Can Kevin Bieksa Captain Team Canada to World Championships Gold?

With Team Canada getting ready for its first game against France at the IIHF World Championships, the squad made an important leadership decision in naming Kevin Bieksa captain.

Bieksa is a perfect choice to head Team Canada’s leadership group heading into Friday’s opener. Sports Interaction’s IIHF odds lists Canada as the tournament’s favorite at +201, just ahead of Russia +241. Canada is also listed as a heavy -11236 favorites vs. France in what should be littler more than a warmup game for Canucks.

However, this tournament isn’t for everyone. Canada annually puts an impressive roster together, but it often takes time for the players to gel. In some cases, players were battling in the Stanley Cup playoffs just last week. Now they have to shift gears and get on the same page in Belarus.

That’s why Bieksa is a perfect choice to captain this team. He is a no-nonsense guy with playoff experience and isn’t afraid to speak his mind or stand up for his teammates. At 32 years old, he’s one of few veterans this club has and he’ll eat up minutes on the blue line.

“Everybody’s coming over here for a purpose,” the captain told reporters. “We didn’t fly all this way just to have a good time. We flew here to win games and to continue on the standard that Canada set at the Olympics. We’re going to come to compete.”

On paper at least, Canada looks to have as much talent or more than any other team in the tournament. There’s a good mix between youth and experience, too. Bieksa, Joel Ward, and Alex Burrows provide a strong veteran core while Nathan MacKinnon, Sean Monahan and Jonathan Huberdeau gives a youthful spark.

In goal, James Reimer gets the call Friday and don’t be surprised if he ends up being one of the stars of this tournament. He isn’t asking for a trade from the Toronto Maple Leafs yet, but a good showing in Belarus may move him one step closer to finding a new home. Reimer doesn’t think he’s a backup goaltender and as long as Jonathan Bernier is around, he won’t get starters minutes in Toronto.

Check out all of Sports Interaction’s IIHF World Championships odds.