World U17 Hockey Challenge Quarter Finals Recap

LAMBTON SHORES and SARNIA, Ontario – With round robin play behind us at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, Thursday’s action featured quarterfinal play as all eight teams faced a win-and-advance scenario. Unfortunately, Hockey Canada’s three entries failed to advance to the medal rounds as each squad fell on the losing end of their games.

USA 4, CANADA BLACK 1

The matinee match between the undefeated Americans and Canada Black was the marquee 3pm game and a large crowd showed up to support the underdog Canadian team. WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes goaltender Stuart Skinner would have the difficult task of shutting down the high-scoring Americans, as they entered the game with a tournament leading 24 goals. Minnesota native Jake Oettinger was excellent in the contest for USA turning away 23 of Canada Black’s 24 shots, looking like a poised veteran from start to finish.

The Americans opened the scoring for the fourth straight game as Max Jones potted his fifth of the U17s on a crafty assist from Patrick Khodorenko from behind the net. USA would add their second of the game as Joey Anderson converted on the American’s five-on-three powerplay and the defending champions took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.

It was the undrafted WHL defenseman, Jake Bean, who would cut the lead in half as he stripped the American attacker from the puck, skated down the length of the ice before firing a shot over the shoulder of Jake Oettinger on a great individual play. The two-goal American lead was restored as Spokane Chiefs forward Kailer Yamamoto skated into the slot and wristed one over Skinner’s shoulder.
Canada Black struggled to get many pucks on net in the third period despite two powerplay opportunities and eventually it was Joey Anderson who would find the back of the net for the second time in the game to prop the Americans up 4-1.

USA played another dominant possession game controlling the play from the back end and made it difficult for the attacking Canadians with their ability to hold onto the puck and limit turnovers.
With their tenth consecutive win, USA advanced to the semifinal round for the ninth straight time at the U17s.

FINLAND 5 , SLOVAKIA 1

Sarnia’s RBC Centre played host to the Finland and Slovakia quarterfinal game Thursday afternoon in what was expected to be a lopsided affair for the Finns. With underage forward Kristian Vesalainen scoring twice in the opening frame and completing the hat trick in the second period, Finland would eventually skate to a 5-1 victory over the Slovaks, advancing to the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge semifinals.

Finland has been playing some inspiring hockey since the puck dropped on the tournament and their advancement Thursday afternoon was the first time the nation has reached the semifinals since 1995 (Silver medal performance). Joona Koppanen and Tarmo Reunanen were the other Finnish goal scorers and Slovakia’s Samuel Solensky scored a powerplay goal, which was only the team’s second goal of the tournament. Finnish goaltender Leevi Laakso made 15 saves in the win and Slovakia’s David Hrenak turned away 26 of the 31 shots Finland fired at him.

RUSSIA 4, CANADA RED 1

With one Canadian team already eliminated from medal contention, Canada Red and Canada White took the ice simultaneously to face the Russians and Swedes, respectively, looking to keep their nation’s medal hopes alive.

Mississauga Steelheads’ defenseman Sean Day scored blasted home a one-timer on the powerplay as Windsor Spitfires’ Logan Brown fed him a pass to take a 1-0 lead 7:17 minutes into the first. Holding a 12-7 advantage in shots, Canada Red went into the dressing room with a 1-0 lead at the first intermission.

Russia would even the score 1-1 midway through the second period when German Rubtsov backhanded a shot over a sprawling Dylan Wells.

With a semifinal berth on the line, Russia hit the ice flying to start the third period putting home three goals before the eight-minute mark. Dmitri Sokolov, who has been Russia’s most dangerous skater, fired a shot top cheddar as the Russians took their first lead of the game. Less than three minutes later, Dmitri Sokolo picked up his second of the game as he teamed up with Alexander Podkorytov and German Rubtsov on a nice passing play. Just 109 seconds later, Maxim Bain would put the dagger into Canada Red’s hope of a comeback as he finished off a beautiful rush from Dmitri Sokolov to lift the Russians to a 4-1 lead and eventual win.

SWEDEN 2, CANADA WHITE 0

Sheldon Keefe’s Canada White came out of the gates hot as they pounced on the Swedes early in the first period creating quality scoring chance shift after shift. Unfortunately, with an inability to convert on their chances and a dominant showing from Swedish goaltender Filip Gustavsson, Canada White remained scoreless and the Swedes began to find their legs. The first period ended 0-0 with Sweden holding a slight advantage in the shots category (11-9).

In what was shaping up to be a terrific goaltending battle between Canada’s Samuel Harvey and Sweden’s Gustavsson, the all-important first goal was crucial in this low-scoring affair. It would be Sweden’s Linus Lindström who would find the back of the net first as he curled off of the half-boards and fired a shot beyond Harvey at the 13:20 minute mark of the middle fram. The RBC was quickly silenced. Just 1:36 minutes later, Lias Andersson unleashed a shot from an odd angle to add to the Swedes’ lead. Andersson leaped into the glass and an emotional celebration seemed to deflate the Canadians.

As the puck dropped on the third period, Canada White responded well showing some impressive desperation and urgency but it was Swede Filip Gustavsson who became the storyline, turning away 16-third period shots to secure a 2-0 shutout victory in a 35-save effort. Gustavsson’s quarterfinal performance was arguably the best of any netminder in the tournament showing why he is considered one of the best at his position.

With Sweden’s 2-0 win over Canada White, they advance to their third semifinal appearance in the past four years.

With the three Canadian losses, it will be only the second time in the tournament’s history, joining the 2013 squads, that Canada will not have a team medal.
Semifinal action features two round robin rematches as USA hosts Sweden at the RBC Centre (3pm ET). Despite falling to the Americans 6-3, Sweden was one of only two teams who managed to score three goals against USA.

The other semifinal game is highlighted by two exciting teams, Russia and Finland, who played one of the most exciting games of the round robin. Russia erased a 4-0 Finnish lead to force a shootout before eventually losing. The rematch will also be played at the RBC Centre with puck drop scheduled for 7pm ET.

Canada Black will face off against Slovakia in a placement game for 7th place in Lambton Shores at 3pm ET. In an All-Canadian game, Canada White and Canada Red will compete for 5th place at 7pm in Lambton Shores.

Be sure to follow Brendan Ross (@RossyYoungblood) on Twitter for updates on #WU17 action.