Monday, January 03, 2005 7:47:29 PM
Canada 3, Czech Republic 1 ~ Jan. 2 /SEMIFINALROUND/RELEGATION
Canada heads to 4th straight gold final
Canadian Press
1/2/2005
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (CP) - Canada advanced to the final of the world junior men's hockey championship for a fourth straight year with a 3-1 semifinal win over the Czech Republic on Sunday.
Canada has finished second at the last three tournaments, losing to Russia in 2002 and 2003 and the United States last year.
Jeff Carter of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Nigel Dawes of the Kootenay Ice and Patrice Bergeron of the Providence Bruins scored for Canada in front of a pro-Canadian crowd of 10,206 at the Ralph Engelstad Arena. Calgary Hitmen forward Ryan Getzlaf had two assists.
Rostislav Olesz scored a short-handed goal for the Czechs.
'I think we did well,' Carter told TSN. 'We were pretty tight defensively, we didn't give them many chances.'
Canadian starter Jeff Glass faced only 11 shots behind a smothering Canadian defence, while Czech counterpart Marek Schwarz, who plays for the Western Hockey League's Vancouver Giants, faced 42.
'We just tried to limit their opportunities and keep them to the outside,' said defenceman Shea Weber.
Canada will meet the winner of Sunday's later semifinal between Russia and the U.S. on Tuesday (TSN, 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt). Canada last won gold in 1997 at Geneva, Switzerland, capping a run of five straight years of gold medals.
'It's been a long time I've been thinking about (going for gold again),' said Carter, who was on the team which lost to the Americans last year. 'I'm just happy to get another shot at it.'
The Czechs have a dozen players in their lineup who play in the Canadian Hockey League and four of them are teammates of Canadian players. Zbynek Hrdel is Sidney Crosby's winger with the Rimouski Oceanic.
After Canada outscored the opposition 32-5 in the round robin, the semifinal felt close because Canada made defence a priority over offence.
Canada played with six defenceman because Cam Barker was sent home Friday with mononucleosis. Brent Seabrook has been battling a shoulder injury throughout the tournament, so he saw limited duty while Dion Phaneuf saw a lot of action on the blue-line.
The Czechs managed only two shots in each of the first two periods despite having five power-play opportunities.
With just over three minutes remaining in regulation, the Canadian bench was assessed a bench minor. Crosby had broken his stick and when he skated to the bench to get another one and it was thrown to him.
The Czechs failed to generate any quality chances during that span, as Canada closed out the win with ease.
Olesz, the first-round pick of the Florida Panthers, scored a short-handed goal on the Czechs' first shot of the third period on a two-on-one with Lukas Bolf , cutting Canada's lead to 3-1.
Glass's biggest challenge at this tournament has been to stay mentally in the game because he faces so few shots. There was not traffic in front of him, yet he was beaten on a shot from three metres out.
Bergeron scored Canada's third goal at 12:34 of the second period. Crosby fed him from behind the net. Bergeron was allowed to walked in, he got Schwarz to commit and then backhanded the puck in stickside on Schwarz.
Dawes backhanded home a rebound on Phaneuf's shot from the blue-line at 10:02 for a power-play goal and Canada's second goal at 10:02.
Just seconds after a Czech penalty ran out, Carter shovelled in his own rebound stickside on Schwarz for Canada's first goal at 18:38 of the first period. Defenceman Ladislav Smid had broken his stick just before Carter's goal and had to borrow one from a forward.
Canada heads to 4th straight gold final
Canadian Press
1/2/2005
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (CP) - Canada advanced to the final of the world junior men's hockey championship for a fourth straight year with a 3-1 semifinal win over the Czech Republic on Sunday.
Canada has finished second at the last three tournaments, losing to Russia in 2002 and 2003 and the United States last year.
Jeff Carter of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Nigel Dawes of the Kootenay Ice and Patrice Bergeron of the Providence Bruins scored for Canada in front of a pro-Canadian crowd of 10,206 at the Ralph Engelstad Arena. Calgary Hitmen forward Ryan Getzlaf had two assists.
Rostislav Olesz scored a short-handed goal for the Czechs.
'I think we did well,' Carter told TSN. 'We were pretty tight defensively, we didn't give them many chances.'
Canadian starter Jeff Glass faced only 11 shots behind a smothering Canadian defence, while Czech counterpart Marek Schwarz, who plays for the Western Hockey League's Vancouver Giants, faced 42.
'We just tried to limit their opportunities and keep them to the outside,' said defenceman Shea Weber.
Canada will meet the winner of Sunday's later semifinal between Russia and the U.S. on Tuesday (TSN, 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt). Canada last won gold in 1997 at Geneva, Switzerland, capping a run of five straight years of gold medals.
'It's been a long time I've been thinking about (going for gold again),' said Carter, who was on the team which lost to the Americans last year. 'I'm just happy to get another shot at it.'
The Czechs have a dozen players in their lineup who play in the Canadian Hockey League and four of them are teammates of Canadian players. Zbynek Hrdel is Sidney Crosby's winger with the Rimouski Oceanic.
After Canada outscored the opposition 32-5 in the round robin, the semifinal felt close because Canada made defence a priority over offence.
Canada played with six defenceman because Cam Barker was sent home Friday with mononucleosis. Brent Seabrook has been battling a shoulder injury throughout the tournament, so he saw limited duty while Dion Phaneuf saw a lot of action on the blue-line.
The Czechs managed only two shots in each of the first two periods despite having five power-play opportunities.
With just over three minutes remaining in regulation, the Canadian bench was assessed a bench minor. Crosby had broken his stick and when he skated to the bench to get another one and it was thrown to him.
The Czechs failed to generate any quality chances during that span, as Canada closed out the win with ease.
Olesz, the first-round pick of the Florida Panthers, scored a short-handed goal on the Czechs' first shot of the third period on a two-on-one with Lukas Bolf , cutting Canada's lead to 3-1.
Glass's biggest challenge at this tournament has been to stay mentally in the game because he faces so few shots. There was not traffic in front of him, yet he was beaten on a shot from three metres out.
Bergeron scored Canada's third goal at 12:34 of the second period. Crosby fed him from behind the net. Bergeron was allowed to walked in, he got Schwarz to commit and then backhanded the puck in stickside on Schwarz.
Dawes backhanded home a rebound on Phaneuf's shot from the blue-line at 10:02 for a power-play goal and Canada's second goal at 10:02.
Just seconds after a Czech penalty ran out, Carter shovelled in his own rebound stickside on Schwarz for Canada's first goal at 18:38 of the first period. Defenceman Ladislav Smid had broken his stick just before Carter's goal and had to borrow one from a forward.
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