Canadian goalie Dylan Garand has long been awaiting this golden opportunity.
More than 18 months after losing to the U.S. in the finals at the 2021 world junior hockey championship, he once again has a chance to help Canada capture the tournament’s top prize.
“It’s exciting to be at this moment now. But the hardest work is ahead,” Garand said Friday after backstopping his team to a 5-2 semifinal win over Czechia, the country commonly known as the Czech Republic.
“We’ve got to do the right things here, get the right rest, recovery and be ready to go.”
Canada (6-0-0) will face either Finland (4-1-0) or Sweden (4-1-0) in Saturday’s gold-medal matchup. The two sides will meet in the second semifinal on Friday.
Garand stopped 31-of-33 shots on Friday, and one longtime teammate believes he has more to give heading into the tournament’s ultimate bout.
“He’s been steady and solid all the way through. … He’s just so focused and ready to go every game,” said Logan Stankoven, who’s played three seasons with Garand for the Kamloops Blazers in the Western Hockey League.
“There’s momentum changes throughout the game and we’re going to need him to make some big stops tomorrow, no matter who we play.”
Stankoven had a goal and an assist in the semifinal, and was one of seven players to hit the scoresheet for Canada.
Kent Johnson had a goal and two assists while Connor Bedard, Mason McTavish and Joshua Roy also scored and Olen Zellweger added three helpers.
Czech captain Jan Mysak got his side on the board midway through the third period and added an assist on David Jiricek’s power-play tally later in the frame. Jiri Kulich helped on both goals.
Goalie Tomas Suchanek made 22 saves for Czechia (2-3-1) before being replaced by Pavel Cajan to start the third period. Cajan stopped eight shots in relief.
Czechia was coming off a massive 4-2 upset victory over the reigning champion Americans in Wednesday’s quarterfinals. Canada earned its spot in the semis with a 6-3 win over Switzerland the same day.
The undefeated Canadians jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second period on Friday before the Czechs roared back in the third.
The Canadians restored their three-goal advantage with 5:34 left on the clock when Roy swept a low shot in through Cajan’s pads.
Czechia had whittled the deficit to 4-2 with a power-play tally 12:44 into the third.
Jiricek unleashed a long bomb from inside the blue line, sailing the puck through traffic and beating Garand glove side.
The Czechs got on the board midway through the third when Mysak sent a shot through the Canadian netminder for his fifth goal of the tournament.
“They’re a good team and they didn’t really get away from their game at all,” Stankoven said of the Czechs.
Looking to make up some ground in the final period, Czechia swapped netminders replacing Suchanek with Cajan coming out of the second intermission.
Canada wasn’t happy with its second period, either, Garand said.
“We didn’t play our best for the first 15 minutes there and then had a good five minutes,” he said. “We knew it wasn’t our best and we wanted to really clean it up and have a good third period.”
Canada’s second power-play goal of the day came 16:21 into the second after Czechia’s Stepan Nemec was called for slashing.
McTavish capitalized, uncorking a one-timer from the faceoff circle that went in off the crossbar, boosting Canada’s lead to 4-0.
McTavish leads the tournament in scoring with 15 points (eight goals, seven assists).
A penalty for too many men also cost the Czechs in the second.
With Czech forward Tomas Urban in the penalty box, Johnson picked up a loose puck along the boards and sliced it up the ice to Stankoven for a breakaway.
The Canadian Hockey League player of the year took a few strides then blasted a shot past Suchanek from the hash marks to give Canada a 3-0 at the 11:28 mark.
Canada was 2-for-3 on the power play Friday while Czechia went 1-for-2.
The Czechs came into the second with renewed fire and outshot the Canadians 8-0 over the first five minutes of the period.
Garand was forced to make a solid pad save 3:55 into the frame after a defensive breakdown gave Czechia’s Jakub Kos a prime opportunity in tight.
Canada took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission after Bedard put away the country’s second goal of the day late in the opening period.
Nathan Gaucher sliced the puck through the neutral zone, springing the 17-year-old phenom for a breakaway. Bedard capped the play with a blistering shot past Suchanek glove side, giving the host nation a 2-0 cushion 15:20 into the game.
The goal was Bedard’s fourth of the tournament.
Suchanek made a brilliant diving stop on Tyson Foerster’s backhand shot midway through the first to keep the game scoreless.
The Czech netminder couldn’t get a hand on to the puck, though, and Johnson wasted no time firing it in from the top of the crease to open the scoring 10:04 into the opening frame.
Johnson has two goals in the tournament — both against the Czechs.
Canada isn’t concerned about who they’ll come up against in the gold-medal game, said head coach Dave Cameron.
“Both are real good teams,” he said. “It should be a dandy game. It doesn’t matter who we face, it’s going to be a battle tomorrow.”
NOTES: Canada was playing without forward Ridly Greig, who suffered an apparent shoulder injury early in the quarterfinal win over Switzerland. Riley Kidney slotted back into the lineup after being a healthy scratch for four straight games. … Canada beat Czechia 5-1 in the preliminary round. … Czechia has not won a medal at the world juniors since 2005 when they took home bronze.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
