Canada's 'Captain Serious' hungry for World Cup glory
Canucks top Group A, remain team to beat at tournament
The Canadians were in full lockdown mode. They enjoyed a two-goal lead midway through the third period and Team Europe had not mounted much of an attack.
But with defenceman Alex Pietrangelo in the penalty box for crosschecking, Canada didn't want to give Team Europe life with its first power play of the game.
The Pietrangelo penalty entered its final 60 seconds when Canadian centre Jonathan Toews hopped over the boards and efficiently harassed the Europeans as they tried to move the puck up the ice.
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Then the whistle went. Offside. Toews had done his part on another shift.
Captain Serious, as he is known in his day job with the Chicago Blackhawks, already had scored twice and would later set up his linemate Logan Couture for the game's final goal in Canada's 4-1 win.
Canada improved to 3-0 and will meet either Russia or North American in the semifinals on Saturday evening. If Russia defeats Finland on Thursday, Russia will be the opponent. If not, it's Connor McDavid and the young guns.
Toews an all-arounder
Either way, expect the 28-year-old Toews to continue to play his part as well as Bryan Cranston portrayed Walter White in Breaking Bad.
Toews may not have Sidney Crosby's speed or Steven Stamkos's shot or Joe Thornton's size, but the 6-foot-2, 200-pound forward from Winnipeg may be the world's best all-around player.
Team Europe forward Marian Hossa feels this way, and he's played with a long list of stars in his 18-season NHL career, including Daniel Alfredsson, Ilya Kovalchuk, Sidney Crosby, Evgeny Malkin, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Patrick Kane.
"His leadership, obviously, on and off the ice," said Hossa, when asked what attributes make Toews so good. "He's one of the best all-around players I've played with and he continues to prove it. He can play in any situation.
"He's so good. He always brings his best, his character and everybody follows him."
Crosby also was queried as to Toews importance on Canada.
"[Toews has] won three Stanley Cups, gold medals," Crosby said. "He knows what it takes to win, and he shows up every night. I think that's the case for a lot of guys. But he has that ability and that knack to step up in big games, and he's been able to do that for a long time."
Canada the team to beat
Through three games, as expected, Canada has exhibited it is the team to beat. Toews and his teammates have outscored the opposition 14-3 in the three wins. They also have won 13 in a row in best-on-best Olympic and World Cup of Hockey competition, a streak that dates back to a 5-3 loss to the United States in the final game of the group stage of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
"It's going to take something magical for anybody to take [Canada] out of the tournament," said Team Europe coach Ralph Krueger, whose team will play Sweden in the other semifinal on Sunday afternoon. "I know [Canada] very well and have a lot of respect for what's being done off and on the ice with the group.
"It's a challenge for every country right now. It's a compliment to Canada, it's a compliment to what's going on here. But, again, the tournament is still coming down to one-game semifinals and best-of-three finals, so the four teams that are in it have a chance to win it.
"The favourite remains Canada, and there's nothing else to say. They're just -- they've proved and earned the respect that they have right now from everybody else."
Getting his hands on the World Cup of Hockey trophy for the first time is about the only championship trophy Toews has not won.
He's only 28 and he already has won three Stanley Cups, two Olympic gold medals, the 2007 IIHF World Championship and back-to-back world junior titles in 2006 and 2007.
Toews is five-for-six in a Canadian sweater. His only sad ending was at the 2008 world championship in Quebec City, when Kovalchuk scored a power-play goal for Russia in overtime to beat Canada 5-4.
If Hockey Hall of Famer Scott Niedermayer is the most decorated player in the past 25 years with four Stanley Cups, two Olympic golds, a World Cup of Hockey win, a world championship, a world junior title and a Memorial Cup, Toews is closing the gap.