And yes that really is a Starbucks in Milan.

Well that was some wild game between Italy and Sweden yesterday. Italy got the first goal, tied it up in the second again, and it was a one-goal game with five minutes to go.

Unfortunately 21-year-old goalie prospect Damien Clara had to exit the game with cramping or possibly and injury on a save, but he was amazing. Filip Gustavsson was too, but in a very different way.

In the end William Nylander had a goal, Oliver Ekman-Larsson was on the playing roster as the seventh defender, but did not play, and Sweden won it 5-2.

Oh and the refereeing (Dan O'Rourke and Jan Hribik) was a little too kind to the hosts.

There's a lot of theories about how Italy did this. Here's mine: the coach is Jukka Jalonen, long-time coach of Team Finland at all levels, and the goalie, Clara, plays in Sweden. That and the home fans add up to more than enough motivation. Sweden looked jet lagged to me. They had a lot of shots, but they weren't exactly stringing together killer plays.

In the other surprise, Juraj Slafkovský and Slovakia beat Finland pretty handily while being outshot.

Remember, all that's at stake here is the ordering going into the next round, no one is eliminated, but a first-place group finish is a bye to the quarters.

Today is a busy day with Team Canada Men facing the Czechs at 10:30 am. They have no time to be uncaffeinated, the Czechs live to beat Canada. I also see Tomas Plekanec is an assistant coach.

If you want to watch Auston Matthews, the USA takes on Latvia at 3 pm.

Team Canada Women play their final preliminary-round game against Finland at 8:30 am. This game finalizes the top group standings and determines the quarterfinal opponents.

Cooper makes tweaks to lines, doesn’t name starting goalie for game against Czechia
The Canadian men’s Olympic hockey team returned to practice for the second time Wednesday in Milan as they prepare to take on Czechia Thursday in their tournament opener.
TSNTSN.ca Staff

Long read on Sid:

Inside Sidney Crosby’s evolution into Captain Canada
ConnectedSonny Sachdeva

And some prospect action.

Have a great day today.

From The Branches