USA Hockey – World Juniors

Team USA takes on Czech Republic today at 3:30 p.m. EST in a game between squads tied at three points each.  Later today, Finland, which also has three points, faces Denmark. Hockey fans will be treated to some great hockey the next two days as Team USA, Czech Republic and Finland fight to join Canada atop the group.

The U.S. would be wise to remember two things heading into this afternoon’s matchup.

1. This tournament hasn’t even started yet for all intents and purposes. Rare is the team that wins wire to wire and a single preliminary round loss does not spell doom. The key is to forget the loss to Finland and move on, which it seems the team has done. In practice yesterday and around the hotel this morning it’s been business as usual albeit with a little more intensity in the players’ faces.
2. Stay the course. A little more traffic in front of the Finland net and Team USA could have broken that game open. They held a decided shot advantage, although most of the chances came from the outside. In practice on Thursday, Blais had the guys working 5-on-0 except with sticks laid down in passing lanes across the zone, which forced players to move their feet and find open lanes through traffic. Look for someone in a U.S. jersey to park themselves in front of a very talented Czech goaltender today.

Follow the live game blog on USAHockey.com here