Canada out for redemption at World Juniors

ST. CATHERINES, Ontario -- The way Canada lost 5-4 in a shootout to the United States in the gold medal game at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship did not sit well with defenseman Jake Bean.
"It was a while, a few months for sure," said Bean, who was selected by the Carolina Hurricanes with the No. 13 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft. "You kind of always wonder."

How can you blame Bean, one of seven players along with defensemen Kale Clague and Dante Fabbro; forwards Michael McLeod, Dillon Dube and Taylor Raddysh; and goaltender Carter Hart, returning for a shot at redemption with Canada?
Twice Canada surrendered two-goal leads to the United States, the second one given up with less than 16 minutes left in the third period. They lost when U.S. forward Troy Terry was the only player to score in the five-round shootout.
"I think all the returning guys and the coaching staff, it's been a bad taste in our mouth since that day," said Clague, a second-round pick (No. 51) of the Los Angeles Kings in 2016. "Obviously going home with silver isn't the Canadian way and we want to make sure we get that right this year."

That defeat came in a shootout made it harder to accept.
"You can flip a coin in that case," Clague said. "There's so many skilled players on each team, anyone could have scored. It was tough to see it end like that, such a good hockey game, but I think we're just going to use that as motivation this year."
When Canada begins the 2018 tournament against Finland on Tuesday (4 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN, RDS), the returning players will have the disappointment of a year ago fresh in their minds.
"It's a little bit of unfinished business for the returning guys after experiencing that," Clague said. "I think it's definitely a little bit more drive and motivation. Obviously, it's there already but there's that extra little bit."
Three players (forwards Maxime Comtois, Alex Formenton and Rob Thomas) will be eligible to return in 2019, meaning it will be the final opportunity for the majority of Canada's roster to win a gold medal. Since winning gold five consecutive years from 2005-09, Canada has won it once in the past eight years, when they defeated Russia 5-4 in 2015.
Clague said the experience last year will leave the returning players more confident this time around.
"It's like anything, when you do a year of something and especially this tournament, it's top caliber, best players in the world, playing in that tournament brings returning guys a lot of experience," Clague said. "Just how to handle ourselves every day and different situations within the games, I'm just going to take what I learned last year and use it in situations in this tournament."

Canada coach Dominique Ducharme said the loss last year has not been ignored but he's making sure his players are not dwelling on it. Instead, he's been challenging them to use the disappointing experience in a positive fashion.
"The guys are all aware and the way we've handled it is just that we want to be better," Ducharme said. "We're challenging ourselves. We're not sitting here saying, 'We were one shot away in the shootout, we couldn't be any closer,' which is true but we don't want to get (to shootouts). We want to be better, we're challenging ourselves and as a coaching staff it starts with us. Our players are doing the same."
One of the biggest ways the returning players will benefit from the experience last year is how they'll handle the emotional roller coaster that can often occur within games. Bean said that not getting caught up in playing to the score and sticking to their system will give them the best chance at success.
"I mean not necessarily that the score is irrelevant but the point is not to get too high or too low," Bean said. "It's one thing to say that and preach that but to actually be a part of a game where there were so many high highs and low lows, it's definitely good to have been a part of that. The lessons you learn throughout the whole thing are emotional control. Things evolve in the tournament, guys get hurt, guys aren't feeling it, guys are sick. You kind of just have to roll with it."