Team Canada got a clear message from Jon Cooper after practice
Team Canada is gearing up to have a healthy roster as head coach Jon Cooper announced that several players are good to go -- including one surprising name.
As the Canadian men's hockey team looks to continue their quest for gold, they are going to need to wait until they find out who they face in the quarterfinals be in Denmark or Czechia though regardless -- no game should be taken for granted.
Especially since Canada is down one of their top defencemen and have been dealing with a few injuries while also getting banged up a bit during the preliminary round -- the consequence of playing as hard and aggressive as they do.
Canada dealing with injuries, but nothing concerning ahead of quarterfinals
But in order to make sure they have a smoother path to the finals, they need the healthiest roster possible, and ahead of their quarterfinal game on Wednesday, there were a couple absences that could cause concern.
Nathan MacKinnon and Sam Bennett missed practice, though head coach Jon Cooper was quick to shut down any potential issues as he mentioned it was simply a maintenance day and there's no fear:
Maintenance days. They're all good. No panic.
Meanwhile, Cooper also mentioned that Morrissey looked good in practice though his return is still highly questionable meanwhile Brad Marchand is available to play and has been likely penciled in for Wednesday:
Looked good [in practice] but not sure [on status] - Morrissey
Marchand has been reportedly dealing with an injury that's been nagging him so Cooper decided to give him a few days rest and get him back in shape for the games that truly matter.
Canada healing their reinforcements on path to Olympic gold
The big potential return here is Morrissey, who left the first game against Czechia and was expected to potentially miss the remainder of the tournament.
It seems like he may have avoided the worst, and Canada getting one of their powerhouse offensive defenceman back is a massive boost towards their gold medal hopes.
Czechia is no team to ignore either and while they aren't necessarily a powerhouse on the ice, they still have some great talent like Martin Necas and David Pastrnak so you can never count them out, meanwhile Denmark could play spoiler and if Nikolaj Ehlers gets hot -- watch out.
We will likely get a new update from Cooper on Wednesday ahead of the game and when there's a much clearer idea of a lineup at least then we'll all know just how easy or difficult things will be for the Canadians on their path to gold.
Also read on Hockey Patrol :
Brad Marchand sat out two Team Canada games, and we now know why
Brad Marchand sat out two Team Canada games, and we now know why
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 17|1016 ANSWERS Team Canada got a clear message from Jon Cooper after practice Do you think Team Canada is the favourites to win gold? | ||
| Yes | 871 | 85.7 % |
| No | 145 | 14.3 % |
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