Canada’s shenanigans against France a lesson to be disciplined
The end of the Canada–France men’s hockey game looked nothing like the Olympic competition we’ve seen so far, as Canada’s Tom Wilson and France’s Pierre Crinon dropped the gloves in an honest-to-goodness fight, which led to both players being ejected.
Canada’s Tom Wilson, France’s Pierre Crinon get into fight in Olympic game dailyfaceoff.com/news/team-cana…
On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discuss the physicality seen at the end of the Canada-France game and if it’s a preview of what’s to come, or if it was a learning lesson for the Canadians.
Tyler Yaremchuk: I think it could go one of two ways … Jeff Marek brought up the point, and I agreed with him, that this could have been a chance for Jon Cooper to (say): “Alright, you guys got it out of your system, it’s done, we’re in the medal round, so no more screwing around.” Can it be a positive lesson for this Canadian team? Now everyone knows they’ll stick up for each other, but when the games matter a little more, you can’t be running around like that.
There is a chance it could go the other way: Is Tom Wilson going to sit there and think, “Well I kind of got away with it,” and I’m not saying he’ll just go out there and fight, but will he sit there and if Canada is up 5-0 on someone in the quarterfinals, will he start running around?
Carter Hutton: I think that’s where the maturity in leadership of this group is. You look at the rings and championships in this room, I think staying in the moment and being present is priority No. 1 with this team. But also, knowing when you need to step on the gas.
If we do get that Canada-U.S. final and they do play a heavy game and the Tkachuks run around, Tom Wilson knows the leash is off and let’s go set the tone and match them shot for shot. But the game is going to be won by who can score goals.
Canada needs to flex a little bit: they won’t be pushed around.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…