Day 1 at WU17 Recap
Sunday November 1, 2015
Dawson Creek/Fort St. John, BC – Day one of the 2015 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge saw no shortage of offence, with Canada White, Canada Red, Russia and the United States all starting the tournament with victories. The six day tournament being held in Dawson Creen and Fort St. John, BC features the top 16 year-old talent from across the globe.
Here’s a look at Sunday’s action.
CANADA WHITE 5 — CANADA BLACK 3
Windsor Spitfires centreman Gabriel Vilardi propelled Canada White to a 5-3 win, scoring the winner with just under four minutes to play in the third period. The white shirts overcame a 2-0 deficit after 20 minutes and managed to prevail despite giving Canada Black eight powerplay opportunities in the game.
“My experience and play in the CHL has really prepared me and given me extra confidence coming into this tournament,” said Vilardi following the victory.
James Hamblin (Medicine Hat Tigers) led the way with two goals and an assist while Vilardi joined Austen Keating (Ottawa 67’s) and Ian Mitchell (Spruce Grove Saints, AJHL) with other goals.
Goaltender Matthew Welsh (Charlottetown Islanders) turned aside 26 of the 29 shots he faced to record the win.
Full recap at hockeycanada.ca.
CANADA RED 3 — FINLAND 1
Goaltender Michael DiPietro (Windsor Spitfires) made 31 saves to backstop Canada Red to a 3-1 win over Finland to open the tournament. MacKenzie Entwistle (Hamilton Bulldogs), Shawn Boudrias (Charlottetown Islanders) and Antoine Morand (Acadie-Bathurst Titan) scored in the win.
“Being able to see pucks was my main goal going into the tournament,” said DiPietro following the win. “There’s a lot of high-end skill, so I need to come out on my angle properly and be able to see the puck. The defence didn’t really give up a lot of grade-A opportunities, and they allowed me to make the stops and eventually get the win with the team.”
Canada Red prevailed despite being outshot 32-26 as DiPietro provided several key saves to secure the victory.
Full recap at hockeycanada.ca.
UNITED STATES 6 — CZECH REPUBLIC 1
A goal and an assist from Sarnia Sting forward Sasha Chmelevski led the United States to a 6-1 win over the Czech Republic.
Portland Winterhawks draft pick Scott Reedy also scored twice for the Americans who outshot the Czechs 39-27.
Full recap at hockeycanada.ca.
RUSSIA 5 — SWEDEN 2
Ivan Chekhovich, Kirill Slepets and Mark Rubinchik all had a goal and an assist as Russia defeated Sweden 5-2.
Goaltender Maxim Zhukov made 33 saves to limit the Swedes to just a pair of goals.
Full recap at hockeycanada.ca.
MONDAY’S SCHEDULE
Canada White vs. United States – 2:30pm MT/4:30pm ET (Encana Events Centre – Dawson Creek, BC)
Finland vs. Russia – 2:30pm MT/4:30pm ET (North Peace Arena – Fort St. John, BC)
Czech Republic vs. Canada Black – 7:00pm MT/9:00pm ET (Encana Events Centre – Dawson Creek, BC)
Sweden vs. Canada Red – 7:00pm MT/9:00pm ET (North Peace Arena – Fort St. John, BC)
For information on schedules, scores and how to purchase tickets, visit HockeyCanada.ca.