Around the OHL

Sweden had the opportunity to clinch their Group with a win over Denmark, and as expected, they came out and dominated in this game.

The first period was all Sweden as they out shot Denmark 14-2 in the period. But the Dane’s had a little hope as they only trailed by two goals by the end of the opening period.

It took just 13 seconds into the game, Oskar Lindblom would steal the puck at center and feed it to a circling Adrian Kempe. Kempe would skate into the Denmark zone and fire a wrister from the top of the right faceoff circle and beat Denmark goaltender Thomas Lillie.

The Swedes would go up 2-0 at 10:22 on a powerplay goal from Gustav Forsling. From the left point, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson tee’d up a one timer for Forsling, whose shot found its way through bodies in front and into the back of the net.

It was more of the same in the second period as Sweden out shot Denmark 23-4 and if not for Lillie, it would have been out of reach early.

It took 17:17 into the period for Sweden to notch the only goal of the period. Adam Ollas Mattsson would send a pass to Lindblom standing alone in front of Lillie. The puck would go off Lindblom’s sake and find the back of the goal.

William Lagesson and Alexander Nylander would add third period goals. Felix Sandstrom stopped all eight shots he faced for the shutout.

If not for Belarus goaltender Ivan Kulbakov, the score could have been much worse. The Czech’s outshot Belarus 49-24. Belarus tried to hang in there, but will now play in the relegation round.

The Czech’s would score first 11:48 into the period. From a defensive zone faceoff, Simon Stransky put the puck past the Belarus defender at his own blue line, picked it up himself and skated in on a 2 on one with Radek Vesely. Stransky would hold on for as long as he could and fired the game’s first goal behind Vitek Vanecek.

Belarus would tie the game at one just 43 seconds into the second. Artemi Chernikov would skate into the Czech zone and pull up just inside the zone. He sent a perfect pass Stepan Falkovski coming down the middle. He took a couple of strides and put the shot past Kulbakov for the equalizer.

Belarus would take a 2-1 lead at 10:26 of the period with a powerplay goal. The puck would come back to Falkovski at the right point. He would send a pass in front to Danila Karaban he would redirect it on goal. Vanecek could not control the rebound and Yegor Sharangovich was on the door step to bang home the rebound.

The Czechs would tie the game exactly two minutes later. From the right point, David Pastrnak fired a wrister that was deflected past Kulbakov by Dominik Lakatos. The play would be reviewed to see if Lakatos’ stick was above the cross bar, but the call on the ice stood and was deemed a good goal.

Belarus would regain the lead at 17:31 of the period. The puck would end up at the left point where Captain Vladislav Goncharov would fire a one-timer on the powerplay for the go ahead goal.

The Czechs would once again tie the game 2:06 into the third. A hot from the point was stopped by Kulbakov. All 5 Belarus players would collapse in front of him. The puck would end up on the stick of Michael Spacek but his shot was stopped by Kulbakov. But the puck lay loose behind him in the crease and Jiri Smejkal would bang it home.

Radek Vesely would give the Czechs the lead 14:20 into the third. Vesely would hold the puck on the right boards, move towards the slot and fired a wrister threw a maze of bodies and just inside the far post for the goal ahead goal.

Dominik Masin would seal the victory with an empty net goal with 20 seconds remaining.

For most of this game, the Swiss played it to near perfection. They protected their blueline, collapsed to the front of their net and protected it, got into shooting lanes and blocked shots. They had their own net front presents and took the Canadian blue line time and time again. They played physical and they won board battles.

Just 46 seconds into the game Canada’s Brendan Perlini would take a needless penalty to put the Swiss on the powerplay. It proved costly. The puck would end up at the right point where Noah Rod sent a shot towards the Canadian net.  The shot bounced of the shin pad of Damien Riat and behind Mackenzie Blackwood, who was making his first start after serving his two game suspension.

The Swiss’ net front presents would pay off again. Marco Forrer would fire a shot from the point. Once again, it bounced in off a Swiss player causing havoc in front of the Canadian net, this time it was Dario Meyer, and the Swiss jumped out to a 2-0 lead.

With just 23 seconds remaining in the period, Canada would get one back on what could only be called “a should have had” shot. Dylan Strome moved down the left boards and was almost at the goal line when he fired a shot at the net. Joren van Pottelberghe failed to stand tall in his goal and moved off the post and Strome’s shot went over his right shoulder.

The Swiss would outshoot the Canadians 9-7 in the period and go one for 1 on the powerplay while Canada went zero for one.

It was much of the same for the first half of the second period for the Swiss. But 12:17 into the period, Canadian defender Joe Hicketts made a fine play to keep the puck in the Swiss zone. He sent a pass to Lawson Crouse at the right boards who sent it back to Hicketts who was moving in from the point down the middle of the ice. Hicketts fired a perfect wrister to tie the score at two.

Canada would outshoot the Swiss 10-8 in the period and go zero for two on the powerplay while the Swiss were zero for one.

There would be no scoring in the third as Canada gained a territorial advantage. They also had the only powerplay and outshot the Swiss 16-8.

A five minute overtime would solve nothing as the fast paced extra frame had missed opportunities on both sides.

The game would go to a shootout. After Strome and Pius Suter were stopped, Brayden Point moved in and froze van Pottelberghe, moved to his left and roofed a backhander into the net. Timo Meier would be stopped by Blackwood. In an identical move to Point, Matthew Barzal scored for Canada for the win.

Hicketts and van Pottelberghe were named the players of the game for their respective teams.

With Russia playing on back to back nights and Belarus playing it’s third game in four days, it’s no surprise that the game started off kind of slow. And immediately from the drop of the puck, it was clear Belarus wanted to keep the score as close as possible.

Belarus got an early powerplay when Yevgeni Svechnikov took a boarding minor less than 2 minutes into the game, but Belarus was unable to convert.

The Russians would get their own man advantage when Alexei Busko was called for hooking at the 8:59 mark.

The penalty proved costly as a quick three way passing play ended with a Maxim Lazarev one-timer that beat goaltender Vladislav Verbitski.

The teams would trade penalties and again Belarus was unable to convert while their own penalty proved costly.

Again, it was a quick passing play and another one-timer, this time by Alexander Polunin, to beat Verbitski.

Russia would take a 3-0 lead before the period ended when Vladislav Kamenev deflected an Ivan Provorov wrister from the point.

The second period would be scoreless.

Belarus could not capitalize on another early powerplay but 6:14 into the period solved Russian goaltender Ilya Samsonov. A wrap around by Alexei Busko found the back of the net to give Belarus a little life.

But it only took the Russians 1:27 to get that back. Polunin would get his second of the game when he took a couple of strides in from the point, then cut to the middle and fired a well placed wrister passed Verbitski.

Russia would outshoot Belarus 32-18 while going 2 for 3 on the powerplay and Belarus going 0 for 3

Preliminary Round

Despite the loss, the Finns’ Jesse Puljujarvi and Patrik Laine put on a display and showed the world why they are highly touted prospects and potential top 5 picks in the 2016 National Hockey League Draft.

This was a fast paced game with a little bit of everything. Special teams proved to be the difference for the Russians to earn the victory.

Sebastian Aho would get things started as he put the Finns up 1-0 with helpers going to Puljujarvi and Laine 4:13 into the game.

It would take less than two minutes for the Russians to get the equalizer. Kirill Kaprizov fired home the first of the Russian’s powerplay goals on the day.

Laine would put the Finns back on top at 18:53 of the period as he was set up by Puljujarvi. The period would end with the Finns holding a 2-1 lead and a 12-8 advantage in shots.

Just 21 seconds into the period Russia’s Yegor Rykov took a tripping penalty. It took just 33 seconds with the man advantage for Puljujarvi and Laine to set up Aleksi Saarela and a 3-1 lead for the Finns.

The Russians would then score 4 goals in just over 7 minutes.

The Russians would kill off a second penalty and then their third of the period proved costly – for the Finns as Andrei Svetlakov would score short handed.

Pavel Kraskovski would score on the powerplay to tie the score at 3 at 12:29 of the period. Vladislav Kamenen would add another powerplay marker at 15:28 to put the Russians up for good. At 16:05 Alexander Polunin would get the Russian’s first 5 on 5 goal and it would prove to be the game winner.

Saarela would pull the Finns back within one 11:18 into the third period but it wasn’t enough as Radel Fazleyev ended the scoring 2:46 later.

Pavel Zacha would miss this game after re-aggravating a lower body injury.

Enter David Pastrnak who has been loaned to the Czechs by the NHL’s Boston Bruins in what could be called a glorified conditioning stint. Except for a 2 game conditioning sting with the Bruins affiliate in the AHL – the Providence Bruins – Pastrnak hasn’t played since late October.

The first period would end with both teams going scoreless. The Czechs dominated in zone time and possession time. They would hold a advantage in shots.

It would be much of the same for most of the second period. The Slovaks would come on but still outshot 13-10, but missed the net time and time again and seemingly couldn’t hit the target.

But then at the 15:11 mark of the second, the Slovaks’ Juraj Siska would take a minor penalty for tripping. Radovan Bondra had a glorious opportunity short handed but was frustrated when Czech goaltender Vitek Vanecek made a fantastic save.

Just moments later, while on the same powerplay, a couple of future Boston Bruins teammates would connect to put the Czechs up for good. Jakub Zboril would take the puck down the left wing boards in the Slovak zone. He would send a pass back to Pastrnak, who was covering for him at the left point. Pastrnak waited, stepped in to the top of the circle, and fired a wrister to the glove side and beat a screened Adam Huska in the Slovak goal.

The Slovaks’ couldn’t muster much offense in the third, firing just six shots on goal. At 11:55 of the period, the Czechs virtually put the game out of reach and a strange goal.

Filip Hronek would send the puck towards the front of the Slovak net. The puck went off Dominik Lakotas‘ skate and then off a Slovak defenders skate and passed Huska. The play would be reviewed and the call on the ice – a good goal – stood.

Both goaltenders were named Player of the Game for their respective clubs.

The Czechs move to 1-1-0 while the Slovaks drop to 1-0-1.

By Brandon Sudeyko

Every now and again, you got to speak up when something doesn’t make sense and lets take a look at the Burlington Cougars because something just doesn’t seem right with that they are doing.

For a few years this franchise has just been on the verge of being called a joke. Since 2012/13, when the league contracted, Burlington was entering their down turn as they finished 8th in the conference and had a 4-0 exit in the first round of the playoffs.

In the next two seasons the Cougars finished a combined, 21-78-2-6 in 107 games.

That is just terrible. But really they are not alone, from 2012-2014 the Hamilton Red Wings finished 23-80-1-4 in 108 games and you can’t forget Orangeville who had a record of 22-80-1-5 in 108 games…. Really there are lots of examples of two extremely bad years for Jr A clubs and then they have this major upswing… it is junior hockey after all… but more on that later, lets just stick with the Cougars.

So here they are after two pitiful years, 4 years without a winning record, siting 4th in the South West Conference with 20 games left to play. And they are making roster moves… but these moves don’t make that much sense.

Burlington had a good offseason with the acquisition of Jordan Peacock and Nathan Gomes from the Caledonia Corvairs of the GOJHL, both won the Sutherland Cup with the Corvairs last season. Anthony Sorrentino, Brady Cranwell and Michael Fallero were other additions over the summer and the Cougars started 6-0 before dropping their next three… then the team started making changes.

Adding Shawn Tessier before trading him only 10 days later. Adding Greg Allen before trading him 44 days later. Acquiring Austin Washkurak and holding on to 3 goaltenders for 24 days and releasing/selling Daniel Volpe to Jr B. Since the Cougars started 5-3-1, the team went 4-7 to the end of October while making 8 transactions.

The team settled down in November picking up 15 of 18 (7-1-1) available points. The team dropped a needed win against Georgetown at the start of December and picked up their next 4 W’s before the Holiday break.

In the mean time the team decides to send Jack Jeffers, their leading scorer to Orangeville for James McLaughlin. Also acquiring Stefano Alonzi from Mississauga and Anthony Baxter and Philip Lagunov from Milton.

So the team is doing good and they are heading back up the standings… so what is the complaint about? What is with these backwards moves?

What do I mean by that? You have so many OA spots for a Jr A roster and you are using two for your goaltenders while splitting their playing time. You trade your leading scorer for another team’s leading scorer. At best a lateral move. You pick up Mississauga’s Captain who really is the equivalent to Daniel Volpe in the sense he will get you those hard points in the dirty areas and acquire Anthony Baxter who is replacing Greg Allen.

Granted that these players personality’s may dictate that they need to be moved out but to bring in the same type of players, who are the exact same makeup, with an unknown disposition to your club is just playing with fire.

Currently sitting third in the division the franchise may be playing with fire with all these moves. With 10 of their last 20 games against opponents with a record under .500 it looks like all this won’t matter. But why go through all the hassle when you had the team in place. If they end up falling down the standings, you know where you can point the finger.

Slovakia 4 Belarus 2

Thirteens were lucky for the Slovaks today as they defeated Belarus 4-2. Yes thirteen. As in 13 shots in the first, 13 shots in the second and, you guessed it, 13 shots in the third.

Slovakia got things rolling at the 6:56 mark of the first with a delayed penalty coming to Belarus and Slovak goaltender Adam Huska on the bench for an extra attacker. The Slovaks worked the puck to the point where a Patrik Koch slapper found its way threw a maze of players and hit the twine.

Belarus would tie the game at 11:33 of the period. Vadim Malinovski found himself all alone in front of Huska. He fanned on his backhand but recovered and fired the puck passed Huska. Belarus would end the period with 9 shots on goal.

Belarus would get a powerplay early in the second. At the tail end of their man advantage, as Ruslan Vasilchuk banged in a rebound to give Belarus their first lead of the game. The period would end in a 2-2 stalemate. Belarus would fire 11 shots on goal.

It took just 19 seconds into the third for the Slovaks to take the lead. A clean face off win went right to Lukas Hrusik who then fired a one-timer passed Belarus goaltender Ivan Kulbakov.

Five minutes later Belarus made a goaltending change that would last 7 or 8 minutes before Kulbakov returned.

The game ended in rather bizarre fashion. With Kulbakov on the bench for an extra attacker. Juraj Siska broke out of his zone down the left wing. Kulbakov jumped out from his bench to stop him but fell and hurt his leg. Siska’s shot at the goal was blocked by a defender but the referee called it an automatic goal with 19 seconds remaining.

Denmark 2 Switzerland 1

Karma?

Maybe so. The Swiss were missing 3 players serving suspensions from their opener versus Sweden and could very well face delegation after this loss.

The Swiss opened the scoring 8:21 into the first as Noah Rod tipped in a floater from the point to beat a surprised Thomas Lillie.

The Swiss would hold the 1-0 lead until early into the third period. Soeren Nielsen would carry the puck into the Swiss zone and fire a hard wrister over a falling defenceman and passed goaltender Joren van Pottelberghe.

Denmark would take the lead at 6:20 when Mathias From broke down the left wing and fired a shot on goal. Van Pottelberghe made the original stop but couldn’t hold on and From banged in his own rebound.

After the final whistle a scrum ensued and Denmark’s Mathias Lassen was assessed a five minute major and game misconduct for a check to the head.

Standings

Preliminary Round