World Junior coaches speak out ahead of USA/Slovakia match

With only one IIHF World Junior Championship game taking over the ice at the Avenir Centre in Moncton, N.B., on Wednesday, fans were lined up over an hour before the gates opened.

It was a match-up between the United States and Slovakia and fans waiting to get inside were torn on who they were cheering for.

Those who spoke with CTV News gave equal answers between the two teams, but regardless of their chosen country, excitement was high.

However, it wasn’t just high outside the arena. Down in the tunnels, the two teams were getting ready for another chance at a win.

"We're excited, you know, Slovakia poses a great challenge for us, very good Hockey team,” said Team USA Head Coach Rand Pecknold. “I'm happy with where we are through two exhibitions and one game and we're going to keep building and working towards our goal."

Currently, the U.S. is sitting 1-0 and Slovakia at 0-1, coming in as Wednesday’s underdogs.

"We didn't do well on face-off's, that's something we talked about a lot last night, just some areas that we can improve on there and little details,” said Team Slovakia Assistant Coach Scott Moser.

“We did a really good job of staying out of the penalty box, which is big of us this tournament so looking to do that again."

Moser adds that Tuesday’s game against Finland didn’t necessarily show how well the team played or how close the game was.

“We know what the U.S. is good at,” he said. “There’s no secret that they mix skill and effort really well, so we’ve got to keep them to the outside, they’ll have their time in O-zone, they’ll have their nice plays, but we need to counter when it’s our time.”

However, Slovakia wasn’t the only team that was watching its opponent ahead of puck drop.

"I think we know how we want to play,” said Pecknold. “We want to focus on that, focus on our identity in such a short tournament, but I think it's certainly... we make our players aware you've got to be aware of [number] seven. He’s going to have the puck a lot, they’re going to run the faceoff plays to him.”

Overall, both coaches say they have skilled players who they’re looking forward to showcasing on the ice.

“It’s hard to go through the whole list,” said Pecknold. “But, we’ve got a lot of good players.”

"There’s always things you can improve on. Hindsight is 20/20, but I’m more about just staying positive and looking at what’s in front of us and I like what we’re building towards.”

As for Slovakia, defenceman Simon Nemec was taken second overall in the 2022 NHL draft.

They also have forward Peter Repcik who has ties to the Maritimes with the Charlottetown Islanders.

“Peter Repcik, he had a really good game yesterday, couple goals, he was a star for us on the power play, which was strong yesterday as well,” said Moser. “He’s got high hockey IQ, efforts really well, he just really cares.”

“He’s a guy we love having around the locker room, so excited for his day today as well.”

The United States will face Switzerland Thursday at 5 p.m. and Slovakia and Latvia have a noon puck drop on Friday.

The full schedule can be found online.