Joel Hofer made 18 saves to win his first international start at any level as Canada beat Germany 4-1 at the world junior hockey championship on Monday in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Nolan Foote, Liam Foudy and Ty Dellandrea each had a goal and an assist, while Calen Addison also scored for the Canadians, who were coming off a stunning 6-0 loss to Russia on Saturday. Jared McIsaac added two assists.
“I was pretty nervous,” Hofer said. “There was a lot of pressure after last game. It was pretty embarrassing for us, but as a group we bounced back.”
Yannik Valenti broke Hofer’s shutout bid with 67 seconds left in regulation on a 5-on-3 power play for Germany. Hendrik Hane made 22 stops to take the loss.
Canada now sits with two wins and a loss through three games at the under-20 event, and can guarantee top spot in Group B by beating host Czech Republic on New Year’s Eve in the round-robin finale for both teams.
The medal round starts Thursday.
The Canadians were minus two-thirds of their top line against Germany after Alexis Lafreniere, the projected No. 1 pick at the 2020 NHL draft, suffered a knee injury in that demolition at the hands of Russia — the country’s most lopsided defeat in the tournament’s 44-year history.
Early scoring chances
Joe Veleno, meanwhile, served a one-game suspension for a head-butting incident the same night to leave his team with just 11 forwards.
The good news for Canada is Lafreniere, the reigning CHL player of the year, hasn’t been ruled out of the tournament after an MRI revealed no structural damaged. He watched Monday’s game from the stands with Veleno and third-string goalie Olivier Rodrigue.
After beating the United States 6-4 on Boxing Day and then getting their doors blown off by Russia — the program’s toughest two-game stretch to open the world juniors since 1980 — the Canadians had a number of chances early before Foote finally broke through.
The son of two-time Stanley Cup champion and 2002 Olympic gold medallist Adam Foote roofed his second of the world juniors at 11:50 from the slot after Kevin Bahl’s initial blast from the point was blocked. The opener allowed Canada to breathe a little easier and came a couple of minutes after Bowen Byram pinged a shot off the crossbar on a power play.
Nolan Foote opened the scoring for Canada in the first period of Monday’s 4-1 victory over Germany. (Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)
Foote was a first-round pick by Tampa Bay at last June’s draft. His older brother Cal won gold for Canada at the 2018 event in Buffalo.
Germany, which fell 6-3 to the U.S. in its opener before stunning the Czechs 4-3 on Saturday for its first victory at the tournament since December 2013, got a power play later in the period, but Hofer was there to deny a unit that was a tournament-best 5 for 11 coming into Monday.
Other than that, the Germans didn’t offer much as Canada pinned them deep in their zone for long stretches with relentless forechecking and griding cycles.
Hofer, who got the start following a 20-stop performance against the Russians after Nico Daws was pulled with the score 4-0, made a good save on Valenti during another German man advantage in the second before denying Dominik Bokk and then robbing John-Jason Peterka with his glove on a breakaway.
“He stood tall for us,” Canadian head coach Dale Hunter said. “That was a crucial part of the game.”
Foudy doubled his team’s lead moments later when the seas parted in the offensive zone, and he fired shortisde on Hane at 12:24. A 2018 first-round pick by Columbus, Foudy is the son of France Gareau, who won silver for Canada at the 1984 Olympics in the women’s 4×100-metre relay.
Lights out in WHL
Addison, a Pittsburgh prospect, then fired a slapshot home on a 5-on-3 power play just 1:37 later to make it 3-0.
Selected in the fourth round by St. Louis in 2018, Hofer has been lights out in the Western Hockey League this season, with a 20-4-2 record to go along with a 1.81 goals-against average and .937 save percentage.
The 19-year-old from Winnipeg was never really on Hockey Canada’s radar until the fall, but made his case to stay in the world junior crease despite Valenti’s late one-timer on a two-man advantage.
Dellandrea iced it into an empty net with 9.2 seconds left on the clock.
Head coach Dale Hunter mixed up his lines — out of necessity with Lafreniere and Veleno out, but also to get a spark after the performance against Russia, with the biggest move being Connor McMichael sliding into the top-six forward group alongside Foote and Barrett Hayton.
Canada is now 14-0 at the world juniors against Germany since the latter’s reunification in 1990.
The Germans don’t have a deep talent pool, but possess high-end skill in Moritz Seider (the No. 6 pick by Detroit in 2019) and Bokk (Carolina), as well as Peterka, Tim Stutzle and Lukas Reichel, who are all eligible for the 2020 draft.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
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.
