Jason La Rose
Canada’s National Men’s Team gets into the back half of the preliminary round Thursday at the 2024 IIHF World Championship, taking on Norway as it looks to remain unbeaten in Group A.
Last Game
Canada survived a scare against Austria on Tuesday; after taking a 6-1 lead into the third period, the Canadians allowed five goals in less than 16 minutes before John Tavares rescued a 7-6 overtime win. Tavares, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Kaiden Guhle paced the offence with a goal and an assist each.
The Norwegians found the win column Tuesday after three-straight losses to open the tournament, getting goals from Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Eirik Salsten, and 24 saves from Henrik Haukeland in a 2-0 win over Denmark that kept their quarterfinal hopes alive.
Last Meeting
Canada made the wrong kind of history last year in Riga, dropping a 3-2 shootout decision for just its second loss in 25 all-time meetings with the Norwegians. Milan Lucic and Lawson Crouse provided the goals as Canada erased a 2-0 deficit to force extra time.
What to Watch
Guhle came into his own as a full-time NHLer this season, appearing in 70 games with the Montreal Canadiens, and has carried that play into the first three games in Prague. The Sherwood Park, Alberta, native co-leads Canadian blue-liners (alongside another Edmonton-area product, Olen Zellweger) with four points, and was in on the first two goals against the Austrians. The 22-year-old last wore the Maple Leaf at the cancelled 2022 World Juniors in Edmonton (where he was captain), a year after earning silver in the bubble in the Alberta capital.
The Norwegian roster is spread across Europe and North America, with representation from 17 club teams in seven leagues in six countries. But only one of the 25 players calls the National Hockey League home; Mats Zuccarello is a veteran of 835 NHL games with the New York Rangers, Dallas and Minnesota, posting 63 points (12-51—63) in 69 games with the Wild this season, his 14th. He’s also a national team veteran, representing his country at the Olympics (2010, 2014), Men’s Worlds (2008, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2024), World Juniors (2006, 2007) and U18 Men’s Worlds (2004, 2005), as well as with Team Europe at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
A Look Back
The Canadians and Norwegians have been frequent foes in the 2000s, clashing 15 times since the turn of the millennium after meeting just 10 times in the 50 years before that.
Canada’s biggest win came in 1962 when the Galt Terriers handed Norway a 14-1 defeat. More recently, Tavares had a hat trick and Jordan Eberle added a goal and three assists as Canada eased to a 12-1 victory in Mannheim, Germany.
All-time record: Canada leads 23-2-0 Canada goals: 157 Norway goals: 29