Alarm clocks are going off across the country, Baileys is falling into coffees before the sun is fully up, and I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love it. Team Canada is back on the ice for Game 3 of the group stage against France, and while the boys have already locked up first place in Group A, there’s still work to be done. Olympic hockey mornings hit different, and I’m fired up about this one, even though I’m posting the preview on the site the night before the game.

With Friday’s 5-1 win over Switzerland and a 5-0 dismantling of Czechia the game before, Canada sits on six points and a tidy plus-nine goal differential through their first two matchups. Because they hold the head-to-head tiebreakers over both Switzerland and Czechia, there’s no scenario where they lose top spot in Group A, even if something weird happens on Sunday morning. The quarterfinal ticket has already been punched.

But don’t confuse clinched with the job being done.

Head coach Jon Cooper’s group will absolutely want to keep stacking regulation wins and scoring goals to lock in the best possible seeding for the knockout round. That matters. You don’t want to dominate the group stage only to hand yourself a tougher matchup in the elimination round because you took your foot off the gas against a team like France. This game still matters, even if the math is already sorted. While it’s no surprise to say we’re all expecting a win, there’s plenty of opportunity to still improve on some of the small details as Team Canada gears up for what’s next.

So far, Canada has looked every bit like the tournament favourite. The “depth” has scored some big goals. The power play has hummed. The goaltending has been calm and steady, with Jordan Binnington posting a shutout against Czechia and Logan Thompson turning aside 24 of 25 against Switzerland. And then there’s Connor McDavid, who is tied for the tournament points lead with six points after another casual goal-and-two-assist performance against the Swiss. Watching No. 97 do this in a Team Canada jersey has made the wait feel worth it, and watching the gold-fuelled fire in his eyes has been so much fun.

France, meanwhile, is 0-2 and very much the underdog in every possible way. They’re the 14th-ranked team in the IIHF, headed to Division IA at the World Championship this coming spring, and their roster simply doesn’t stack up to Canada’s. I’m not trying to be disrespectful, I’m just telling it like it is. Alexandre Texier is their lone NHL forward, and veterans like Stephane Da Costa and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare get leaned on heavily, which kinda tells you everything you need to know. They’ve got size on the back end, they’ll block shots, and their goaltenders are used to facing 40+ shots a night, but if Canada plays its game, this should tilt quickly.

That said, this isn’t a scrimmage.

You don’t build gold medal habits by sleepwalking through “scheduled wins.” France will play hard, they’ll be proud, and they’ll do everything they can to minimize the damage we’re all expecting to see. They’ll try to clog the neutral zone. They’ll try to frustrate and hang around. Canada’s job is to crush those hopes early. No lazy turnovers. No playing down to their opponent. No “we’ll flip the switch later” nonsense. Build a lead. Sharpen the details. Make sure that when the quarterfinals hit, you’re already operating at full throttle. Use this game against France as the next step down the path to gold.

But at the end of the day, let’s call this what it is: Sunday’s game should be an ass kicking. The roster gap is obvious. The skill gap is obvious. But the point of today’s game isn’t just to win, it’s to work on the details of their game as they head into the elimination rounds, while sending a message and keeping the machine running smoothly. Another dominant performance pushes the goal differential higher, locks in strong habits, and lets the rest of the tournament know exactly what’s coming.

And honestly, there’s something special about the whole country waking up early to watch this group truck through another opponent. There’s pride in it. There’s excitement in it. There’s nothing better than seeing McDavid, Crosby, MacKinnon, and the rest of this squad flying around in red and white while the rest of the world tries to keep up. This is an all-star-calibre hockey team playing for their country, and I cannot wait to drag myself out of bed to watch this thing go down. Am I expecting a blowout? Yes. Do I care? Not in the slightest.

So set the alarm, pour some Bailey’s in your coffee, and wrap yourself in the flag because this game against France is the last tune-up the boys will get before the intensity starts ramping up. This is a scheduled win. It just is. But let’s go watch Canada do Canada things and keep this train rolling into the knockout round.

Celebrini – McDavid – Wilson (???)
Hagel – MacKinnon – Suzuki
Marner – Crosby – Stone
Jarvis – Horvat – Reinhart

Toews – Makar
Theodore – Parayko
Harley – Doughty

Binnington

I’m interested to see what Jon Cooper does with Tom Wilson. Wilson looked like he tweaked something a little bit against Switzerland and ended up being replaced by Nathan MacKinnon for a few very productive shifts down the stretch. I wonder if the super-trio of Celebrini, McDavid, and MacKinnon is something he’d want to try out a few more times before the games start mattering for real.

Da Costa – Bellemare – Fabre
Texier – Boudon – Dair
Rech – Ritz – Bertrand
Douay – Addamo – Treille

Auvitu – Guebey
Boscq – Gallet
Chakiachvili – Cantagallo

Neckar

With one active and a couple of former NHLers on the roster, Team France is going to be in tough against a Canadian squad that’s littered with future Hall of Famers. If anything, I just hope these boys go out there and have a good time. Maybe ask for Crosby’s autograph after the game or something, you know?

Canada vs. France goes live at 8:40 a.m. MST from the Milano Santagiulia Arena in Milan, Italy, with pre-game coverage kicking off about 10 minutes before puck drop. You can catch the game on CBC, Sportsnet One, TSN 1, or stream it on CBC Gem, Sportsnet+, or TSN. If you’ve got cable through Bell or Rogers, you’re covered.

Obvious Game Day Prediction: Connor McDavid picks up a third consecutive three-point game.

Not-So-Obvious Game Day Prediction: Yohann Auvitu goal as a shout out to the Decade of Darkness!