Canada-USA rivalry on full display in gritty World Cup debut

COLUMBUS, OHIO (NEWS 1130) – They told you so.

Jonathan Toews said this World Cup would be the closest thing you can get to playoff hockey in September.

Brandon Dubinsky promised this wouldn’t be your typical exhibition game.

TJ Oshie asked us to imagine the most heated NHL rivalries—say, St. Louis vs. Chicago or Pittsburgh vs. Washington, “then multiply that by three or four or five.

“It’s going to be a good one tonight,” he vowed. “Back-to-back, it always gets a little nasty out there, but we love that in here. It’s going to be fun.”

For a pre-tournament game, the Americans’ 4-2 “meaningless” victory over Canada Friday night in Columbus was a hoot.

Anyone who thought a tune-up game between the bordering nations, peppered with club teammates on either side, would be friendly or safe or boring wasn’t listening.

Maybe because the players’ salaries are longer or our memories are shorter, many assumed this would be hockey lite.

“It was probably in the top three quickest games I’ve ever played. Maybe the top,” said US checking centre David Backes. “It seemed like pinball at times. From summer hockey where you’re not concentrating on defensive principles to getting your legs, I think I may have fallen five times in the first period just trying to reach for checks being out of position.

“Everyone was flyin’ out there.”

As he spoke, a small bloody gash on the bridge of Backes’s nose was starting to clot. Defenceman Dustin Byfuglien walked by with an ice pack strapped to his elbow.

In the visitors’ room, superstars Logan Couture, Tyler Seguin and Claude Giroux must have felt the sting of summer’s end, too. All three Canadian forwards left the ice (and returned) at various points in the most reckless and unpredictable “exhibition” game of this generation.

Ryan Kesler hammered Shea Weber into the boards from behind on a forecheck and was given five and a game.

The Kesler hit, which Toews called “borderline” after he jumped the Ducks’ agitator, led to two retaliation minors for Canada, who ended up shorthanded on a 4-on-3.

“I like to come out with a power play, not shorthanded on that baby. Usually when a guy gets run, you do, but that’s the way life is,” Team Canada coach Mike Babcock said.

This bit of nastiness arrived after Sidney Crosby crosschecked Kyle Palmieri from behind and raised the benches’ temperature.

“It was a little bit of a different game than the ones I watched last night on TV,” the US’s identity-installing coach, John Tortorella, quipped afterward. “It’s a pretty good rivalry, U.S.-Canada. It kinda just lights itself up.”

Let’s be frank. The US needed this one more. They wanted to set the tone after being shut out by Carey Price and Team Canada in the 2014 Olympic semifinal, where the Red and White played keep-away and executed Babcock’s structured game to golden perfection.

The Americans—all sandpaper and highlight-reel saves—were on home soil. This was about national pride as much as it was about shot blocking and quick D-zone exits. Hulk Hogan’s entrance music, “Real American,” was blasting the ears of Nationwide Arena’s 17,791 patriots if the Blue Jackets’ despised goal cannon wasn’t.

“U-S-A!” chants swelled.

Yet the home squad came out flat, failing to register a shot on Price until 7:54 of the first period.

“We were nervous,” Tortorella admitted. “The adrenaline gets going, [Jonathan Quick] was outstanding, and then we found ourselves.”

A Zach Parise tip and a batted Patrick Kane rebound in tight gave the severely out-Corsi’d U.S. a sudden 2-0 lead in the first frame, and they clung to a 3-2 lead for the bulk of the third, getting outshot 43-25 but sealing the W with a Derek Stepan empty-netter.

Both Kesler and Ryan McDonagh hit the ice in their own crease to make incredible saves and bail out their goalies. Blake Wheeler dove like the Blue Jays’ Kevin Pillar to poke a puck out of his zone.

Yes, the US was outplayed by a younger, faster, more talented roster—the Brad Marchand-Crosby-Patrice Bergeron line looked particularly in sync—but in a one-game elimination scenario, that may not matter.

The American team was designed to kill penalties, score dirty goals in close, impose their physical will, and have world-class goaltenders bail them out. On this night, the plan was a success.

“We’re certainly not looking to parade to the penalty box,” Tortorella said. “We’re going to play an honest, hard game. At times I thought we did tonight; at other times we didn’t.”

Backes believes Saturday night’s equally “meaningless” encore in Ottawa will be even quicker and sharper.

Now the US has confidence and Canada has a loss. Fans are guaranteed another two of these tilts, and we could see as many as five more. The bell for Round 2 dings in just a few hours.

“We can make some noise and get it done,” said US captain Joe Pavelski, who scored the winner. “We had that feeling in ’10. We had that feeling in ’14.”

Canada’s coach, however, knows better than anybody how those two tourneys shook out for the Americans.

“Just imagine,” Babcock said, a wry Babcockian smile on his face. “They gotta play tomorrow.”