Mbuyi & Castonguay onto Semi’s at 2024 U17 World Challenge
Pierce Mbuyi and Trevor Castonguay secured themselves top spot in Group A and a bye to the semi-finals at the 2024 U17 World Challenge on Monday night with their 6-3 victory over the United States. Mbuyi had Canada Red’s second goal of the game and added an assist on the evening. Canada will now wait to find out who they will play in the semi-finals which are schedule to take place on Friday.
- Alex McLean (Perth, ON/Guelph, OHL), Pierce Mbuyi (Mississauga, ON/Owen Sound, OHL) and Joe Iginla (Lake Country, BC/Edmonton, WHL) contributed a goal and an assist each to help Canada Red secure first place in Group A.
- Landon DuPont (Calgary, AB/Everett, WHL), Jaxon Jacobson (Brandon, MB/Brandon, WHL) and Cruz Pavao (Calgary, AB/Tri-City, WHL) chipped in with two helpers apiece for the Canadians.
- Canadian netminder Carter Esler (Okotoks, AB/Spokane, WHL) made 29 saves and was named Player of the Game.
Quotes:
“It is important to play tough minutes in a tournament like this because it gives the players an opportunity to learn what you cannot do on the ice. You also learn a lot about your team’s resiliency, and [when the Americans made it a 3-2 game early in the second period], it was a bend but do not break situation. Obviously, we do not want things like that to happen, but I still thought the team played a good second period after the goal early in the period. This team is committed to what we are trying to accomplish on the ice, and that is really important because it is not easy for these players to come into a situation where there are new teammates, coaches, environments and roles for a lot of them. I think our guys have been brilliant buying into our team environment.”
- Canada Red head coach Travis Crickard (St. John’s, NL/Saint John, QMJHL) on his team’s resiliency
“The experience so far has been awesome. I have been looking forward to this tournament for a few years now and hoping I would make one of the Canadian teams, and bow that I am here it is everything I imagined it would be. It is a little bit surreal walking into the locker room and seeing that Canadian jersey with my last name on it. My family did not offer too much advice, but they told me to work hard and do everything I can to help my team win a gold medal, so that is what I am trying to do.”
- Iginla on his experience at the U17 World Challenge and advice from his family
“This win ranks pretty high on my list. We lost to [the Americans] at the Youth Olympics last season, and we have a few guys on [Canada Red] that were a part of that loss, so it was nice to get a bit of redemption tonight. It was a really big win for us, and I just tried to stay calm in those high-pressure situations and I did everything I could to keep my team in the game.”
- Esler on defeating the United States
TSN and RDS, the official broadcast partners of Hockey Canada, will broadcast the bronze and gold medal games on Nov. 9; please check local listings for details. All preliminary-round games, as well as the quarterfinals, semifinals and 5th place game will be livestreamed at HNLive.ca.
Fans looking to secure their seat for the 2024 U17 World Challenge can purchase a variety of ticket options at HockeyCanada.ca/Tickets.
For more information on Hockey Canada and the 2024 U17 World Challenge, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow along via social media on Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok.
