MONTREAL - They promised they would be better.
They claimed they had been jet-lagged the last time they played and had barely practised as a team. Plus, those kids weren’t really that good.
At least, that is what Team Europe had been telling itself.
But three days after Team North America shut out Europe 4-0 in an exhibition game in Quebec City, the under-24 squad put on another clinic by winning 7-4 in a rematch Sunday night at Montreal’s Bell Centre.
Two games and a combined scored of 11-4. Either that’s an indication Europe is one of the weakest teams in the World Cup of Hockey or the North America team is better than anyone ever imagined.