Hockey fans in London got a chance to show Hockey Canada the kind of support they have for the World Junior Hockey Championship.
A sold-out crowd at Budweiser Gardens stayed bolted to their seats as Team Canada blasted the Czech Republic 9-0 on Wednesday night.
The enthusiasm of everyone in attendance even impressed players who were more than used to it.
“We have the best fans in the CHL (in London),” said London Knights’ captain Robert Thomas. “I think they showed that today. The way they cheered for us and supported us throughout the game was awesome.”
Victor Mete spent three seasons playing in London before making the jump to the National Hockey League and the Montreal Canadiens this year. He, Thomas and Alex Formenton tried to describe what playing in London would be like to their Team Canada teammates and — after the game —Mete said the fans more than lived up to expectations.
“We told them it’s like an NHL atmosphere in here and they would say ‘no, no, it can’t be that good.’ Then you see tonight, the first goal, second goal, eighth goal, ninth goal, it was the same level of excitement.”
Team Canada scored twice in the first period, twice in the second period and then five times in the third, but Canadian head coach, Domenic Ducharme, cautioned anyone who might have taken a picture of the scoreboard on their way out of the building.
“We’re not talking much about the scoreboard,” Ducharme said firmly. “We have goals in our game that we set for ourselves in the way we do things. We challenge ourselves with that more than the scoreboard and the win at this point.”
Still, Ducharme was pleased with the result and how each of the four lines played.
“I felt that in every part of the game there was a line stepping up. Everyone chipped in offensively … it’s good to see the chemistry. We build lines and we are looking at combinations and what we think should work, might work, so to have an answer like that is positive. It’s a good start.”
Robert Thomas had a goal and two assists for Team Canada. After Formenton set up Maxime Comtois for his first of two assists in the game to open the scoring, Thomas and Taylor Raddysh combined on a give and go for the second goal of the game.
“I didn’t really see too much net from my angle but I sort of saw (Raddysh) look me in the eyes, so I knew it was coming back to me, so I just tried to tap it in.”
Thomas spent the entire game on a line with Raddysh, who plays for the Erie Otters and Boris Katchouk of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Thomas and Raddysh have been on the ice together in some heated battles but never wearing the same sweater.
“It was nice to have him on our side,” admitted Thomas. “We battled a lot in the playoffs last year, so being able to play with him was definitely nice.”
Raddysh ended the game with two goals and two assists.
Victor Mete was paired with Soo Greyhounds’ defenceman Conor Timmins for the entire game and said afterward that he is still getting used to the junior style of play all over again.
“You have a lot more time than you think. There’s a lot more skating. There are less battles and more skating. You have to be on your toes at all times.”
Canada outshot the Czech Republic 32-18. The Czechs did play without some of their top-end talent like Filip Chytil and Filip Zadina as they continue to make their final selections.
Carter Hart posted the shutout. Canada will now play a final pre-tournament game on Friday in Hamilton against Switzerland, before opening the World Junior Hockey Championship in Buffalo on Boxing Day against Finland.
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