LAKE PLACID, N.Y. -- Sweden coach Roger Ronnberg isn't ready to completely forget about the 2012 World Junior Championship, but he said the time to celebrate that gold medal is long past.
"It's a new journey," he told NHL.com. "We have started a new journey. This is a new team. We are chasing another gold. We have to take confidence from last year, but we also have to understand how much hard work was behind the gold."
That hard work has started, including an 8-2 win against Finland on Tuesday here at Herb Brooks Arena. William Karlsson, one of six players at this week's Junior Evaluation Camp who was a part of last year's gold-medal win, had a hat trick in the victory.
Ronnberg could have brought more players from last year's team, but said he's using the mix of returnees and new players as a test to see who still can perform at the high level set last year.
"We want to see how we play together as a team," he said. "We want to set the standard or norm for this team starting with the hard work and then with the way we should play our tactics. And then we want to see all the players individually, how they play, and see if we can find any new players for [2013] World Juniors."
Rather than impress on his players that last year's gold medal doesn't necessarily earn them a spot on the team that will go to Russia as defending champions, Ronnberg said he'd have no problem taking all of those players with him.
"I don't work that way," he said. "I want to work close to my player. I want them to play good. I'm working with another perspective, I want them to make the team, I want them to be a big part of the team. I want the guys coming back to have a huge impact on my team."
Contact Adam Kimelman at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @NHLAdamK
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