Canada unleashed a torrent of five goals within a seven-minute burst in the first period, cruising to a decisive 9-2 victory against Slovakia to kick off their gold medal defense from last year. The triumph preserved Canada’s unblemished record, maintaining a flawless 13-0 streak against Slovakia, even with just 16 players suited up for the game. Canadian team officials are keeping a close eye on the CHL playoffs and are poised to bolster the roster in the coming days.
Vancouver Giant’s Cameron Schmidt opens up the scoring for Canada to make it a 1-0 game at 12:34 of the first period while on the Power Play. The assists on the goal went to Thornhill, Ontario native Lev Katzin and Seattle Thunderbird Braeden Cootes.– Canada didn’t get its first goal until 12:34, but as it turned out that opener loosened up the Canadian offence. Lev Katzin found Cameron Schmidt in front on a power play to make it 1-0.
Guelph Storm’s Lev Katzin sniped a Power Play marker to make it 2-0 at 16:15 of the first period. The assists on the goal went to Prince George, BC native Cameron Schmidt and Brady Martin.– Less than four minutes later, another man advantage succeeded. This time, Katzin finished the play after a clever back pass in the slot by captain Braeden Cootes.
Tri City Americans Jackson Smith makes it a 3-0 game for Canada at 17:11 of the first period. The assists on the goal went to Cameron Schmidt and Niagara Ice Dog’s Ryan Roobroeck.–Just 56 seconds later it was 3-0 on a weird play. The puck came in front of the Slovak goal and took a ridiculous path to the red line. It bounced off the stick of goalie Michal Pradel, then off the stick of Canadian Jackson Smith. From there it bobbled high, hit the crossbar, bounced off Pradel’s back, and landed over the goal line.
Red Deer Rebel’s Matthew Gard made it a 4-0 Canada game at 18:12 of the first period while Canada was on the Power Play. The helpers on the goal went to Chicoutimi’s Alex Huang and Niagara Ice Dog Ethan Czata.
Ryan Lin made it a 5-0 game for the Canadians at 19:46 of the first period. The assists on the goal went to Braeden Cootes and Brady Martin.– After a turnover at the Canada blue line, Cootes fed Ryan Lin on an odd-man rush, ending a period the Slovaks would like to forget.
Shots on goal in the first period were 16-8 for the Canadians and after the first period marked the end of Slovak netminder Michel Pradel’s night. He was then replaced by Samuel Hrenak
Cameron Schmidt scored his second goal of the night on the Power Play to make it 6-0 Canada at 17:06 of the second period. The helpers on the goal went to Alex Huang and Ethan Czata.– Canada made it 6-0 on the goal of the tournament so far. Schmidt dangled into the Slovak end, drew a defender out of his jock and outwaited Hrenak before slipping the puck into the open net at 17:06.
HK Nitra’s Tomas Chrenko got the Slovaks on the board at 18:10 of the second period. The helpers on the goal went to Adam Nemec and Andreas Straka. Chrenko was selected by the Kitchener Rangers in the 2024 CHL Import draft.
Shots on goal in the second period were 10-7 for Canada.
Tomas Chernko got his second goal of the night making it a 6-2 game with the assist on the goal going to Adam Kalman.
Quinn Beauchesne shot one from the point to make it a 7-2 game at 5:31 of the third period. The assists on the goal went to Blainville Armada’s Xavier Villeneuve and Edmonton Oil Kings Lukas Sawchyn
Braeden Cootes made it an 8-2 game at 6:01 of the third period with the assist going to Brady Martin.
Braeden Cootes gets his second goal of the game to make it 9-2 at 7:26 of the third period. Unassisted.
Shots on goal in the third period were 14-9 for Canada. Canada outshot the Slovaks 40-24 in the game.
For Canada Brampton Steelheads Jack Ivankovic made 22 saves on the 24 shots that he faced for the win. For the Slovaks Michal Pradel made 11 saves on the 16 shots he faced in the first period. He was replaced by Samuel Hrenak who made 20 saves on the 24 shots that he faced.
Player of the game for Canada was Braden Cootes for Slovakia was Tomas Chrenko. They both received what looked like a cowboy boot on a plague. Texas theme. Looked pretty cool actually.
Canadas next game is Friday April 25th against Latvia
There are apparently more players joining the team soon.
Wednesday’s Scores
