Canada needed a response after a miserable 48 hours.
Connor Bedard — as he’s done so often in his young career — delivered with lethal precision.
The 17-year-old phenom had a hat trick and four assists Wednesday as the host county got back on track at the world junior hockey championship with an emphatic 11-2 victory over Germany.
“Unbelievable game,” Canadian captain Shane Wright said. “Pretty crazy what he’s doing out there. Special night.”
It certainly was.
Bedard’s seven-point performance tied a single-game Canadian record on a night the favourites at the men’s under-20 showcase needed a response following Monday’s embarrassing 5-2 loss to Czechia.
“It’s cool,” the presumptive No. 1 pick at the 2023 NHL draft said of joining Dave Andreychuk (1983), Brenden Morrow (1999), Mike Cammalleri (2002) and Gabriel Bourque (2010) on Canada’s seven-point list. “But that’s not a huge deal for me. It’s good to get the win.
“I got a couple of pretty lucky ones. Just one of those nights.”
Connor Bedard leads Canada past Germany at the World Junior Championship
Projected number 1 draft pick, Connor Bedard scores 3 goals and has 4 assists leading Canada to an 11-2 victory over Team Germany at the World Junior Championship.
Bedard now has 12 goals all-time at the world juniors, two back of Jordan Eberle’s national record.
“I’ll text him saying he’s got a guy on his heels,” Wright said of Eberle, his teammate with the NHL’s Seattle Kraken. “Don’t think we’ll be focused on that a lot, but it’s gonna be special if he hits those along the way.”
“He was on fire … shot was unreal,” Canadian head coach Dennis Williams added of Bedard. “His creativity and his poise … a great night.
“He led the way.”
Dylan Guenther also had a hat trick — all off Bedard passes — while Logan Stankoven added a goal and two assists.
Wright, Brandt Clarke and Joshua Roy, with a goal and an assist each, and Zack Ostapchuk also scored.
Olen Zellweger chipped in with three assists as Williams shook up three of his forward lines — including splitting up Bedard and Wright — after a disconnected and disjointed effort against the Czechs.
“We came much more determined,” said the coach. “Played tighter as a group.”
Thomas Milic made 14 saves in his first world junior start for Canada. Roman Kechter and Philip Sinn replied for Germany, which got 30 stops from Simon Wolf before he was replaced by Rihards Babulis for the third period in a mercy pull. Babulis finished with 11 saves.
“We were pretty hungry,” Bedard said. “That was a huge way to come back.”
Austria up next
Canada, which improved to 16-0 all-time against the Germans, will now quickly pivot to face Austria — outscored 20-0 through its two tournament games — Thursday back at Scotiabank Centre.
Coming off a 1-0 defeat Tuesday to Sweden, Germany is off Thursday before a Friday meeting with Austria.
A talent-rich team loaded with nine first-round NHL draft picks, plus Bedard and fellow high-end prospect Adam Fantilli, Canada was stunned by the Czechs in an uninspired curtain-raiser that left the powerhouse nation searching for answers.
That included players questioning their own readiness and preparation, while Fantilli and Bedard each attempted and failed “The Michigan” lacrosse-style move early — sequences viewed afterwards as symptomatic of the Canadians’ loose approach against an underdog opponent.
There would be no repeat.
“We didn’t change our game based on what the score was,” Guenther said. “I love that … that was awesome.”
DYLAN GUENTHER HAT TRICK!!! ????????????<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/WorldJuniors?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#WorldJuniors</a><a href=”https://t.co/UL7i4K4yUY”>pic.twitter.com/UL7i4K4yUY</a>
The Arizona Coyotes forward opened things on a power play in the first period off a Bedard feed before when Ketcher snapped a shot through Milic.
Wright was credited with his second goal of the tournament on another man advantage when a German defender swept the puck into his own net.
Bedard, who had four goals in an 11-2 victory over Austria one year ago to the day before that tournament was shelved by COVID-19, made it 3-1 when he took a stretch pass and ripped a shot past Wolf, and got another early in the second on a goaltending miscue.
“We were a lot more focused,” Wright said. “We knew we had to respond after last game’s effort.”
Wright said Bedard could probably put up a couple points a night in the NHL right now.
“Incredible,” said the No. 4 pick at the 2022 draft. “Haven’t seen many individual performances like that. Pretty special.”
Added Guenther: “He’s gonna be an impact player there, I assume, right away.”
Bedard roofed his hat trick goal on another power play through a screen before Rayan Bettahar was assessed a match penalty and ejected for an illegal check to the head on Fantilli.
Canada’s Adam Fantilli, centre, is hit by Germany’s Rayan Bettahar during the second period in Halifax on Wednesday. (Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press)
That’s when the floodgates really opened.
Guenther scored his second on a slick Bedard feed to make it 6-1 and Clarke blasted a one-timer off a German defender.
Bedard then set up Guenther for his third on the same man advantage and Stankoven added another late in the period for a 9-1 lead through 40 minutes.
Ostapchuk made it 10-1 early in the third before Bedard assisted on Roy’s goal for his seventh point of the evening.
Sinn got a late consolation goal on a German power play to close out a night that saw Canada recalibrate after an uncomfortable two days.
“That’s how we play hockey,” Wright said. “All three periods — all 60 minutes — that was Team Canada hockey. We were expecting a bounce-back game and that’s exactly we got.
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
MacKenzie Weegar wasn’t bitter or upset as he watched friends live out their dreams.
The Calgary Flames defenceman just hopes to experience the same feeling one day. He also knows the road leading to that moment, if it does arrive, will likely be long and winding — much like his own path.
A seventh-round pick by the Florida Panthers at the 2013 NHL draft, Weegar climbed the ranks to become an important piece of a roster that captured the Presidents’ Trophy as the league’s top regular-season club in 2021-22.
Two months later following a second-round playoff exit, he was traded to the Flames along with Jonathan Huberdeau for Matthew Tkachuk. And less than two years after that, the Panthers were hoisting the Stanley Cup.
“Happy for the city and for the team,” Weegar said of Florida’s June victory over the Edmonton Oilers. “There was no bad taste in my mouth.”
His sole focus, he insists, is squarely on eventually getting the Flames to the same spot. The landscape, however, has changed drastically since Weegar committed to Calgary on an eight-year, US$50-million contract extension in October 2022.
Weegar has watched a list that includes goaltender Jacob Markstrom, defencemen Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin and Nikita Zadorov and forwards Elias Lindholm and Andrew Mangiapane shipped out of town since the start of last season — largely for picks, prospects and young players as part of a rebuild.
Despite that exodus, he remains committed to the Calgary project steered by general manager Craig Conroy.
“It’s easy to get out of all whack when you see guys trying to leave or wanting new contracts,” the 30-year-old from Ottawa said at last week’s NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas. “I just focus on where I am and where I want to be, and that’s Calgary.
“I believe in this team. The city has taken me in right away. I feel like I owe it to them to stick around and grind through these years and get a Stanley Cup.”
The hard-nosed blueliner certainly knows what it is to grind.
After winning the Memorial Cup alongside Nathan MacKinnon with the Halifax Mooseheads in 2013, Weegar toiled in the ECHL and American Hockey League for three seasons before making his NHL debut late in the 2016-17 campaign with the Panthers.
He would spend the next five years in South Florida as one of the players tasked with shifting an organizational culture that had experienced little success over the previous two decades.
“There’s always going to be a piece of my heart and loyalty to that team,” Weegar said. “But now I’m in a different situation … I compete against all 32 teams, not just Florida. There’s always a chip on my shoulder every single year.”
Weegar set career highs with 20 goals — eight was the most he had ever previously registered — and 52 points in 2023-24 as part of a breakout offensive performance.
“I think my buddies cared a lot more than I did,” he said with a smile. “All I hear is, ‘fantasy, fantasy, fantasy.'”
Weegar was actually more proud of his 200 blocked shots and 194 hits as he looks to help set a new Flames’ standard alongside Huberdeau, captain Mikael Backlund, Nazem Kadri, Blake Coleman and Rasmus Andersson for a franchise expected to have its new arena in time for the 2027-28 season.
“You have to build that culture and that belief in the locker room,” said Weegar, who pointed to 22-year-old centre Connor Zary as a player set to pop. “Those young guys are going to have to come into their own and be consistent every night … they’re the next generation.”
Weegar, however, isn’t punting on 2024-25. He pointed to the NHL’s parity and the fact a couple of teams surprise every season.
It’s the same approach that took him from the ECHL a decade ago to hockey’s premier pre-season event inside a swanky hotel on Sin City’s famed strip, where he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the game’s best.
“From the outside — media and even friends and family — the expectations are probably a bit lower,” Weegar said of Calgary’s outlook. “But there’s no reason to think that we can’t make playoffs and we can’t be a good team (with) that underdog mentality.
“You never know.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept 17, 2024.
Jose Maria Celestino da Costa was named vice-president and head of soccer operations while Marianne Brooks was appointed vice-president of partnerships, Kelly Shouldice as vice-president of brand and content and Joyce Sou as vice-president of finance and business operations.
The new six-team women’s pro league is set to kick off in April.
“Their unique expertise and leadership are crucial as we lay the foundation for not just a successful league in Canada, but one that stands among the top sports leagues in the world,” NSL president Christina Litz said in a statement. “By investing in top-tier talent and infrastructure, the Northern Super League is committed to creating a league that will elevate the game and set new standards for women’s professional soccer globally.”
Da Costa will oversee all on-field matters, including officiating. His resume includes stints with Estoril Praia, a men’s first-division team in Portugal, and the Portuguese Soccer Federation, where he helped develop the Portuguese women’s league.
Brooks spent a decade with Canucks Sports & Entertainment, working in “partnership sales and retention efforts” for the Vancouver Canucks, Vancouver Warriors, and Rogers Arena. Most recently, she served as senior director of account management at StellarAlgo, a software company that helps pro sports teams connect with their fans
Shouldice has worked for Corus Entertainment, the Canadian Football League, and most recently as vice-president of Content and Communications at True North Sports & Entertainment, where she managed original content as well as business and hockey communications.
Sou, who was involved in the league’s initial launch, will oversee financial planning, analysis and the league’s expansion strategy in her new role.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
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