasn't. This was an exciting tournament. It was full of upsets, twists and turns, and we had to change things up as it unfolded. Once again, Canada will remain in the Top Division and will stay ranked in the Top 10. This is quite an accomplishment, given that we rank 26th in terms of total managers in PPM with 5,934. We have wins against the Czechs (73,779 managers) and the Slovaks (69,583 managers) at the World Championships in recent years. For a country that often gets predicted to drop from Top Division, we always find a way to make a statement at the World's. This season was no exception. Thanks for the opportunity.

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