TORONTO – It was early in Team Canadas training camp that head coach Benoit Groulx was lecturing his players about puck management. Fake Nike NBA Jerseys . This was a group of highly-skilled players used to putting up huge point totals with their CHL teams and Groulx was stressing that he didnt want to see many fancy plays in dangerous areas of the ice. Specifically, Groulx mentioned, Tic-tac-toe plays. But the 46-year-old Quebec native suffered a slip of the tongue and said tao instead of toe. It was an awkward moment. At least at first. Everyone was just trying to hold it in, said defenceman Joe Hicketts with a laugh. He said it in the room and were all looking at each other and biting our shirts. I had my shoulder pads on so I started biting those. Benny has a pretty heavy accent, said defenceman Josh Morrissey, and it was a pretty serious meeting so as a player youre trying to take in the message, but at the same time when he dropped that line the players werent the only ones biting their shirts, the assistant coaches were too. Groulx eventually recognized the mistake. Then, finally, he started laughing at it so we figured it was alright, said Hicketts. Groulx didnt just find it funny. He saw it as a chance to set a tone. All of the sudden, Tic-tac-tao became a fun saying used to defuse tense situations. He even put the words on the team T-shirts the players have worn throughout the tournament. He knew it was funny so he kept on saying it to see our reactions, said forward Nick Paul. Its bringing us together, said captain Curtis Lazar. The mood in the dressing room just relaxes when he says it. Its kind of our thing, our motto and when times get tough, Tic-tac-tao! Even on the ice and on the bench during games you may hear the words. If we start panicking on the ice we just say, Tao, boys, and everyone resets after that, said Hicketts. It makes us rewind and refocus and think about what got us here, said defenceman Madison Bowey. After Canadas win over Finland, Groulx used Tic-tac-tao in one of his answers in his news conference. Reporters barely batted an eye, but the players were in for a treat the next day. We were watching some power-play video and we broke down one of our goals, which was a tic-tac-tao goal, said Lazar, grinning even wider than usual, and they pulled up that clip of him at the press conference and he said, Tic-tac-tao, and he had that little smirk after he said it knowing it would get a reaction from us and we died laughing in the dressing room. For the record, the man behind the words is pretty ho-hum about the whole situation. When you start building a team sometimes you have meetings with players and you end up with different scenarios and certain things are discussed within the room and we had that phrase, those words come out, and it was funny that day and we just stuck to it, said Groulx. But its pretty clear the players appreciate the fact their head coach is willing to do his part to loosen things up. Its awesome, said Lazar. Theres no real difference between the coaching staff and us players. Were all in this together. Were one and were a unit. Were joking around in the dressing room together, coaching staff included. To have that unity really helps out. Bennys got a lot of humour to him, but hes smart when to do it, said Morrissey. He knows when we need a kick in the behind and when we need some humour. Morrissey is one of seven players returning from last years squad that finished out of the medals. He senses a real difference with this years group. Thats a big point, actually, he said. This year were a lot more relaxed, but focussed and ready. Thats one of the things Benny is talking about: a loose, but ready atmosphere in the dressing room. When you have that its easier to play. Everything about the world juniors seems to be under the microscope in this country. And the expectation seems to be, rightly or wrongly, that Canada will win gold. It isnt necessarily a recipe for fun times. But this year the team seems to be having a lot of fun whether its Max Domis tongue-wagging celebrations, chatterbox Zach Fucale getting duct tape as a gag Christmas gift or Lazar blowing Hicketts a kiss after he converted his beautiful pass into a goal Friday night. Were a very loose group and sometimes it worries me a bit, Lazar said with a laugh. Sometimes a group just meshes well and everything comes together. Canadas knockout-stage draw was as good as Groulx could have hoped with debutant Denmark an easy out in the quarters and Slovakia, a team Canada beat 8-0 in the round robin, due up in the semifinals. But at this point, Canada with its incredible speed and pace is likely the favourite in any game against any team at this tournament. After the 8-0 win over Denmark, Groulx praised his players for not being selfish and looking to pad their statistics. There just seems to be something special about this group. If youre in the locker room its like weve been playing with each other for our whole lives here, said Paul. Everyones really comfortable and we treat each other like brothers. The energy we have is amazing and once we get going its unstoppable. Were really tight in the dressing room, said Bowey. We came together really quickly. Were a band of brothers, I guess you could say, and I think you see that on the ice. Fake NBA Jerseys 2019 . It will be their 15th head-to-head meeting and fourth in the post-season (Sunday at 2pm et/11am pt on CTV) and for his part, Brady isnt downplaying just how big the game is for him. "Im excited - Its everything you could ask for as an athlete," the New England Patriots quarterback told WEEI Radio in Boston on Monday. Wholesale Fake NBA Jerseys http://www.fakenbajerseys.com/ . Brassard and Coyotes defenceman Derek Morris were battling for position in the crease when a nudge from Morris sent Brassard on top of Smith late in the third period.MINSK, Belarus -- Joel Ward knows who he is and who he isnt. "Im not going to go out there and be Ovi," he said. "I know what Im doing. Its not complex." Its not complex: Ward is just Team Canadas leading scorer through three games at the world hockey championship. With three goals hes actually tied for the tournament lead and has the same amount as Russian star and Washington Capitals teammate Alex Ovechkin. Ward doesnt have Ovechkins release or his accuracy, but the 33-year-old is no slouch, either. His 2013-14 NHL season included a career-high 24 goals, which was just the ticket to get him his first-ever international experience for Canada. Brad Pascall of Hockey Canada said assistant general manager Ron Hextall watched Ward play this past season and the group deciding on this team figured hed be a nice fit after the strong season he had. It was good for Ward to get noticed but even better for him to find some more self-appreciation of his offensive game. "Ive always believed in my abilities and never told myself I couldnt," the Toronto native said Tuesday. "My first year in Nashville I had 17 and I had some power-play time there, so I knew I could be a 20-goal scorer in the National Hockey League. It was just finding that spot and the right atmosphere and environment. This year I kind of got my spirits back up, my confidence back up to do so." Ward called it a season of "rejuvenation," crediting Capitals coach Adam Oates for changing the curve and length of his stick blade and teaching him more about how to play in front of the net. The reward was 24 goals and 25 assists, and those 49 points were third on Washington behind only Ovechkin and Swedish Olympian Nicklas Backstrom. Ward was never ever close to being considered for the star-studded Sochi team, but when he got the call to represent Canada at the world championships, he was thrilled just to have the chance. "When I first got the call, I said this was like my Olympics," he said. "First time to ever put a Canada jersey on. I grew up as a kid watching international hockey my whole life. When I got the call I was pretty excited to just be part of it. Im trying to make the most of it." So far, so good. Ward scored twice against Slovakia and then once against the Czech Republic. His three goals and four points lead Canada, which is 2-0-1 going into Thursdays game against Denmark. "Hes really come along as a player, and even in this tournament, too," Capitals and Team Canada teammate Troy Brouwer said. "Hes very opportunistic." What coach Dave Tippett likes about the six-foot-one, 221-pound right-winger is that he scores the kind of goals that are necessary in international play. "He scores hard goals --- hard goals in front of the net, good quick shots," Tippett said. Discount Fake NBA Jerseys. . "Hes a hard player. Everybody thinks this is the big ice and its all flow and away from (the net). You look where our goals are being scored right now: A lot of them are right in front of the net. Hes a player that can get in there and muck around a little bit. ... Go hard to the net and be willing to get into a battle to score. Thats what he does." Wards first goal of the tournament was a perfect tip of a point shot by Jason Garrison. His two others were sharp shots that Washington linemate Jason Chimera didnt think many goaltenders in the world could stop. But its not necessarily his shot but how he gets those opportunities that makes Ward fit for the big ice surface. Hes admittedly not the swiftest guy but takes pride in creating space and not making mistakes. "I just try to play good, two-way hockey, and if I get a chance on the offensive side, try to make plays for my linemates," Ward said. "Just keeping it simple is something key for me and try not to be no hero and be something Im not. I just want to get pucks down deep and puck possession is very key. Fortunate to get a couple good bounces and playing with some good linemates." Ward is likely to continue playing on Canadas fourth line with Jonathan Huberdeau and Sean Monahan moving forward, but he could get some better scoring chances on the power play. Even though only six of his 24 goals this past season came in that role, getting that extra ice time is why he thinks hes a better scorer than he was even two years ago when he had a 40-game drought. "You get more opportunity to play, right? So the more you play, the more opportunity you get," he said. "If you can kind of get that opportunity and capitalize a bit, then you get more positive results, obviously, and you get more ice time and you get rewarded." Being at the world championships is Wards reward for such a strong season in Washington. Its also his first trip to Europe. "Im usually just a beach guy," Ward said, smiling. "I like to sit in the sand a little bit and have a pina colada, so this is kind of a new experience, new territory for me. Thank God Im here, and Im thankful for being here and getting an opportunity to do this." Along the way, hes giving Canada the opportunity to win games and move past an opening shootout loss to France. Count at least Brouwer and Chimera among those not surprised and also pumped to see Ward playing and producing like this. "It couldnt happen to a better person," Chimera said. "Hes a great human being and everyone likes him. When he has success, the team has success, too, because the team just feeds off that kind of guy." ' ' '