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PARDUBICE, Czech Republic — To seize its fourth consecutive gold medal at the world junior hockey championship, Canada will have to win three games in four nights — a feat it accomplished only once previously, in 1997.
Sweden spoiled any chance Canada had of finishing first in their grouping when the Swedes handled the host Czech Republic 4-2 before the Canada-Denmark game. The win pushed Sweden to a perfect 4-0 record, one victory more than the Canadians, who were upended by Sweden 4-3 on Saturday.
If there is a silver lining for Canada, it's that tournament organizers altered the schedule this year. The semi-finals and final will be played on Friday and Saturday and there is not a day in between the two critical games like in the past eight tournaments.
Why is this better for Canada? Well, if Canada gets by Finland in its quarter-final match tomorrow, Canada doesn't have to come back the next night and perform against a well-rested United States in the semi-finals.
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Instead, there will be a day off to prepare for the United States and then both semi-final winners from Friday will be in the same boat of having to bounce back to play for gold the next evening. If the Canadians, however, were to beat Finland and the United States in the late semi-final, they would have to compete in the championship game that would start less than 21 hours after their game concluded.
