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Time and again, the Canadians have been the favourites. And now?

“We’re major underdogs, I think,” defenceman Joe Hicketts said following a 5-2 loss to Sweden on Thursday that completed the preliminary round.

Indeed, the Canadians (2-2-0) have the third-worst record of the eight teams that advanced to the playoff round. They lost to undefeated Sweden and the U.S., needed a shootout to beat Switzerland and only showed real dominance against a very weak Denmark team.

Heading into a win-or-go-home quarter-final against Finland, the betting money is on the host team — as it should be. While Canada has sputtered, Finland’s team of young upstarts, led by 17-year-old draft-eligible leading scorers Jesse Puljujarvi and Patrik Laine, have torched opponents by scoring more goals than any other country.

“We look at them as being one of the best teams in the tournament,” said head coach Dave Lowry. “We feel it’s a great privilege to be able to play them.”

“I think it’s good for us,” said goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood. “We’re not expected to be the No. 1 team in everybody else’s eyes. We’ve got the underdog role there. We’re just going to try and come out and play our game and get a win the next time we play.”

It is a funny reversal from where the team was a year ago, when Toronto was the host city and Connor McDavid was leading a Canadian team that was feared by all.

Now, there is doubt. And maybe that can be a good thing.

“It can be good and bad,” said Hicketts. “Hopefully it’s good in our case. It’s something that especially with a younger group I think when we take that pressure off it might be a little better. Not that there’s a whole lot of pressure, because in this game it meant nothing.”