Kassian Helps Team Ontario Win Gold
Taylor Hall of the Windsor Spitfires scored a goal and added an assist and Bryce O’Hagen of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds made 28 saves for the shutout to help Ontario to a 3-0 win over the U.S.A. in the gold medal game at the World Under-17 Challenge at the John Labatt Centre in London on Friday.
Ontario claimed its second straight gold medal after winning the Under-17 championship at the Canada Winter Games last year in Whitehorse.
Hall opened the scoring in the first period and then set up Peter Holland of the Guelph Storm in the second. Matt Duchene of the Brampton Battalion also scored in the second period. Zach Kassian of the Peterborough Petes and Peter Hermenegildo of the Sudbury Wolves picked up assists in the win.
Michael Zador of the London Knights started the five previous games for Ontario but had the flu and wasn’t available to play in the final.
O’Hagen held his ground despite Ontario being outshot 28-19. He was especially busy during the second period when the U.S. held a 14-5 advantage on the shot clock but couldn’t solve the Ontario netminder.
Duchene finished the tournament as Ontario’s leading scorer with 10 points in six games. Brayden Schenn of Team West was the tournament leader with 13 points.
Ontario’s Under-17 Team included 20 OHL rookies along with head coach Jason Brooks of the Guelph Storm and assistant coaches Jake Grimes from the Belleville Bulls and Mario Cichillo of the Niagara IceDogs.
The event featured five regional teams from across Canada and five international teams from Finland, Germany, Russia, Slovakia and USA. Team Ontario played in a division which includes Team Pacific, Quebec, Finland and Slovakia.
Follow the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge online at HockeyCanada.ca
Photo: Aaron Bell/OHL
