Canada opened the Milan–Cortina tournament looking every bit like a title contender, racing out of the gate with convincing wins over Czechia and Switzerland to top its preliminary pool. One more group match — against France at 10:40 a.m. ET — wraps up the round robin, but the picture so far is already clear: a deep forward group, steady goaltending and a coaching staff willing to tinker as it balances winning now with building long-term chemistry.
Why the start feels different
– Balance over heroics. Canada’s offense hasn’t relied on a single superstar. Scoring has been spread around — eight different goal scorers in the first two games — and the team has outscored its opening opponents 10-1. That kind of distribution makes life harder for opponents trying to shut one line down.
– Special teams matter. The power play and penalty kill have been key, converting chances and neutralizing threats at important moments. Those units have helped swing momentum and sustain pressure in the offensive zone.
– Goaltending steadies the ship. Netminders have posted save percentages above the tournament average in the first outings, allowing the coaching staff to be more adventurous up front.
How the staff are making it work
Coaches have used the prelims like a lab: rotating top forwards, testing combinations in low-pressure windows, then expanding what works. Early deployment leaned on veteran minutes in late-game defensive situations while younger players received more experimental shifts in the middle periods. Video review and analytics have driven adjustments — from how the team attacks the zone to which players get extra power-play reps — and the staff have been quick to tweak pairings based on matchups.
A bold experiment: Celebrini with McDavid
One of the tournament’s more intriguing moves has been the intermittent pairing of Macklin Celebrini with Connor McDavid. The idea — first trialed in practice and then rolled out in controlled game stretches — was to fast-track on-ice chemistry and exploit Celebrini’s poise and decision-making in transition. Early returns have been promising enough for the staff to reallocate some power-play minutes (with Mitch Marner sliding into a secondary role), while still protecting
The roster and its pillars
– Leadership and star power: Sidney Crosby remains the steadying presence in tight spaces, while Connor McDavid drives transition play and Nathan MacKinnon brings relentless, direct offense. Together they form a difficult trio for any opponent to plan around.
– Emerging talent: Celebrini has been eased into meaningful minutes and is already adding unpredictable speed and playmaking. Depth forwards and mobile defensemen have chipped in with secondary scoring and created extra layers to the attack.
– Goaltending: Strong performances between the pipes have reduced the need for defensive overcommitment, giving the team room to experiment without sacrificing results.
Tactical strengths and lingering questions
Canada’s strengths are clear: transition speed, high-danger chances and the ability to spread scoring responsibility. But there are vulnerabilities opponents can target. Heavy, physical teams that clog the neutral zone or force repeated board battles could blunt that speed. Coaching notes and practice plans indicate the staff is aware — they’ve been rehearsing contingency sets for low-event, defensive games and stressing quicker defensive reads and neutral-zone transitions.
The Fiala collision and its fallout
A violent board collision late in one match left Swiss forward Kevin Fiala stretchered off the ice and prompted an immediate reassessment of certain matchups. Medical staff treated and removed him after play was halted, and Canada’s coaches used the interruption to trial alternate forward combinations and defensive matchups. The incident underscored the tournament’s physical edge and reinforced why minute management and depth matter so much moving forward.
Seeding, strategy and what’s next
Clinching first in the group improves Canada’s seeding outlook and could spare the team from the very toughest early knockout opponents — a big advantage in a single-elimination setting. Whether by design or necessity, the staff plans to use the final group game against France as a tune-up: solidifying line combos, resting key players where possible, and rehearsing situational plays. Analytics teams are already modeling reseeding scenarios and likely opponents, and selection decisions over the next few days will hinge on a mix of measurable chemistry gains, recovery data and medical updates. The coaching staff is balancing experimentation — like the McDavid–Celebrini looks — with the practical need to preserve energy and shore up weaknesses in board play and special teams. If the roster converts depth into consistent execution, Canada will head into elimination hockey with several tactical options. If not, single-elimination volatility could quickly make the margin for error vanishingly small. Either way, the next few games will tell whether the team’s promising start translates into the kind of sustained performance that wins tournaments.