LONDON, ONT. -- Canada's World Junior squad was on the ice this morning for practice ahead of their quarterfinal game against Slovakia.
Head Coach Dale Hunter says his team is ready.
"We've been watching them and they've been playing hard," Hunter told TSN.
Hunter says assistant coach Al Letang has been watching games from Group A and has a good handle on the teams on the other side of the bracket.
The Knights Head Coach is impressed with the way his team bounced back with a pair of wins after suffering a blowout loss to Russia.
"We've been working on a lot of stuff.. we've been better defensively since the Russia Game. Those two games, they played hard, and protected the puck."
Canada got some great news Wednesday. Alexis Lafreniere was back on the ice at full strength and will be in the lineup Thursday.
Getting the reigning CHL Player of the Year back from injury for the medal round is a huge boost.
The 18-year-old from Saint-Eustache, Que., scored the winner and added three assists in his country's tournament-opening 6-4 victory over the United States on Boxing Day.
Canada has been getting great contributions from Knights forwards Liam Foudy and Connor McMichael recently, and Hunter has rewarded them by moving them into the top-six forward group.
Foudy has scored in two straight games, and has three points in four games in the tournament. He was also named Player of the Game in their 6-0 loss to Russia.
