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Fans ecstatic after Canada world junior gold in Halifax

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The crowd at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax was buzzing on Thursday night after Canada’s gold-medal win over Czech Republic at the world junior hockey championship.

Dylan Guenther netted the game-winner goal at 6:22 of overtime to give the Canadian team a 3-2 victory after the Czechs scored two goals late in the third period to tie the game.

“Golden goal, can’t ask for more,” said one fan who drove down from Moncton to watch the final.

Hundreds of Halifax fans gathered in sub-zero temperatures to watch the game on screens outside the Halifax Convention Centre, a few blocks from the arena.

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After Canada clinched the gold medal, fireworks lit up the sky near Halifax’s Town Clock, just across the street from the arena.

A couple from Toronto said they were in Halifax for the last two rounds of the tournament and were ecstatic to see Canada finish on top.

“How else can you feel? Canada won gold,” one of them said. “Couldn’t ask for a better win.”

This Toronto couple says they are ecstatic that their trip to the world junior championship ended with Canada winning gold. (Robert Guertin/CBC)

The fan celebrations extended across the country, including an impromptu parade in the Nunavut community of Baker Lake.

Canada earned a spot in the final after handing the U.S. a 6-2 loss in the semifinal on Wednesday.

The red and white went undefeated after losing the tournament opener to the Czech Republic 5-2 on Boxing Day.

After two periods, Canada was positioned to exact revenge with a 2-0 lead. But the Czechs rallied with two goals 54 seconds apart.

Halifax and Moncton offered to host the 2023 tournament after it was taken away from Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. The Russian team was also banned from competing.

Scotiabank Centre in Halifax set an attendance record during Canada’s semifinal match against the U.S. on Wednesday with 10,636 people in the stands. An attendance number has not yet been released for the gold-medal game.

Canada has now won back-to-back gold medals after defeating Finland in August to win the 2022 world junior championship, which had been postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak at the tournament in December 2021.

Economic boost for Halifax, Moncton

Halifax Mayor Mike Savage said it was important to have the tournament return after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Hockey Canada scandal.

“I think that this was, in many ways, a coming out, a re-emergence of junior hockey and the importance of hockey to this country. Halifax and Moncton were great hosts and it was a really great couple of weeks here in these cities,” Savage said Friday.

The Halifax Regional Municipality spent $1 million on the tournament, while the province spent $2 million.

Savage said the benefits of hosting the tournament outweighs the cost.

“Events like this create a vibrancy in the city that makes people want to visit, but also eventually makes people want to live here and invest here, and so it couldn’t really have been better.”

Patrick Sullivan, the president and CEO of the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, estimates an economic impact of $50 million for the two host cities.

Much of that came from the influx of people booking hotel rooms and eating at restaurants, at a time when business is usually slow.

“This [tournament] extended the season right up until probably this weekend,” Sullivan said Friday.

Sullivan said just before the tournament, there were more than 8,000 hotel rooms booked around Halifax and restaurants were expected to see a 75 per cent increase in business compared to their typical season.

“It’s been a very, very good event for Halifax.”

 

Fans ecstatic after Canada world junior gold in Halifax

31 minutes ago

Duration 3:06

The crowd at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax was buzzing on Thursday night after Canada’s dramatic gold-medal win over Czech Republic at the world junior hockey championship.

 

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Canucks place goalie Thatcher Demko on long-term injured list

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The Vancouver Canucks have placed all-star goalie Thatcher Demko on the long-term injured reserve list retroactively.

“It’s just cap related,” coach Rick Tocchet said after practice Wednesday. “We get some cap relief, that’s all it is.”

The 28-year-old netminder has been considered week to week since being sidelined with a lower-body injury midway through Vancouver’s 5-0 win over the Winnipeg Jets on March 9.

That injury designation hasn’t changed, Tocchet said.

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Demko boasts a 34-18-2 record this season, with a .917 save percentage, a 2.47 goals-against average and five shutouts.

Casey DeSmith has taken over the starting job for Vancouver, going 3-2-1 since Demko’s injury. He has a .899 save percentage on the season with a 2.73 goals-against average and one shutout.

The earliest Demko could be back in the Canucks’ lineup is April 6 against the Kings in Los Angeles.

He’s expected to be a key piece as Vancouver (45-19-8) prepares for its first playoff appearance since the COVID-shortened 2019-20 campaign.

Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin also announced Wednesday that the club has called up forward Arshdeep Bains from the Abbotsford Canucks of the American Hockey League.

“I’d like to see where [Bains is] at,” Tocchet said, noting he isn’t sure whether the 23-year-old winger will slot into the lineup when the Canucks host the Dallas Stars on Thursday.

WATCH | Bains makes NHL debut

 

Surrey, B.C.’s Arshdeep Bains makes Canucks debut

1 month ago

Duration 2:20

Arshdeep Bains from Surrey, B.C., has made his NHL debut with the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday night against the Colorado Avalanche. As CBC’s Joel Ballard reports, it’s been a hard-fought journey for the hometown kid to the big leagues.

Bains played five games for the NHL team in February before being sent back to Abbotsford.

“He went down, he’s done a couple of things that we like, and he’s got some speed,” Tocchet said.

Vancouver may get another forward back in the lineup Thursday.

Dakota Joshua practised in a full-contact jersey on Wednesday for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury in Vancouver’s 4-2 win over the Blackhawks in Chicago on Feb. 13.

The physical winger, who’s set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, has a career-high 26 points (13 goals, 13 assists) this season.

Sitting out injured “hasn’t been fun,” Joshua said.

“It feels like forever,” he said. “But at this point, that’s behind me and I’m moving forward.”

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Senators score 5 in 1st, cruise past Sabres

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“I thought that we were ready to go,” Ottawa coach Jacques Martin said. “We got some pucks at the net, we got people at the net. Took advantage of our opportunities and, I think, built a nice lead. And then I thought, in the third period, we continued again. Our goaltending was good. Made some key saves. But I thought we shut them down in the third period good.”

Shane Pinto had a goal and three assists, and Brady Tkachuk, Boris Katchouk, Jakob Chychrun and Drake Batherson each had a goal and an assist for the Senators (31-36-4), who have won three in a row. Korpisalo made 34 saves.

“If you want to win, you need balance,” Pinto said. “And we had that tonight and it’s going to be big for the back-to-back tomorrow (against the Chicago Blackhawks) to have that same thing. So, going to need all the guys on board.”

JJ Peterka and Connor Clifton scored for the Sabres (34-34-5), who have lost four of six. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen allowed four goals on nine shots before he was replaced by Devon Levi, who made 31 saves in relief.

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“We wanted, I guess, to play as individuals,” Clifton said. “I’m disappointed we let ‘Upie’ down, he’s the heart and soul of this team. He’s kept us in so many games, and just to not show up and play that careless style, give them freebies all over the place. … Yeah, obviously, the first 20 really dictated the rest of the game.”

Artem Zub gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 2:37 of the first period. He stuffed in a loose puck on the goal line after Katchouk’s shot was redirected by Mark Kastelic between Luukkonen’s pads.

Katchouk made it 2-0 at 4:56, tipping Parker Kelly’s shot from the top of the right face-off circle past Luukkonen.

“It’s keeping the consistency with good effort, right habits,” Katchouk said. “The small things matter so much in this game. And obviously, it worked out tonight with the tip. But kudos to my linemates. ‘Kels’ and ‘Kassy,’ they worked hard to get the puck as well. Those two battle hard every night as well. We feed off each other, and it’s good to play with them.”

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Vasilevskiy stops 23 as surging Lightning beat Bruins – Sportsnet.ca

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