Early on it looked like it was going to be another rout as Canada had a 3-0 lead in the first period on goals by Mark Stone, Jaden Schwartz and Brett Connolly. There was no scoring in the second period but the USA poured it on in the third outshooting Canada 12-7. They spoiled the Scott Wedgewood shutout bid with a pair of goals from Charlie Coyle and Jason Zucker to make it a one goal game.
USA coach Dean Blais pulled goalie Jack Campbell with 2:00 left but they couldn't get the equalizer.
MAKE the final 3-2 Canada.
Canada outshot the USA 35-32 while going 1/3 on the powerplay and 5/5 killing penalties. Here are some notes from Don Hay's postgame news conference:
- It was a real competitive game. We wanted a good start with the crowd behind us and we did that. It would have been nice to score to make it 4-0 but we couldn't make it happen. It was a fun game to play in.
- USA coach Dean Blais said his team wasn't as mentally prepared as they should have been for the tournament but they were for this game. They ran into two hot goalies against Finland and Czech Republic.
- Adversity isn't a bad thing Hay said. It's the first time Canada faced adversity in the tournament and they handled it well.
- Hay said he's trying to keep the media guessing with his goalies. Both Visentin and Wedgewood deserve to start the next game. They'll announce the starter on Tuesday.
- Jaden Schwartz was excellent and scored a big goal. In big games you want your captain to step up and he did that.
* They now wait to see who their opponent is in a Tuesday semifinal in Calgary. America will miss the medal round as they conclude a very disappointing tournament. I'll have some thoughts on them in the Monday Morning Goalie.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
RP
9 comments:
Actually Schwartz was ok but not great. He has been pretty much invisable all tournament and I hope he picks it up for the games that now count.
Nice work busting out the "dah dah dah" during 'Sweet Caroline'
Game sounded fantastic.
It's pretty clear that Wedgewood is the best goalie. Coach Hay is kind of digging his heals in on this one. He wanted Visentin as his #1 guy and I'm afraid he's going to cut off his nose to spite his face. I'm betting he choses last year's choke artist and it costs us again.
BB
Happy New Year Rod. It's going to be a sad day when you leave Saskatchewan for a hockey gig. This is obviously a national audition and you're doing a helluva job. All the best to you.
rod,
just wondering...what do you like calling better hockey games or football games?
Trevor
Happy New Year Rod! Thank you for a great year on .com. There will be some good things coming for the Riders in 2012!
Terry from Saskatoon (In Arizona)
Thanks for posting the pictures Rod. I routinely use them as wallpaper on my computer as you have a great view. - Dave
Hi Trevor - I'd say they're both the same. They're both a ton of fun..
Doing a great job roddy. Just please never leave the riders. Nothing better than listening to you and carm while in the feild.
Billy in Mac
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