The reason why Canada will beat the USA tomorrow during the Four Nations Final revealed
Team USA just finished playing a game against Sweden, who was battling a ton of illness within the locker room, which could give Canada an edge tomorrow.
The injuries have continued to pile up at the ongoing 4 Nations Tournament, with the latest setback hitting Team USA and Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy.
McAvoy was admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital for a procedure to drain an infection and will miss Thursday's championship game. McAvoy will be out on a week-to-week basis as he recovers.
Though both finalists were dealing with injuries, Team Sweden's injury problems flew under the radar. It wasn't until after they were out of the tournament that it was disclosed how much their roster had been impacted.
An illness yanked goaltender Filip Gustavsson from Saturday's game, and by Monday, Linus Ullmark had fallen ill as well, leaving third-string netminder Samuel Ersson to draw the start against Team USA.
Forwards Mika Zibanejad and Rickard Rakell were also late scratches as the same virus ripped through Sweden's dressing room.
Cam Robinson of Elite Prospects detailed how the illness kept key players out and others on the ice battling dehydration. Despite that, Sweden still managed to win over a depleted U.S. squad on Monday.
The United States was already missing Auston Matthews and Matthew Tkachuk and lost Brady Tkachuk in the second period after he crashed into Ersson.
Could the Team Sweden virus make its way into the U.S. locker room?
One has to now wonder whether any of the American players perhaps caught some of this virus from playing Sweden and whether it will impact their locker room prior to tomorrow night's final against Canada.
Despite the win, Sweden was eliminated from contention as Team USA had already qualified for the final. They were joined by Canada after a 5-3 victory over Finland.
While the premature exit of Sweden was undoubtedly a disappointment, several of their players will likely welcome the extra time off.
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