World traveler Cade Fairchild has today off. He'll be in the stands in Pardubice, Czech Republic, watching a World Junior Championships quarterfinal hockey game between Canada and Finland.
Fairchild, 18, a defenseman from Duluth, and his U.S. teammates under the age of 20 have a bye into Friday's semifinal round and will be scouting the opposition.
The Americans (4-0) finished first in the Group B Pool by defeating Kazakhstan 5-1, Switzerland 4-2, Russia 3-2 and Finland 5-3. The U.S. won the tournament in 2004 and was third last year.
"We didn't hear any speculation about where we'd finish, but we were confident coming here," Fairchild said Tuesday from the Czech Republic. "We've taken just one goal at a time -- to travel here and recover properly, then get ready for each opponent.
"I don't think it's a surprise that we're undefeated because game by game we've put the pieces of our team together. We play with a team concept. You play for your country, not for yourself."
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Fairchild, a University of Minnesota freshman, is the first Duluthian on a U.S. Junior team in 17 years, since defenseman Tony Burns in 1991. In previous international events, Fairchild has played twice in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Sweden, and once in Finland. In 2006, he was on America's gold medal World Under-18 team and in 2007 was on America's silver medal World Under-18 team.
The former Duluth East High School player finished his prep career with two years with the U.S. National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Mich. He had 10 points in 17 games at Minnesota this season before joining the U.S. Junior team and has one assist in four games and leads the Americans in plus-minus with a plus-5. Fairchild was picked by St. Louis in the fourth round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.
"He has good hockey sense,'' U.S. teammate Kyle Okposo told the St. Paul Pioneer Press about Fairchild. "He knows when to step up, when to stay back, and he moves the puck up the ice. He's really shifty. He sees plays, and he makes them when they're there."
After the preliminary round, the U.S. has the tournament's top three scorers in New Hampshire's James vanRiemsdyk (four goals, six assists), Boston University's Colin Wilson (six goals, one assist) and Jordan Schoreder of the U.S. Under-18 team (seven assists). Goalie Jeremy Smith has a .938 save percentage and 1.36 goals-against average.
"Having the top three scorers doesn't mean anything more than once we get ahead we're not satisfied to sit back," Fairchild said. "We have to stay on the attack and not be satisfied."
According to a news release, U.S. coach John Hynes said after the win over Russia: "Our guys played with deep belief in themselves. Our commitment to team play was evident, and I thought as the game wore on we showed good survival skills when we needed to. We definitely took another step forward."
The Americans beat Finland on New Year's Eve, and then ate dinner at a restaurant and stayed up to greet 2008, but just barely. Fairchild said he was sleeping by 12:10 a.m.
Fairchild said the Americans have heard little from the fallout of Okposo leaving the Gophers at midseason for the NHL's New York Islanders after the World Junior Championships. Fairchild said Okposo, a forward, was his closest friend on Minnesota's team and was aware of his intentions.
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"I'm not going to badmouth the Islanders for making an offer during the season. It's a business for them," Fairchild said. "I understand that it's tough on us [the Gophers], but it's a good situation for Kyle."
