Representing the Trout
Over the past two days, a couple of Steelheads had the opportunity to represent Canada in the inaugural Kubota CHL / USA Prospects Challenge. The Trout’s captain Porter Martone, and star netminder Jack Ivankovic were selected to help lead the CHL’s team, with Martone being chosen as the team’s captain. The two-game showdown took place in London on Tuesday, and then Oshawa on Wednesday.
Team CHL started off with a bang on Tuesday night with a dominant 6-1 win. Off the first faceoff of the game it was abundantly clear that despite the fact that it was a prospects challenge, the rivalry between Canada and the USA was in full swing. It was an extremely physical series, which allowed Martone to showcase his ability to stir the pot.
The first period was marked by the aforementioned physicality, before Moose Jaw’s Lynden Lakovic was sprung on a breakaway where he roofed it to give team CHL the 1-0 lead.
In the second period, Canada’s offence showed their firepower, when they exploded for three goals in the first five minutes of the frame. First, it was Vancouver’s Cameron Schmidt who flew down the wing before he rifled a shot top-shelf. Then it was Brady Martin who extended the lead to three when the puck took an unexpected bounce in front of the net off of a dump in. Erie’s Matthew Schaefer was next to join in on the fun when he took the puck end-to-end, and jammed the puck home on the break.
Not to be outdone by his Erie teammate, Malcolm Spence jammed in a rebound on the powerplay at the start of the final frame. Team CHL would add one more goal courtesy of Barrie’s Kashawn Aitcheson, who ripped a shot off of the backbar so fast that he was the only one to realize it went in at. The NTDP would get on the board in the final minutes when Jack Murtagh fired one home on the man-advantage to reach the final score of 6-1.
Wednesday’s matchup was a lot closer as Canada scraped out a 3-2 victory to clinch the series. The Steelhead’s very own Jack Ivankovic took the crease for team CHL to help seal the deal.
It did not take long for team CHL to take the lead when the Trout’s captain fired a shot on goal which was redirected in front by Moncton’s Caleb Desnoyers. Cole McKinney answered back for the States when he snuck to the forehand on the breakaway.
Saginaw’s Michael Misa put team CHL back in front on the powerplay after Caleb Desnoyers slipped a perfect pass to the backdoor. Misa’s goal was the only goal of the frame.
The Americans tied the game in the third period when Jack Murtagh ripped home his second goal of the series on the powerplay. Jack Ivankovic stepped up for Canada with some key saves to keep the game tied. With just over a minute remaining in the game, Victoria’s Cole Rechsny sniped one bar down to give team CHL the lead, which they would hold on to enroute to a series sweep.
