Powerhouse Canada on impressive roll heading into World Cup semifinal
TORONTO — Ryan Getzlaf doesn’t remember a single thing from Canada’s last matchup with Russia in a tournament featuring the best hockey players in the world.
“I couldn’t even tell you what the score was or when we played them or what happened,” Getzlaf said.
Head coach Mike Babcock remembers the nerves permeating his bench that day. If unbeatable on the world stage over the past six years, Team Canada was anxious at that point of the 2010 Olympic Games in a quarter-final matchup with the Russians. The group was four years removed from a seventh-place disaster at the 2006 Games, trying to reclaim gold on home soil in Vancouver.
Any tension quickly evaporated. Canada pumped six goals past Evgeni Nabakov in the first 24 minutes and won 7-3. Getzlaf, for what it’s worth, had three points in just over 10 minutes.