"Let the best guys in the world go and play. And then we’ll tweak things after that," said Team Canada coach Jon Cooper ahead of Thursday's game against Czechia.
MILAN, Italy — When Mike Babcock coached Team Canada to back-to-back gold medals at the 2010 and 2014 Olympics, he did it his way.
He turned top-line stars into fourth-line grinders. He demanded that everyone finished their checks and blocked every shot. He convinced Sidney Crosby and the most talented offensive players in the world to put their stats and skill aside and commit to playing safe and, at times, defensive hockey — even if Babcock didn't necessarily see it that way.
"Great defense means you play defense fast and you have the puck all the time so you’re always on offense,” Babcock said in 2014. “We were a great offensive team.”
They were also a very boring team.
Four years after scoring 35 goals at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Canada managed just 17 goals at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. But the stat that Babcock was probably the most proud of was on the defensive side of the puck.
In 2010, Canada allowed 16 goals in seven games. In 2014, they shrunk that number to only three goals against in six games.
Now that Jon Cooper is coaching the team, don't expect a repeat of that kind of performance in Milan. This is, after all, a flamboyant coach who a couple of weeks ago was dressing up like Tony Montana in the movie Scarface for a Stadium Series game.
Cooper doesn't want robots who have to be programmed on how to play. He wants free-thinkers and creativity.
"I’m the last one to sit here and say, 'You’ve got to do this, you’ve got to do that, you’ve got to be here, you’ve got to be there,' " Cooper said prior to Canada's opening game against Czechia on Thursday.
"Let the best guys in the world go and play. And then we’ll tweak things after that."
In other words, say goodbye to boring hockey. Or, put another way, expect to see what we witnessed already at last year's 4 Nations Face-Off, where the Cooper-coached Canadians outscored their opponents by a slim 13-11 margin in four games.
If Canada formed an identity at that tournament, it was based on speed, skill and a willingness to punch their opponents in the face.
The officiating at the Olympics are much stricter, so don't expect a brawl to kick things off when Canada plays Czechia on Thursday. At the same time, Cooper does not seem that interested in over-coaching, just because the stakes have been raised.
"You want to have a team that can beat you in so many different ways," Cooper said when asked to define Canada's identity. "We have skill to beat you, we have the speed, we have the goaltending, I believe we have that as well. When push comes to shove, can we push back? I really think we can do that.
"For us to be an intimidating team, both physically and skill wise, that will be an identity for us."
This could be Cooper playing to the team's strengths.
Unlike in 2014, when Canada had Carey Price in net and a defense that included future Hall of Famers in Duncan Keith and Shea Weber — not to mention eight-time Selke Trophy winner Patrice Bergeron — this year's roster has arguably the deepest and most forward group that we've ever seen at an international competition.
Canada is represented by three of the top-four scorers in the NHL. The top line of Connor McDavid, Macklin Celebrini and Tom Wilson have combined for 85 goals and 226 points. The team is so deep that Sidney Crosby, who won gold in 2010 and 2014, and Nathan MacKinnon, who leads the NHL with 40 goals, will be centering separate lines.
Even if the goaltending doesn't hold up, Canada should have the firepower to score themselves out of trouble.
"Obviously, we have a ton of talent," said Crosby. "Just making sure we check well, don’t give teams quality chances, use our speed on both sides of the puck. Just play a team game."
That being said, Canada's coach probably has a few tricks up his sleeve on how he plans on getting gold.
"I hate sitting here and saying ‘This is the way we’re going to play or this is how it’s going to go,' " said Cooper. "It's been said the 'Canadian way.' Well, what is the Canadian way? I always think the Canadian way is the winning way and that's how it works."
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