This game has more hype to it than any previous one and given the fact that Canada West is coached by the Head Coach of Powell River Kent Lewis his squad should be physical but possess lots of speed.
Lewis also has his team’s own goaltender Sean Maguire between the pipes this game, so he knows what he is capable of.
In addition Canada West has nine (9) BC players on the squad all hoping to impress the numerous Scouts on hand at the LEC.
Sweden in coming of the 1-0 win over the US the previous night, while Canada West has (until now) yet to play a game.
Sweden changed “tenders” for this game and put # 30 Mathias Israelsson, who watched last night’s contest. I’m told the 5’9” 193 lb tender is equal to 6’2” Dansk who shut down the US last night.
So we’ll see how this plays out. The first shot of the game came 1:45 into the game and was directed at the Canada West net for Maguire to stop.
While this might have been the first shot, after one period Canada West is outshooting Sweden 12-11, with several being of top quality chances
.The second period was equal to the speed of the first, with Canada West having numerous PP opportunities, all of which were shut down by the Swede’s.
This alone is impressive to watch and seeing Sweden play the diamond formation to perfection say’s a lot about the system they are tough.
They (Sweden) play fast and finish the check in all areas of the ice, but to Canada’s credit, they played physical, yet disciplined, which was needed in this high tempo game.
Both teams tried (at times) to get the odd punch in, but the ref’s did an exceptional job in keeping control at all times.
Canada West continued to dominate in the shot department outshooting the boy’s in Blue and Yellow by a gap of 26-18 after two periods.
Canada came out flying, but ran into penalty trouble which saw the Swede’s capitalize on a PP goal at 2:27 of the third.
While the third was far faster than the first two, it (at times) was chippy behind the play seeing some cheap-shots at or near the benches while players were attempting a line change.
The last three minutes saw Canada West throw shot after shot at the Swede’s, but all were turned aside.
Sweden took a minor for boarding with 1:31 left in the 3rd giving Canada West a chance to get within striking distance.
They pulled the “tender” putting them 6 on 4 for the remaining time in the game.
They had quality chances, but all were stopped at the door-step giving them a 2-0 record over two games.
Final shots over the game was Canada West 37 – Sweden 30
Player of the Game for Canada West was Carson Cooper and for Sweden was # 6 Pettersson.
Wednesday see’s both Canada West and Canada East play – at different times which are posted on the calendar for Sportswave.
Great hockey, check it out when you are in the area.
