In his latest installment, Duchene talks about Team Canada's 6-0 win against Team Czech Republic, the play of captain Sidney Crosby and the next game against Team USA on Tuesday.

Colorado Avalanche forward Matt Duchene is playing for Team Canada at the World Cup of Hockey 2016. The 25-year-old has agreed to keep a diary throughout the tournament, which began Saturday in Toronto and runs through Oct. 1.

Just standing on the blue line during the national anthems was awesome. It's one of those moments that gives you chills, what you dream about as a kid growing up. You watch these tournaments and you dream about maybe being there one day, and Saturday night was a moment like that for me.

I've had a chance to live those dreams a few times, which I feel very lucky about, but I've never put on the Team Canada jersey in front of Canadian fans before. So that was a whole new experience for me.

Video: Matt Duchene on upcoming game vs. Team USA

We come into this tournament humble in the sense that we know we can win this tournament and that we have a great team, but at the same time we respect all of our opponents. We know that if we're not at our best, we can be upset at any moment. That's what's driving us, to push ourselves every single game to be the best we can be so that when those tough moments of adversity come, we're ready to pass that test.

You've got to convert on your chances when you get them, you've got to make big plays defensively and we did all those things Saturday night, so it was a great start that way. We just want to continue that through the tournament. There are things we need to improve on, and we'll find those things.

Sidney Crosby showed in that game why, in my opinion and I think a lot of people's opinion, he's the best player in the world. He was obviously outstanding on the offensive side of the puck, but that big backcheck on Vladimir Sobotka late in the first period was the most impressive play that he made. It was just his speed getting back and his awareness on that play. If he takes off back toward our zone just a split second later than he did, Sobotka's got a breakaway and you never know what can happen. That could have changed the game.

He was on a mission, he was focused, he was confident. It was fun to watch him.

Video: Duchene on team chemistry, home-ice advantage

Now we have a couple of days to get ready for Team USA on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVA Sports), and we know what's at stake for them. We know that they're desperate, so we know we're going to get their best. It's going to be a great test for us.

We're all really looking forward to it. We want to use this as an opportunity to get better, and our first priority is to get into the semifinals. Once we qualify for that, we want to prepare ourselves to go deep into this tournament and win this thing.

That's our focus every day right now.