Underdog teams held their own against tournament powerhouses on Day 3 of the 2021 World Junior Hockey Championship.
Switzerland hung around for most of the game against Finland, who remained calm and eventually used their power play to pull away for an eventual 4-1 victory.
Slovakia outplayed Canada for large parts of their round robin game, forcing the latter to dig deep in the third period, hold off a late Slovak surge, and win their second game in as many nights.
The Czech Republic shocked Russia with a 2-0 upset win, the most shocking result of the World Juniors so far. The Czechs shut down the Russian offence, kept them to the outsides, and played one of their most complete games in recent memory.
Although there weren’t as many goals scored on this day, there were still several players who stood out for their respective countries. Here are the three best performances from Day 3.
Third Star: Devon Levi, Canada
After exploding offensively in their first game of the tournament, Canada’s second game was almost the complete opposite. Though they didn’t necessarily play poorly, Canada struggled to get anything going against Slovakia after Jordan Spence scored to make it 1-0.
Canada’s second goal didn’t come until under five minutes left in the game, and even then, Slovakia scored late afterwards to make things more interesting.
As Slovakia turned up the gas and forced Canada to defend on the cycle, Canadian goaltender Devon Levi had to be sharp in net. Canada’s defenders were passive in their own end, allowed Slovakia to set up in the offensive zone without much pressure, and at one point in the third, forced Levi to bail out his team on a Slovak power play that nearly saw them tie the game 1-1.
Levi was nearly perfect, though, as Canada escaped for an eventual 3-1 win after playing with fire for most of the game. Levi, who celebrated his 19th birthday with the win, stopped 18 of 19 Slovak shots.
Although the Canadian skaters will likely look to improve their play for future games, it was a relief to see Levi remain dialled in and focused against Slovakia. Levi has cemented his status as Canada’s starting goaltender for the rest of the tournament, and Canada will re-group before facing Switzerland in a couple of days.
Second Star: Anton Lundell, Finland
For the most part, Finland played very well against Switzerland, defeating them 4-1. However, Switzerland opened the scoring first, and Finland could have sat back and let them take over at that point. Instead, Florida Panthers prospect Anton Lundell responded with a goal 36 seconds later to tie the game back up.
The Finnish captain put the team on his back and guided them through the remainder of the game. Finland shut down any more potential offence from the Swiss, and Lundell added another assist on the game’s final goal.
Had Lundell not responded with a tying goal so quickly after Switzerland took the lead, this game could have gone very differently. Instead, Finland took advantage of the tied game to get settled in, get back to playing their game, and dominate the Swiss for their second win of the tournament. Now, Finland will get a couple of days off before wrapping up their round robin with back-to-back games against Slovakia and Canada.
First Star: Lukas Parik, Czech Republic
Ahead of the final game of the night between Russia and the Czech Republic, it was obvious who the underdog would be. However, the Czechs have won three of the last five round robin meetings between them and the Russians, and surely they would make things interesting.
After arguably outplaying Russia in the first period, the Czech Republic managed to keep the game scoreless, in large part to the spectacular play of goaltender Lukas Parik. Parik did not play in the Czechs’ first game, and likely cemented himself as the team’s starting goaltender for the rest of their games with his shutout Sunday.
Parik stopped all 30 Russian shots to deliver the Czech Republic their first win, and stood his ground during multiple Russian power plays, including one in the last minute with Russia down two goals.
He refused to bend after the Czechs were hemmed in their own end for almost a minute and a half in the second period, and maintained his focus after Filip Koffer scored to give the Czech Republic a 1-0 lead.
Tonight was a huge win for the Czech Republic, as they put themselves in a better position to earn a more favourable quarterfinal matchup. It was one of their strongest performances at the World Juniors in recent memory, and it started in goal with Parik.
Parik’s performance gave the Czech Republic the rebound performance they desperately needed after their loss to Sweden. The Czechs’ victory also guarantees a messy finish to Group B, with Russia losing this game but having beat the Americans a few nights ago. The Czech Republic will have a day off before facing off against the United States on Tuesday, a game that suddenly has significant stakes for how Group B will shake out.
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.
