Ice Hockey IIHF World Championships 2017

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2017

 

 

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Quarterfinal

USA - Switzerland  3-2

 

Parsons saves the day

Swiss match Americans in thriller, come up just short

 

Jordan Greenway broke a 2-2 tie with a power-play goal midway through the third period, giving the U.S. a 3-2 win over the Swiss at the Air Canada Centre.

 

But the story of the game was the play of American goaltender Tyler Parsons at the right moments. He stoned Swiss teen sensation Nico Hischier with a great glove save in the dying minutes.

 

Hischier scored both Swiss goals and was the best player on the ice along with defenceman Jonas Siegenthaler, who had 27:24 of ice time.

 

"You can't give a great team like that a power play," Siegenthaler said of the winning goal. "It's just stupid."

 

The United States now advances to the semi-finals against Russia on Wednesday in Montreal. The U.S. beat Russia, 3-2, during the round robin in Toronto.

 

"The crowd was in their favour, and they fed off that," said American forward Jeremy Bracco. "But Parsons was huge in the net for us."

 

"They outplayed us," Colin White admitted, "but good teams find a way to win. Our goalie was awesome, made some big saves. But we didn't prepare as well as we could. We'll learn from that and be ready for Russia."

 

The Swiss are headed home after advancing in impressive fashion to the quarter-finals for the second time in four years.

 

The U.S. has never lost to Switzerland in U20 history, a streak that now includes 21 wins and two ties. Last year, the Americans won, 10-1, chasing tonight’s goalie, Joren van Pottelberghe, from the game.

 

"We had a bad start, but we said we talked about putting more pucks at the net, and we did that," Hischier said. "We always believed we could win. We had a good tournament, and we have a good group of guys. We never gave up. It hurts."

 

"We had a great four games, but we kind of felt it coming," Parsons admitted of the team's overall poor play. "We needed some adversity. This was our worst game of the tournament, but it's big for us moving forward."

 

The Americans started with an intensity too great for the Swiss. Bracco opened the scoring on the power play. He took a nice feed from Troy Terry and beat van Pottelberghe with a quick shot at 8:32.

 

Just two minutes later, they doubled their lead off a play at the top of the crease. Greenaway found captain Luke Kunin in close, and Kunin got just enough of his stick on the puck to push it over the line.

 

The Swiss had a great passing play to create a superb scoring chance for Raphael Prassl, but the puck was rolling and he couldn’t get a good shot on the open side of the goal.

 

Van Pottelberghe made a couple of good saves late in the period to keep it a 2-0 game, and that counted for something when Nico Hischier made it 2-1 just 13 seconds into a power play.

 

Hischier, a top prospect for 2017, made a great deke on Charlie McAvoy to move in on goal and then beat Parsons with a shot to the far side at 10:47.

 

Indeed, the Swiss played a much better period and allowed only two shots by the U.S., taking seven of their own and playing on equal footing for the middle 20 minutes.

 

The Swiss continued their fine play in the third, drawing two penalties early and tying the game, 2-2, on the second one. In a mad scramble around Parsons's goal, Hischier pulled the puck free and executed a quick wraparound at 6:00, stunning the Americans but exciting the pro-Swiss crowd.

 

"Somehow the puck came to me," Hischier described, "so I tried to lift it at the near post, and that didn't work. I saw an opportunity for a wraparound, and it worked, so that was great."

 

The celebration didn't last long. Moments later the Swiss were down a man, and the U.S. regained its lead. McAvoy's point shot dropped in front and Greenway knocked it in to make it 3-2.

 

Late in the period, Hischier had a great chance to tie the game again but Parsons snapped his glove out and denied the Swiss star. "He was there with his glove. It was a good save, but I should have shot higher as well," Hischier said.

 

"I have to make those big saves when the team needs it," Parsons said. "That's what I focus on. There was a deflection, and I followed the puck back over. I know the good players like to get the puck high, so I tried to get my glove and leg up, and fortunately I got a glove on it."

And with that save, the Americans are off to a semi-finals date with Russia, their medal hopes still alive and kicking.

 

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Quarterfinal

Canada - Czech Republic  5-3

 

 

 

 

 

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Quarterfinal

Canada - Czech Republic  5-3

 

Canada to face Sweden in SF

Anxious moments, but hosts top Czechs in QF

 

Julien Gauthier scored twice in the third period to lift Canada to a 5-3 quarter-final win over the Czech Republic and set up a showdown with unbeaten Sweden.

 

It wasn't a picture-perfect performance for the hosts, but it was a big relief to make the final four.

"In the first period we were panicking a little bit, but in the end I think it’s a big win for us," said Gauthier, whose squad trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes despite an 11-4 edge in shots.

 

Canada, with five returning players from last year’s 6-5 quarter-final loss to eventual champion Finland, was hungry to avoid a second consecutive disappointment. The Canadians, who last won gold in Toronto in 2015, also failed to medal in 2013 and 2014.

"It’s obviously better than last year," said captain Dylan Strome. "It feels good to be on the winning side of the quarter-finals. Obviously you’re not satisfied yet, but I think it’s a good step."

The last time Canada faced Sweden in the World Junior playoffs was the 2009 gold medal game in Ottawa, a 5-1 Canadian victory. Sweden won the last two meetings, 6-5 in a shootout on 31 December, 2010, and 5-2 on 31 December, 2015.

"They’re a good team, and we’re going to have to be aware on all sides of the puck," Strome said of the Swedes. "In the offensive zone, they can attack just as quickly as we can."

 

Mitchell Stephens, who missed two games after injuring his ankle versus Latvia, was a force in the quarter-final with a goal and two assists. Blake Speers and Thomas Chabot added a goal and assist apiece, and Anthony Cirelli had two assists.

"I think we can still be better," said Canadian coach Dominique Ducharme. "We were good at times but we need to be better over 60 minutes."

 

David Kase, Tomas Soustal, and Simon Stransky scored for the Czechs.

"If we play Canada ten times we can maybe beat them once or twice," said Czech coach Jakub Petr.

 

Connor Ingram, who was originally projected to back up Carter Hart at this tournament, made his second straight start in net for Canada. The 19-year-old Kamloops Blazers goalie did enough to preserve the win. Canada outshot the Czechs 41-19, testing Czech netminder Jakub Skarek from every angle.

 

With the loss, the Czech Republic finishes sixth. It hasn’t won gold since back-to-back titles in 2000 and 2001. Its last medal was bronze in 2005 -- also the last time it made the semi-finals.

Stransky reflected on the tournament: "We started pretty good against Finland. We won that game. I thought it was going to be good. But then we lost two games against Switzerland and Denmark in overtime. Then Sweden. The key game was against Denmark. It was just unlucky, but we’re going home now."

 

Prior to this game, Canada had won eight of the last nine games against the Czechs. The Czechs, however, won the previous encounter, 5-4 in a shootout on 28 December, 2013.

 

Defenceman Kale Clague replaced Philippe Myers on Canada’s top pairing with Chabot. Myers suffered a concussion in the 3-1 New Year’s Eve loss to the Americans.

 

The game got off to a relatively cautious start. Canada was outshooting the Czechs 8-1 when defenceman Noah Juulsen took the game’s first penalty for delay of game midway through the first, putting the puck over the glass in his own end. However, Petr’s team didn’t get a shot on goal during the man advantage.

 

With 3:11 left in the first, the Czechs stunned the Bell Centre faithful by taking a 1-0 lead on a flukey play. Captain Filip Hronek’s shot from the side bounced off Adam Musil in front and then hit the referee standing to Ingram’s right. Kase pounced on the loose puck and golfed it into the open side.

"I’ve never seen one go straight to a guy," said Ingram. "I’ve seen it go off a linesman for a breakaway or a 2-on-1 or something like that. But I’ve never seen it cause an open net like that before. That’s something new. It’s going to happen once in a blue moon, I guess."

 

Canada tied it up at 3:45 of the second period when Stephens centered it from the corner to an unguarded Speers, who redirected it through Skarek’s legs for his first World Junior goal.

 

That got the home team and fans fired up, and Stephens made it 2-1 Canada on a set play at 7:27. Anthony Cirelli won a faceoff in the Czech end and the Saginaw Spirit forward one-timed it in before Skarek could move.

Of Stephens, Chabot said: "He’s a guy who’s always working his ass off on the ice. He’s always first on pucks, winning every battle. He’s also a good, fast player. We’re glad to have him back in the lineup."

 

However, the Czechs drew even on their first shot of the middle frame at 8:53. Soustal got the puck past Jake Bean at the Czech blue line, burst down right wing and executed a toe drag around a sprawling Juulsen before zinging it past Ingram’s glove.

 

At 13:32, Chabot made it 3-2. He took a pass from Stephens and stepped in, stickhandling around a sprawling Radek Koblizek before whipping home a low stick-side wrister.

"He’s a fun guy to watch," said Ingram of Chabot, who played one game for the Ottawa Senators this season. "He’s making himself a household name across Canada right now. It’s exciting to see. The guy’s got a ton of skill."

At 3:18 of the third period, Gauthier, a 2015 first-round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes, gave Canada some breathing room at 4-2. Nicolas Roy centered it to Gauthier from behind the net and he surprised Skarek with a quick top-corner shot.

The Czechs had an answer at 5:54. Ingram made a pad save on Necas's turn-around shot, but Stransky deftly backhanded the rebound in. But Gauthier restored Canada's two-goal edge just 43 seconds later, banging in the rebound from Clague's long shot.

"Especially in the second and third, we were hemming them in their D zone," said Stephens. "We had a lot of energy."

In the final minute, Petr pulled his goalie and called his timeout, but it was too late for a Czech comeback. The three best Czech players of the tournament were named post-game: Filip Hronek, Michael Spacek, and David Kase.

Canada has won the World Juniors five out of the 11 times it has hosted (1991, 1995, 2006, 2009, 2015).

 

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Relegation Round Game 1

Finland - Latvia  2-1

HIGHLIGHTS

 

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Quarterfinal

Denmark - Russia  0-4

HIGHLIGHTS

 

 

 

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Quarterfinal

Sweden - Slovakia  8-3

HIGHLIGHTS

 

 

 

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Quarterfinal

USA - Switzerland  3-2

HIGHLIGHTS

 

 

 

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Quarterfinal

Canada - Czech Republic  5-3

HIGHLIGHTS

 

 

 

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Under 20 Top Division World Championships in Canada

 

Day 8 Schedule (3rd January 2017)

(GMT -5)

 

Relegation Round (in Montreal)

17:30  Match 2 - Latvia vs Finland

- Standing after the first match is 1-0 for Finland,

If Finland will win today the relegation round will be over and Latvia will be relegated, if Latvia win we will have a decisive "do or die" 3rd match on Thursday.

 

[Finnator123 292]

1 more game of the tournament for us left.... Hopefully...