CANADA’S NATIONAL MEN’S UNDER-18 TEAM WINS GOLD MEDAL AT 2013 IIHF ICE HOCKEY U18 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

SOCHI, Russia – Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team has won the gold medal at the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship after a 3-2 win over the United States in Sunday’s gold medal game.

The gold medal is Canada’s third all-time at the world championship. Overall, Canada has won five medals since first taking part in 2002: three gold (2003, 2008, 2013), one silver (2005) and one bronze (2012).

Canada finished first in Group B in the preliminary round with a perfect 4-0 record, recording victories over Slovakia (4-1), Germany (3-1), Switzerland (10-1) and Sweden (6-0).

On Sunday, Laurent Dauphin (Repentigny, Que./Chicoutimi, QMJHL) had a goal and an assist and Frédérik Gauthier (Saint-Lin-Laurentides, Que./Rimouski, QMJHL) scored the winner late in the second period as Canada won despite being outshot 35-12. Madison Bowey (Winnipeg, Man./Kelowna, WHL) scored the other Canadian goal, while Philippe Desrosiers (St-Hyacinthe, Que./Rimouski, QMJHL) made 33 saves.

Dauphin scored the lone goal of the first period before the Americans took the lead with two in the first half of the second period. Canada had just four shots on goal in the middle frame but scored on two of them, with Bowey tying the game at 12:48, followed by Gauthier at 16:26 with the eventual game-winner.

Following the game, forward Connor McDavid (Newmarket, Ont./Erie, OHL) was named Top Forward by the IIHF directorate as well as Most Valuable Player, as selected by the media. McDavid led the tournament in scoring, with 14 points (eight goals, six assists) in seven games.

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CANADA’S NATIONAL MEN’S TEAM WINS 2012 SPENGLER CUP

DAVOS, Switzerland – Canada’s National Men’s Team has won the 2012 Spengler Cup with a 7-2 championship game victory over HC Davos (Switzerland) on Monday. It is the 12th time since Canada began competing in the tournament in 1984 that it has won the Spengler Cup.

In Monday’s championship game, Patrice Bergeron (Sillery, Que./HC Lugano, SUI) scored once and added three assists for Canada, which led 3-1 after one period and 5-1 after two en route to its second five-goal victory over the tournament hosts in five days. Canadian captain Ryan Smyth (Banff, Alta./Edmonton, NHL) and John Tavares (Oakville, Ont./SC Bern, SUI) had two goals each, while Derrick Walser (New Glasgow, N.S./Rapperswil-Jona, SUI) and Jason Spezza (Toronto, Ont./Rapperswil-Jona, SUI) also scored.

Devan Dubnyk (Calgary, Alta./Edmonton, NHL) made 28 saves in the Canadian goal to record his third win of the tournament. Canada jumped on HC Davos early, opening the scoring just 46 seconds in and taking a 3-0 lead nine minutes into the first period on goals from Bergeron, Walser and Smyth.

Canada finished first in the Cattini Group in the preliminary round, which included a 5-0 win over HC Davos and a 2-1 overtime loss to Adler Mannheim (Germany), earning it a bye into the semifinals, where it defeated HC Fribourg-Gottéron (Switzerland) 5-1 on Sunday.

Canada’s National Men’s Team roster for the 2012 Spengler Cup is comprised of Canadian players currently playing in Europe, as well as players available due to the NHL lockout.

Canada has now appeared in 10 of the last 13 championship games. In addition to this year, Canada’s National Men’s Team also won the Spengler Cup in 1984, 1986, 1987, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003 and 2007.

The Spengler Cup, held annually since 1923, is the oldest professional international hockey tournament in the world.

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OHF Removes Body Checking from Recreational Hockey

The Windsor Sports Scene by
In Play Magazine

The Ontario Hockey Federation’s (OHF) Minor Council met on Friday April 29^th to discuss the minor programs and among the topics was body checking in recreational hockey.

The OHF Minor Council unanimously endorsed the following motion:

Effective the 2011 – 2012 season body checking will be removed from all age divisions of House League and House League Select hockey.

House League and House League Select make up the majority of the OHF playing membership.  The majority of House League hockey was already non body checking, which made it practical to standardize the rule across the entire membership.  The extension of this decision to House League Select was similarly practical since Select teams are formed out of House League registered hockey players.

The OHF continues to review the delivery of all levels of hockey in order to create a safe and fun environment for all of its participants.  Removing body checking at House League and House League Select is a positive decision for player recruitment and safety. 

The removal creates a safer environment for new players that join the game at any age to develop the fundamental skills of skating and puck handling without the concern of being intentionally hit by another player. 

At the end of the day hockey is a sport intended to give health benefits and life lessons to participants, and the OHF wants to highlight these core attributes of the game. With this new rule change, more players and parents will feel safer in these leagues and bring the focus back to the basics of the ‘good old hockey game’.

The OHF is one of three Hockey Canada Branches operating in the Province of Ontario and is the largest of all thirteen across Canada. The OHF is comprised of seven Member Partners and has a membership base that represents over forty percent of Hockey Canada.  

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