2007-08 National Men's Under-18 Team

HALL SCORES TWICE AS CANADA ADVANCES TO GOLD MEDAL GAME

KAZAN, Russia – For the first time since 2005, Canada will play for gold at the IIHF World Under-18 Championship.

Taylor Hall (Kingston, ON/Windsor, OHL) scored twice, both on the powerplay, as the National Men’s Under-18 Team advanced to the gold medal game with a 3-2 win over Sweden in Monday’s first semi-final.

Both of Hall’s goals came on the powerplay, as Canada finished 2-for-6 with the man advantage and killed all nine of Sweden’s powerplays.

“We moved the puck pretty well on the power play,” Hall said after the win. “We killed all nine penalties, and guys did things for the team and not from themselves, giving 100 per cent. It was a good team effort.”

Matt Duchene (Haliburton, ON/Brampton, OHL) scored Canada’s other goal, while captain Cody Hodgson (Markham, ON/Brampton, OHL) and Jordan Eberle (Calgary, AB/Regina, WHL) added two assists apiece.

“The Swedish team came on really strong early,” said Canadian head coach Pat Quinn. “We were emotional early in the game and perhaps those emotions were sort of an Achilles heel for us, distracting us for a while. Fortunately, we calmed down and we played well.”

Jake Allen (Fredericton, NB/St-John’s Ice Dogs, QMJHL) continued his strong play between the pipes for Canada, stopping 36 shots. Allen leads the tournament with a 1.60 goals against average and .935 save percentage, playing every minute thus far for the Canadians.

Sweden jumped out to the lead early, as Mattias Tedenby beat Allen just 5:51 after the opening face-off. It didn’t take long for the Canadians to respond, however, as Duchene kept the puck on a two-on-one and snuck a shot past Swedish netminder Jacob Markstrom just 37 seconds later.

The Swedes struck early again in period two, as Jakob Silfverberg beat Allen on a breakaway to restore the Swedish one-goal lead. But again Canada responded, this time on the powerplay, as Hall batted a centering pass from Hodgson out of mid-air and past a lunging Markstrom, sending the game to the second intermission tied 2-2.

It was another Canadian powerplay that would prove to be the difference in the third period, as Hall finished off a tic-tac-toe passing play with Eberle and Hodgson to put Canada ahead for the first time.

Allen and the Canadian defense held back the Swedish offense in the final 20 minutes – the Swedes held a 15-7 in the third period – as Canada advanced to a gold medal date with either Russia or the United States.

The gold medal game can be seen live on TSN/RDS, the official broadcaster of Hockey Canada, on Wednesday, April 23rd, beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET/8:00 a.m. PT.

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Final

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Goals/Buts :
5.51 1 - 0 EQ Sweden 21. TEDENBY, Mattias(11. JOHANSSON, Marcus)
6.28 1 - 1 EQ Canada 29. DUCHENE, Matthew(10. TRIVINO, Corey)

Penalties/Pénalités :
3.49 2 min Canada 9. HODGSON, Cody Tripping
10.09 2 min Canada 16. O DELL, Eric Elbowing
17.46 2 min Canada 15. McMILLAN, Brandon Interference
18.13 2 min Sweden 21. TEDENBY, Mattias Slashing

Goals/Buts :
21.08 2 - 1 EQ Sweden 18. SILFVERBERG, Jakob (5. KARLSSON, Erik)
28.46 2 - 2 PP1 Canada 11. HALL, Taylor (7. EBERLE, Jordan, 9. HODGSON, Cody)

Penalties/Pénalités :
22.00 2 min Canada 18. SAUVE, Maxime Cross-Checking
22.00 2 min Sweden 17. MATTSSON, Joakim Roughing
23.06 2 min Sweden 21. TEDENBY, Mattias Interference
24.47 2 min Canada 31. ALLEN, Jake Delaying the Game
27.42 2 min Sweden 17. MATTSSON, Joakim Interference
34.10 2 min Canada 16. O DELL, Eric Tripping
39.09 2 min Canada 28. NEMISZ, Greg Charging
39.54 2 min Sweden 11. JOHANSSON, Marcus Hooking

Goals/Buts :
46.52 2 - 3 PP1 Canada 11. HALL, Taylor (7. EBERLE, Jordan, 9. HODGSON, Cody)

Penalties/Pénalités :
43.56 2 min Canada 2. TEUBERT, Colten Kneeing
46.02 2 min Sweden 4. HEDMAN, Victor Holding
51.04 2 min Canada 15. McMILLAN, Brandon Tripping
57.54 2 min Sweden 19. PETERSSON, Andre Hooking
58.31 GK out Sweden 1. MARKSTROM, Jacob
58.31 2 min Canada 9. HODGSON, Cody Tripping
59.43 2 min Sweden 21. TEDENBY, Mattias Roughing
59.43 2 min Canada 17. DESCHAMPS, Nicolas Roughing
59.43 10 min Canada 2. TEUBERT, Colten Misconduct

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