2008-09 National Men's Under-18 Team

FIRST-PERIOD OUTBURST HELPS CANADA CLAIM UNDER-18 GOLD

PIESTANY, Slovakia – For the fourth time in five years, Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team has won gold at the Memorial of Ivan Hlinka tournament.

Ryan Ellis (Hamilton, ON/Windsor, OHL), Simon Després (Laval, QC/Saint John, QMJHL) and Taylor Hall (Kingston, ON/Windsor, OHL) scored first-period goals as Canada took a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes on its way to a 6-3 victory over Russia in Saturday’s gold medal game.

Carter Ashton (Saskatoon, SK/Lethbridge, WHL), Brayden Schenn (Saskatoon, SK/Brandon, WHL) and Ryan O’Reilly (Seaforth, ON/Erie, OHL) also scored for Canada, which outscored its opposition 24-10 in four games.

For the third time in the tournament Canada found itself in a hole early, as Kirill Kabanov gave the Russians a 1-0 lead, tipping a point shot from Georgy Berdyukov past Nathan Lieuwen (Abbotsford, BC/Westside, BCHL) on a powerplay just past the game’s four-minute mark.

But Ellis would pull the Canadians even just four minutes later, banking a shot off Russian goaltender Dmitry Shikin, and Després gave Canada its first lead two minutes after Ellis’ goal, converting on a rebound after Shikin had turned away Hall on a breakway.

Hall got on the board in the final minute of the first period, taking a pass from Louis Leblanc (Kirkland, QC/Lac St-Louis, LHMAAAQ) down low and beating the Russian goaltender through the five-hole for a 3-1 Canadian lead heading to the intermission.

The lead was pushed to three just 89 seconds into the middle frame, as Ashton took a pass from Zack Kassian (LaSalle, ON/Peterborough, OHL) and snapped a slow shot past Shikin for a 4-1 advantage.

The Canadians were unlucky not to increase their lead in the second period as they outshot the Russians 14-4 in the period, but Ashton was the only one to beat Shikin.

The teams traded a pair of goals each in the third period – Schenn and O’Reilly scored for Canada while Alexander Burmistrov and Vladimir Tarasenko replied for the Russians.

Hall, Ashton, Schenn and O’Reilly all added assists to their goals, giving them two-point games, while Lieuwen made 10 saves for his fourth win of the tournament.

The Canadians outshot Russia 26-13, the fourth lopsided result on the shot clock in as many games – overall, Canada outshot its opposition 177-69 during the tournament.

1

2

3

Final

1

0

2

3

3

1

2

6

Goals/Buts :
04:38 RUS Dmitry Orlov (Georgy Berdyukov) PP
08:42 CAN Ryan Ellis (Evander Kane)
10:41 CAN Simon Després (Taylor Hall, Ryan O Reilly)
19:47 CAN Taylor Hall (Louis Leblanc, Jared Cowen) 

Penalties/Pénalités :
03:51 CAN Matthew Duchene (Roughing)
09:06 CAN Brayden Schenn (Charging)
09:51 RUS Dmitry Orlov (Interference)
13:59 CAN Simon Després (Hooking)
14:26 RUS Stanislav Bocharov (Tripping)

Goals/Buts :
21:29 CAN Carter Ashton (Zack Kassian) 

Penalties/Pénalités :
23:58 CAN Jared Cowen (High Sticking)
25:11 RUS Alexander Karpuskhin (Roughing)
28:19 RUS Pavel Zotov (Interference)
30:14CAN Brayden Schenn (Hooking)
33:02 RUS Kirill Yuryev (Elbowing)
39:43 CAN Casey Cizikas (Hooking)

Goals/Buts :
45:40 CAN Brayden Schenn (Carter Ashton)
46:50 RUS Alexander Burmistrov (Yevgeny Kuznetsov)
51:10 CAN Ryan O Reilly (Casey Cizikas) SH
56:48 RUS Vladimír Tarasenko (Pavel Zotov, Roman Berdnikov) PP

Penalties/Pénalités :
41:21 RUS Bench (Too Many Men)
49:32 CAN Garrett Mitchell (Tripping)
51:52 RUS Yevgeny Kuznetsov (Slashing)
54:59 CAN Zack Kassian (Charging)
57:02 RUS Nikita Pivtsakin (High Sticking)
59:30 RUS Alexander Karpuskhin (Slashing)