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After losing to Russia 4-3 in a shootout to open the tournament, Canada rebounded with a convincing 5-1 win over Finland to put themselves into the driver´s seat as far as qualifying for the semi-finals - they need only a point against winless Slovakia to advance. After the game, forwards Joe Veleno and Nolan Foote shared their thoughts.
Joe Veleno is the captain of Team Canada and the only returning member of last year’s team, which finished a disappointing 5th place after the Canadians had won the tournament eight years in a row. However, he sees that experience as a positive from which the team can benefit this year.
“You build and learn from previous experience, and I mentioned to the guys that the margin for error is so small,” the Saint John Sea Dogs centre explained. “Every minute and every second of this tournament is so important, so you can’t take any time off.”
In the game, in which Canada scored three power-play goals, Veleno assisted on two of them.
Nolan Foote scored Canada’s third goal of the game - one of three power-play goals the team scored. He is the only player on the team that is not eligible for the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, as his birthday was too late in the year 2000. Of course, Nolan’s father is Stanley Cup and Olympic champion Adam Foote, who is in attendance at this Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup. A forward, Nolan plays for the same WHL team - the Kelowna Rockets - as his older brother, defenceman Callan Foote.
“To play in Kelowna with him is fun - it’s fun to be around him and fun to be on the ice with him,” he said about his brother. About his father watching in Bratislava, he says it’s “a little bit of pressure because you want to do good, but it’s been good to have him around.”
