After four preliminary games, Team Canada appears to have found their identity.
“They’re a real strong opponent but we played our best game so far,” Dylan Cozens said following Team Canada’s 4-1 win over Team Finland on Thursday night. “We reloaded hard on pucks and they had a tough time getting out of their zone, that was all because of our track.”
Cozens scored twice as Canada dominated the Finns to close out Group ‘A’ action at the World Juniors in Edmonton.
With earlier games against a short-staffed Team Germany and an underwhelming Team Switzerland squad resulting in routs, Finland represented Canada’s toughest challenge to date.
Apart from a push back in the third period, Finland had no answer for a dominant forechecking Canadian squad for much of the night.
“At the start of the game we weren’t ready at all. Team Canada was so good,” Finnish head coach Antti Pennanen said. “They played with high speed that it was a high-demanding game for us.”
Devon Levi made 18 saves for Canada (4-0-0-0), who will face the Czech Republic in quarterfinal action at the World Juniors on Saturday.
Dylan Holloway and Peyton Krebs also had goals for Canada.
Brad Lambert scored the lone goal for Finland (3-0-0-1). His goal snapped Levi’s shutout streak of 106:29.
Kari Piiroinen made 36 saves for Finland.
Cozens opened the scoring with his fifth goal of the tournament. Canada was on a 3-on-2 while on the attack. Cozens elected to keep it and beat Piiroinen for a 1-0 lead at 3:49 of the first period.
Canada has scored in the opening five minutes in all four preliminary games in the tournament.
Finland was slow to establish any form of attack. Their first shot on goal came at 9:48 of the opening frame.
Canada outshot Finland 17-1 after 20 minutes, but only led 1-0 after the first period. The Canadians also failed to capitalize on a pair of power-play opportunities.
“I’m not going to lie, I would have loved to be up by a few goals,” Canada head coach Andre Tourigny said of the period. “But up 1-0 the only thing on my mind was we need to keep playing that way. Don’t change a thing.”
The second period was similar to that of the first.
Holloway made it 2-0 Canada when he deflected a shot from Jakob Pelletier. Braden Schneider picked up the second assist at 6:54.
Krebs gave Canada a 3-0 lead when he picked up the rebound from Bowen Byram’s point shot. Connor Zary picked up the second assist at 12:58.
Canada continued to outpace Finland as they outshot them 18-6 after 40 minutes.
Finland got its first power play of the game in the third period, and they cashed in on the opportunity when Lambert’s shot went off Canada’s Thomas Harley and beat Levi for a goal. Topi Niemela and Juuso Parssinen picked up assists at 5:05.
Finland continued to press as Canada shifted to a defensive mode to hold onto the lead.
Cozens scored his second goal of the game with an empty-netter at 18:43 to ice it for Canada.
Dubbed as the ‘Workhorse from Whitehorse’, Cozens has stood out as Canada’s most consistent player at the World Juniors. His speed and two-way ability has helped carry Canada’s offence. With its captain, Kirby Dach, unavailable to the team after suffering a broken wrist in pre-tournament play against Team Russia, Cozens has become a leader on the scoresheet and in the dressing room.
“He competes and he wants it, he wants to be a difference maker,” Tourigny said of Cozens. “Now he has the maturity to stay with it.”
Apart from some issues on the power-play (0-for-5), Canada put on a dominant performance that should put the remaining teams on notice. Despite an impressive outing against the Finns, there doesn’t appear to be any overconfidence from Canada heading into the knockout stages.
“The Czech (Republic) did us a favour by beating the Russians,” Tourigny said, “They showed us how good they can be.”
NOTES: Canada forward Alex Newhook left the game at the start of the second period. Newhook appeared to favour his shoulder after a collision with Finnish defenceman Eemil Viro in the first period. Newhook returned to the bench for the start of the second period, but went back to the dressing room and did not return. An update on Newhook’s status is expected on Friday, according to Tourigny… With Schneider’s assist, every skater on Canada’s roster has recorded at least one point.
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion, led the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan vote her first year on the ballot — an important part to possible selection to the hall’s next class.
The organization released the voting results on Friday. American doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan finished second with Canada’s Daniel Nestor third.
The Hall of Fame said tens of thousands of fans from 120 countries cast ballots. Fan voting is one of two steps in the hall’s selection process. The second is an official group of journalists, historians, and Hall of Famers from the sport who vote on the ballot for the hall’s class of 2025.
“I am incredibly grateful to the fans all around the world who supported me during the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan votes,” Sharapova said in a statement. “It is a tremendous honor to be considered for the Hall of Fame, and having the fans’ support makes it all the more special.”
Sharapova became the first Russian woman to reach No. 1 in the world. She won Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. She also won the French Open twice, in 2012 and 2014.
Sharapova was also part of Russia’s championship Fed Cup team in 2008 and won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
To make the hall, candidates must receive 75% or higher on combined results of the official voting group and additional percentage from the fan vote. Sharapova will have an additional three percentage points from winning the fan vote.
The Bryans, who won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, will have two additional percentage points and Nestor, who won eight Grand Slam doubles titles, will get one extra percentage point.
The hall’s next class will be announced late next month.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road had a blood-alcohol level of .087, above the .08 legal limit in New Jersey, a prosecutor said Friday.
Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, were killed in Carneys Point, New Jersey, on Aug. 29, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a virtual court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that he be held for trial after prosecutors described a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.
“’You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And you don’t listen to me, instead you just yell at me,’” his wife told Higgins when he called her from jail after his arrest, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn of Salem County.
The defense described Higgins as a married father and law-abiding citizen before the crash.
“He’s an empathetic individual and he’s a loving father of two daughters,” said defense lawyer Matthew Portella. “He’s a good person and he made a horrible decision that night.”
Higgins told police he had five or six beers that day and admitted to consuming alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint. He also failed a field sobriety test, the complaint said. A prosecutor on Friday said he had been drinking at home after finishing a work call at about 3 p.m., and having an upsetting conversation with his mother about a family matter.
He then had a two-hour phone call with a friend while he drove around in his Jeep with an open container, Flynn said. He had been driving aggressively behind a sedan going just above the 50 mph speed limit, sometimes tailgating, the female driver told police.
When she and the vehicle ahead of her slowed down and veered left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right, striking the Gaudreas, the two other drivers told police.
“He indicated he didn’t even see them,” said Superior Court Judge Michael J. Silvanio, who said Higgins’ admitted “impatience” caused two deaths.
Higgins faces up to 20 years, a sentence that the judge said made him a flight risk.
Higgins has a master’s degree, works in finance for an addiction treatment company, and served in combat in Iraq, his lawyers said. However, his wife said he had been drinking regularly since working from home, Flynn said.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.
Widows Meredith and Madeline Gaudreau described their husbands as attached at the hip throughout their lives. Both women are expecting, and both gave moving eulogies at the double funeral on Monday.
