CAMROSE, AB – For the first time in the three-year history of the World Junior A Challenge, the gold medal game will not be an all-Canadian affair.Canada West vs. BelarusEleven different players recorded points and goaltender Mike Lee made 23 saves as the United States advanced to Sunday’s championship game (6 p.m. MST) with a 5-1 win over Canada East in Saturday’s first semifinal.
The U.S. has a chance to improve on last year’s bronze medal after defeating the team that had won silver at the previous two WJACs.
Winners 5-3 over Canada East in the preliminary round, the Americans took the lead after just 88 seconds when Josh Balch redirected a shot from Lee Moffie under the pad of Canada East netminder Andrew Hare.
The Canadians tied the score, and returned the favour, six minutes later as Stephen Horyl deftly tipped a David Pratt point shot past Lee to draw the Canadians even, exciting the crowd of 1,525 at the Edgeworth Centre.
But the Americans would strike once more before the period was out, as Matt Donovan blasted a shot from the point past Hare to give the U.S. the lead after 20 minutes.
The American offence picked up steam in the second period, firing 15 shots at Hare, and was rewarded twice.
Josh Birkholz scored the Americans’ third goal when he took a pass from Matt White and snapped a shot past the Canadian goaltender, and David Gerths made it 4-1 when he tried to centre the puck on a U.S. powerplay, only to see it carom back onto his stick, leaving him with a yawning cage into which he scored his third goal of the tournament.
The Canadians failed to mount any sort of a comeback in the final frame, and Donovan rounded out the scoring with just over three minutes to go with his second goal of the game.
The loss means that Canada East will not play in the gold medal game for the first time – it will meet the loser of Saturday’s second semifinal between Canada West and Belarus in Sunday’s bronze medal game (1 p.m. MST).
Russia also defeated Germany in the 5th place game.CAMROSE, AB – The quest for a three-peat is still alive for Canada West at the 2008 World Junior A Challenge.
Brodie Reid scored a pair of powerplay goals as Canada West moved into Sunday’s gold medal game with a 4-1 win over Belarus in Saturday semifinal action.
The Canadians will face the United States in the final (6 p.m. MST, live on TSN2), the first time in the three-year history of the tournament that it will not be an all-Canadian finale.
Cole Wilson also scored for Canada West, who outshot the Belarussians 43-22, including 32-13 over the final 40 minutes.
Upset by Belarus 4-3 in a shootout in the tournament’s opening game last Sunday, Canada West hit the board first with a two-man advantage just past the midway point of the first period when Reid gathered in a rebound and beat goaltender Vitali Bialinski.
Canada West held an 11-9 advantage in shots on goal over the first 20 minutes, but Reid’s goal was the only one of the period.
Still riding some of the momentum of its quarter-final victory over Germany on Thursday, Belarus drew even 7:56 into the second period as Mikalai Susla’s shot snuck through the pads of Canadian netminder Kevin Genoe and was inadvertently pushed into the Canadian goal by defenceman Matt Grassi, who was trying to clear the line.
But Reid struck again to restore the Canada West lead just over three minutes after Susla’s marker, tipping a point shot from Dylan Olsen through the legs of Bialinski.
With the Canadians pouring on the pressure late in the second period – they outshot the Belarussians 20-7 in the frame – Wilson converted a feed from Rylan Schwartz to give Canada West a little insurance.
Denver Manderson rounded out the scoring on another Canadian two-man advantage in the third period, giving him a goal to go with a pair of assists.
Belarus’ loss sends it to Sunday’s bronze medal game (1 p.m. MST), where it faces Canada East.
(Nathan also is a writer for Maineiacs Post to Post and the Maine Hockey Journal. He can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)
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