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Being named the captain of any team is always a big honour. But with honour comes responsibility. That is especially so when you´re the captain of a Canadian team that has won six Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cups in a row. With two wins in two games, Travis Konecny´s team has already clinched first place in the Piestany Group, and has its eyes on a seventh.
Canada won its first game on Monday, 5-1 over Switzerland. The next game on Tuesday against Sweden was expected to be a tougher test and it was. Scoreless after one period, captain Travis Konecny opened the scoring on the power play in the second, and the team came on after that, winning by an identical 5-1 score. After the result of Tuesday´s later game, Canada clinched first place in the Piestany Group, and will host a semifinal game in Piestany on Friday.
Travis, you won that game 5-1, but was it really as easy as that score sounds?
No. It might have looked that way on the scoreboard, but Sweden´s a tough team to play against. It was a really good game for us, though. To compete at that level against a team like that was good, and puts us where we want to be at this point.
The score was the same as the first game against Switzerland, but this one seemed a lot more physical.
Yeah, it was, and that´s the way we like to play. We believe that´s the way Canada should play - be physical out there and get under guys´ skin so we can makes room for ourselves on the ice.
Of course, there can be a fine line between being physical and taking penalties. There were a lot of penalties in the first period. You guys had to kill a lot of them and weren´t getting many offensive chances. Was that frustrating?
Yeah, it can get frustrating at times. But, you know, it was still 0-0 after one period so we knew it was still anybody´s game and we´ve got a good team, so if we played our game out there we could win it. It´s just about finding that line sometimes between playing physical and staying disciplined, and we did a good job of that over the last two periods.
It was your line that got the first goal on the power play. How is it on a team like this getting used to new linemates quickly?
Yeah, that´s the way it is in tournaments like this, but it´s been great playing with (Jansen) Harkins and (Mathew) Barzal. We´ve developed a lot of chemistry together in a short time and, of course it was good to get that goal - it was a big one.
Of course, as captain, you have to think about more than just your line. Going back a while, what was the feeling when you were named captain of this team?
Of course it´s an honour to be captain of any team, and on a team like this where we´ve got a lot of leaders in the room. It was a thrill to be named captain and I´m going to wear in proudly and do the best I can to lead this team.
Does it affect the way you do anything out there? The way you talk to the team?
No, not really. I always try to be a leader, whether I´m wearing a letter or not. But more importantly I try to be a leader on the ice and try to lead by example.
Well, good luck the rest of the way.
Thank you.