Hockey Canada Head Coach Dave Cameron Defends His Decision of Cancelling Practices Ahead of Crucial QF
Dave Cameron and Team Canada were under fire all tournament long in Ottawa, and now the Head Coach has defended his questionable decisions.
For the second tournament in a row, Team Canada will not compete for a medal at the World Juniors Tournament after a 4-3 defeat at the hands of Team Czechia on Thursday.
It brings an end to the tournament of Hockey Canada, who were under fire from before the tournament began, with questionable roster decisions putting them behind the 8-ball against some incredibly talented opponents in Ottawa.
Ultimately though, the team struggled to put together consistent, disciplined play, with many calling for Head Coach Dave Cameron to be fired before next years tournament.
However, when asked about the process heading into this years competition, Cameron revealed that he has no regrets about how everything played out despite the lack of success.
Dave Cameron: «No.»
It's a tough question to answer for Cameron, as you don't want to throw 16-18 year olds under the bus, but from the moment the team left Zayne Parekh, Carter Yakemchuk, Andrew Cristall, Michael Misa and others at home, their chances for a gold medal took a drastic hit.
The other piece of criticism that Cameron saw was over his decision to not practice this team much throughout the tournament despite question marks from other coaches, and he's defended that decision too.
Sure, players shouldn't be exhausted before they even hit the ice, but it was clear that Canada from the coaching staff to the players simply weren't prepared, and if the team don't make changes ahead of the 2026 tournament in Minneapolis, the results may ultimately stay the same.
