Hockey Canada VP Scott Salmond paints a woeful behind-the-scenes picture of Canada's locker room after WJC elimination

Hockey Canada VP Scott Salmond painted a bleak picture of the atmosphere in Canada's locker room following their disappointing elimination from WJC.

The team suffered a last-minute 4-3 defeat to Czechia last week in the quarterfinals, a repeat of last year's disappointing exit at the same stage against the same team.

Salmond said that despite having the best facilities, accommodation, and schedule, the results are unacceptable. He also acknowledged the efforts shown by the players who represented Canada

"We have no excuse for the results of our team. I do want to acknowledge the 25 young men that are aged 17 to 19 that represented Canada. I want to acknowledge their effort, their commitment," Salmond said.

"These are young men that grew up in small towns and big cities across Canada, dreaming of playing for the National Junior team, dreaming of representing Canada. And when they represent Canada, when they made that and realized that dream, then they changed their dream to winning," he continued.

Salmond described the intense pain felt by the players after the loss. He also recognized the anger and disappointment felt by fans and took responsibility for the team's failure to meet expectations.

"I can tell you, the pain that they felt was incredible. Nobody wanted to win more than those people and those young men and so that's important. That's an important perspective. I understand anger, I understand disappointment, and I share it, and I also take responsibility," he added.

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Hockey Canada VP takes full responsibility for team's failure at WJC

Scott Salmond took the responsibility for Team Canada's disappointing performance at the WJC. At a downtown hotel, he said that if anyone is looking for someone to blame for the failure, they should direct their criticism towards him.

"Who do you blame? You can blame me," Salmond said Friday at a downtown hotel. "If you think it's scouting, I hire the scout. If you think it's coaching, I hire the coach. You want to blame someone, you can blame me," he said.

"In our country, you gotta win way more often than you lose," he added. "That's what we sign up for," Salmond added.

Czechia, who eliminated Canada, won the bronze at the tournament. Meanwhile, the United States clinched back-to-back golds after beating Finland 4-3 in overtime at the WJC.