Olympics: French vs. Canadian approaches to managing violence, the schedule, and the Canadian team

Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Olympics: French vs. Canadian approaches to managing violence, the schedule, and the Canadian team
Credit: Xavier Laine/Getty Images

And then? What do you think of the men's hockey tournament at the Olympics so far?

As you know, Canada has won all three of its games since the start of the tournament. It is at the top of the overall standings ahead of the medal round.

This means that Canada will have home ice advantage until the end.

Yesterday, Canada crushed France. But what caught everyone's attention was the unexpected fight between Tom Wilson and Pierre Crinon, who had aimed for Nathan MacKinnon's head just before… and has a history of questionable hits.

It was a dirty hit. And the Avalanche player didn't exactly appreciate the Frenchman's apology.

Obviously, fighting is prohibited at the Olympics. Despite this, neither player will be suspended. This suits the Canadiens just fine, who were pleased to see Wilson come to MacKinnon's defense.

On the sidelines of a rare Gordie Howe hat trick at the Olympics, Wilson saw his teammates publicly defend him one year to the day after the famous fights at the Four Nations Tournament.

And what about the French? The federation has summoned Crinon to shed light on everything that happened.

It is understood that the Canadians will not do the same with Wilson since he did not deliver a dirty hit. But still, it is clear that violence is treated differently by the two nations.

That's why he's there.

Now, the question is whether Jon Cooper will want to recreate the trio of Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, and Macklin Celebrini, or if he'd rather keep Wilson with a star player.

The Olympic schedule

As you probably know, there will be no men's hockey today. Canada and Switzerland will face off in women's hockey at 3 p.m. this afternoon in the Olympic semifinals. The winning nation will face either the United States or Sweden.

And in men's hockey?

Tomorrow, the quarterfinal qualifying games will take place. Four teams (the ones that lose) will head home and finish between 9th and 12th place.

Canada will be watching the Czech Republic vs. Denmark game (at 10:40 a.m.) as the winner of that game will face the Canadians on Wednesday at 10:40 a.m.

Wednesday will be semifinal day. Friday will feature the semifinal games… and the bronze medal game and grand final will take place over the weekend (Saturday and Sunday).

The best is yet to come. And for Canada, that means Brad Marchand will be playing in Wednesday's game.

The CH players

Of the four Montreal Canadiens players competing in the Olympics, three of them are not really standing out from the crowd.
Nick Suzuki has one goal in three games. Alexandre Texier has no points in his three games, and he is the only NHL player representing France. And Oliver Kapanen, in one game, hasn't really had a chance to play. But what about Juraj Slafkovsky?

As you know, with six points in three games (only Connor McDavid has done better so far in the tournament), the Slovakian from the Flanelle is breaking records and getting everyone talking. And as Elliotte Friedman said, that makes Canadiens fans very happy.

Since the start of the Olympic tournament, Slaf has been praised from all sides. And it's well deserved, as he helped his club qualify directly for the quarterfinals.

The confidence the young man has gained in recent months in Montreal and Italy is very, very important for the rest of his career.


In a nutshell

– Wow.

Jacob Fowler is happy to have been invited to the AHL All-Star Game. [THN]

– And rightly so.

facebook icon Share twitter icon Tweet linkedin icon Share
Copied!