On the first day of the tournament held in Espoo and Vantaa, the Canadians defeated Sweden 6:3. The key was the first period, which they won 4-1, and although their rivals scored a goal, Canada never relinquished the advantage.
Gavin McKenna scored 2 goals, Jett Luchanko recorded a goal and an assist, and the list of scorers also included: Matthew Schaefer, Malcolm Spence and Carson Wetsch. For Sweden, Alexander Zetterberg scored 2 goals and an assist, and his partner from the Örebro HK junior team and the national team's first attack, Melvin Fernström, scored a goal and an assist.
Swedish goalkeeper Love Härenstam scored 5 goals. He is the son of Chris Härenstam, a hockey commentator on Swedish public television. The latter has given up commenting on the tournament for ethical reasons, precisely because his son is participating in it.
Canadians had something to prove to the Swedes today, because a year ago, at the inauguration of the World Championships, the hockey country's senior team suffered a 0-8 defeat against “Mały Korony” – the highest defeat of Canada in the history of participations in the World Championships in this age category, and then lost again to Sweden in the semi-final, this time 2:7.
Sweden U18 – Canada U18 3:6 (1:4, 2:1, 0:1)
Fernström (12th), Zetterberg (21st), (35th) – Luchanko (4th), Spence (10th), McKenna (16th), (18th), Schaefer (36th), Wetsch (59th).
The Group B competition opened with a match between the Czechs and the Swiss, won by the former 3-0. Maximilian Curran and Marek Daníček, who participated in the third attack of the Czech team, each scored a goal and an assist, Tomáš Poletín also scored and goalkeeper Jakub Milota was not defeated by any of the 17 shots of the Swiss.
Czech Republic U18 – Switzerland U18 3-0 (1-0, 0-0, 2-0)
Curran (5th), Poletín (44th), Daníček (50th)
Friday:
Switzerland – Kazakhstan Canada – Czech Republic
In Group A, which plays its matches in Espoo, the defending champions Americans beat the Slovaks 9-0 in the first match, scoring 3 goals in each period. The Americans were led by members of last year's championship team. The hat trick was achieved by the top scorer of this championship, Cole Eiserman, considered one of the greatest talents selected in this year's NHL draft, James Hagens scored 2 goals and made 2 assists, and Cole Hutton had a goal and an assist. .
Teddy Stiga also had a goal and an assist, Christian Humphreys and John Whipple also scored, and Brodie Ziemer and Kamil Bednarik each had 3 assists. American goalkeeper Nick Kempf kept a clean sheet, saving 24 shots.
Last year, the US national team defeated Slovakia in the semifinals of the U-18 World Cup 7-1, and in the history of this tournament, it has beaten this rival in 11 of 13 matches.
United States U18 – Slovakia U18 9-0 (3-0, 3-0, 3-0)
Hutson (3rd), Eiserman (11th), (50th), (59th), Hagens (20th), (38th), Stiga (21st), Whipple (35th), Humphreys (48th)
Finland began its “home” tournament with a 3-1 victory against Latvia. Tuomas Suoniemi scored a goal and assisted, while Emil Hemming and Heikki Ruohonen also scored. Goalkeeper Petteri Rimpinen saved 14 of 15 shots and wasted his chance to score scoreless in the penultimate minute, with the Latvians playing 6-4 on the field after an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by Aatos Koivu and the withdrawal of the Latvian goalkeeper.
Finland U18 – Latvia U18 3:1 (1:0, 1:0, 1:1)
Hemming (12th), Ruohonen (37th), Suoniemi (53rd) – Osmanis (59th)
Friday:
Slovakia – Latvia Finland – Norway
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