Tuesday, December 28, 2010

U.S. World Juniors to Play Slovakia Tonight

U.S. World Juniors to Play Slovakia Tonight

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The matchup between Team USA and Slovakia tonight at the IIHF World Junior Championship is the second game for both teams. The important distinction is that the Americans have enjoyed a full day of rest while Slovakia is taking the ice less than 24 hours after its opening victory over Germany.

“We’re going to try to make them work as hard as they can tonight,” said U.S. head coach Keith Allain after Tuesday’s morning skate. “We’re aware that they played back to back and hopefully if we’re smart we’ll take advantage.”

If Slovakia has tired legs after an overtime game against the Germans it will benefit the U.S. in slowing down what Allain called a team with great speed.

“They have a tremendous amount of one-on-one skill and they try to take advantage of that,” he said.

Some U.S. players took in the Slovakia game on Monday night including forward Emerson Etem, who echoed his coach’s assessment.

“They present a lot of speed. It’s important to get pucks behind their (defensemen) and forecheck them,” Etem said.

Etem added praise for Slovakian goaltender Dominik Riecicky, saying “he stood on his head.” Team USA has recent experience with a star Slovakian netminder. The U.S. ran into Slovakian goaltender Jaroslav Janus in the quarterfinals of the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship and lost 5-3.

Allain said his squad will not only face a “solid” goaltender, but a strong neutral zone defense that will look to stop a fast U.S. attack.

Team USA also has to contend with a short bench with Jeremy Morin and Brock Nelson not playing against Slovakia. Allain said he wasn’t concerned about the affects of missing two players.

“We’re a hockey team. This sort of thing happens all the time,” Allain said. “Guys understand that during the tournament that guys are going to get banged up and other guys will have an opportunity to play.”