"We were a bit tentative and it seems that's the way we are against the Canadians. I don't know if it's the history or what it's been,'' said Team USA coach Jeff Sauer after Wednesday's 4-1 loss in the quarterfinals of the World Hockey Championships.
The Czech Republic shut out previously unbeaten Russia 2-0 in Wednesday's other game. The Russians had a perfect 5-0 record through the round-robin segment, but fell to a 23-save performance in goal by Roman Turek, one of the top goalies in the tournament.
Canada, which came into the medal round with the worst record of all quarterfinalists, now takes on Olympic champion Sweden in the semis. The Czechs play last year's runners-up Finland in the other semifinal Friday.
It was the second straight year 1993 champion Russia was eliminated in the quarterfinals. Last year in Italy, the Russians lost 3-1 to the United States.
The Swedes shut out Italy 7-0 and the Finns blanked France 5- 0 in Tuesday's quarters.
Canada won the worlds last year with a much stronger team featuring several NHLers, but is made up of mostly minor league players this time.
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