Canada disappointed at the last Ice Hockey World Championship, losing to Switzerland in the semifinals before losing to Sweden in the bronze medal game despite a particularly strong lineup.

In addition, the head coach André Tourigny was heavily criticized for his use of the young star striker Connor Bedard He was the 13th forward in most games and had no set line. In addition, he was the least used player on the team in terms of ice time.

Back from Prague, Tourigny was on air 98.5 Sports and declared his willingness to respond to criticism.

Here’s what the main stakeholder had to say on the subject.

I can live with the criticism if it comes from those who have seen the games. The world has a right to its opinion. But those who have not watched the games at all and base their opinion only on the match report, that has no value in my eyes.

In a tournament like this, it’s not a one-man show. We had Jon Cooper, Doug Armstrong, Rick Nash, Kyle Dubas, Scott Salmond, Dean Evason, Jay Woodcroft, Steve Ott, James Emery and Justin Pogge. After every game, we talked about who was doing well and who should play more or less. But I take responsibility for the decisions that were made. I had the final decision.

– André Tourigny

We can therefore understand that Tourigny was not the only one behind the decision to shorten young Bedard’s ice time.

On the other hand, given the final result, we can certainly question the decision not to use the young star striker anymore.

Listen to the relevant audio clip below.