Canada-Russia semifinal has World Cup players eager to go

Greetings from Toronto, where most of the downtown area seems to be under construction and every corner seems to have a road detour sign.

Team Canada was the first World Cup of Hockey semifinalist to practice at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday morning in advance of its match against Russia in the first knockout game of the tournament. Canada will face Russia on Saturday and Sweden will face Team Europe on Sunday. The winners will meet in a best-of-three final starting Tuesday.

Game time for Saturday’s Canada-Russia game is 4 p.m. Pacific time, and after Canada’s morning skate Kings defenseman Drew Doughty was counting the hours until the puck would be dropped.

“Pretty excited. Can’t wait to get it started,” said Doughty, who averaged a team-leading 22 minutes and 47 seconds of ice time as Canada went 3-0-0 in preliminary-round play. “You kind of want to get out there and have the game start.”

Forward Matt Duchene of Canada and the Colorado Avalanche agreed and said he was feeling “a good nervous.” He added, “All these games, especially these ones in these tournaments, mean so much and we just want to get to the final. Two out of three, it’s a big thing for us. This game here, anything can happen in a one-game showdown so it makes you very nervous and we’ve got a great team we’re playing against. It’s good energy.”

Asked to compare it to the emotions of a playoff Game 7 situation, he smiled almost wistfully. He has played only eight NHL playoff games over two postseason runs in his career, so he hasn’t’ experienced that drama.

“I haven’t been to too many of those but it’s that type of feeling,” he said. “I’ve played in a lot of these games in these tournaments where you have a do-or-die situation. It’s nerve-racking but at the same time it’s good. This is why you play the game.”

Brilliant forward Pavel Datsyuk, who left the Detroit Red Wings after last season to play in Russia, is questionable for undisclosed reasons. A team official said through an interpreter Saturday afternoon that Datsyuk was “feeling better,” and his inclusion in the lineup would be a game-time decision.

Washington Capitals and Russia forward Alex Ovechkin called the renewal of the longstanding Canada-Russia rivalry “an exciting moment for the players and for the fans as well,” and said he expected Canada to give Russian players as little time or space as possible to make plays.

“I think they’re just going to play their style of game and we have to match it,” he said. “They have very good offensive lines and we have a couple of lines as well. We have to handle their speed and try to play more in the offensive zone than in defensive zone, don’t give them any opportunities to be around the net.”

It was an exciting prospect—at least it was for most players. Canada and San Jose defenseman Brent Burns seemed to take it all in calmly, without any signs of nervousness. “I’ve got a great nap coming up,” he announced.

helene.elliott@latimes.com

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