Canada and Finland won semifinal games Saturday to set up a third straight gold-medal showdown between the teams at the IIHF world hockey championship.
Finland won gold in 2019 in Slovakia, the 2020 tournament was cancelled due to the pandemic and Canada won gold last year in Latvia. This time around, Finland will have home ice for Sunday’s championship match at the Nokia Arena.
“We know the building is going to be rocking and the Finns are playing for gold at home,” said Canadian forward Dylan Cozens. “But we need to try to have a strong start and not let (Finland) build momentum from their fans.”
Cozens had two goals and an assist in Canada’s 6-1 victory over Czechia. Finland edged the United States 4-3 in the other semifinal.
Canada pulled away by scoring three goals in a span of three minutes 19 seconds midway through the second period. Kent Johnson’s goal was sandwiched between power-play goals by Adam Lowry and Matt Barzal.
“The Czechs have been good on the penalty kill all tournament and we were able to capitalize on a few power plays tonight,” said Canadian head coach Claude Julien. “We are going to take some time and study Finland’s penalty kill, and hopefully come up with a solution for it like we were able to do against the Czechs.
“We know Finland is strong on special teams and because of that we are expecting a tough game tomorrow night.”
David Krejci opened the scoring for Czechia and Cozens tied the game late in the first period. Drake Batherson had two assists.
“We came here to win,” Canadian defenceman Ryan Graves said. “We take pride in our hockey. As Canadians, hockey’s in our blood so I know everyone back home is rooting for us to get gold.
“It’s an honour to play for your country and that’s the whole reason we come over here.”
Cole Sillinger had an insurance goal for the Canadians, who outshot Czechia 35-26. Canadian netminder Chris Dreidger made 25 saves.
“Tomorrow in front of the (Finnish fans), there is going to be some adversity and we are going to need to battle through it,” said Canada forward Pierre-Luc Dubois. “We have a lot of confidence in ourselves and we know what we are capable of.”
The Americans will play Czechia for bronze on Sunday.
Defenceman Miro Heiskanen had a goal and two assists in Finland’s semifinal win. Sami Vatanen, Joel Armia and Sakari Manninen also scored for Finland and Jussi Olkinuora made 25 saves.
The Finns won their first Olympic title this year in Beijing.
“It’s special,” defenceman Mikko Lehtonen said. “At the moment, it’s always one game. It’s a final. It doesn’t matter who you play, but in front of the home fans, it’s always special for us.”
Nate Schmidt, Sean Farrell and Adam Gaudette scored for the Americans. Jeremy Swayman stopped 22 shots.
“It’s definitely a tough one,” Farrell said. “We battled as hard as we could, but they’re a really good team and they ended up coming out on top. We’ve just got to refocus and be ready to battle for a bronze tomorrow.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 28, 2022.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
