Trencin, SVK – Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team dropped its preliminary-round opener at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup on Monday, falling 9-6 to Finland.
- Berkly Catton (Saskatoon, SK/Spokane, WHL) led the offence with a goal and two assists.
- Cole Beaudoin (Calgary, AB/Prince Albert, WHL), Maxim Massé (Rimouski, QC/Chicoutimi, LHJMQ), Justin Poirier (Valleyfield, QC/Baie-Comeau, LHJMQ), Henry Mews (Ottawa, ON/Ottawa, OHL) and Roger McQueen (Saskatoon, SK/Brandon, WHL) also scored goals.
- Frankie Marrelli (Markham, ON/Ottawa, OHL) provided two assists.
- Cayden Lindstrom (Chetwynd, BC/Medicine Hat, WHL), Sam Dickinson (Toronto, ON/London, OHL), Malcolm Spence (Mississauga, ON/Erie, OHL), Zayne Parekh (Nobleton, ON/Saginaw, OHL), Porter Martone (Peterborough, ON/Mississauga, OHL), Ryder Ritchie (Calgary, AB/Prince Albert, WHL) and Ollie Josephson (Victoria, BC/Red Deer, WHL) each registered an assist.
- Gabriel D’Aigle (Sorel-Tracy, QC/Victoriaville, LHJMQ) made 14 saves, while Carter George (Thunder Bay, ON/Owen Sound, OHL) stopped two shots in relief.
Next Game:
Canada vs. Slovakia – Tuesday, August 1 (1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT)
TSN and RDS, the official broadcast partners of Hockey Canada, will broadcast all Team Canada games and select playoff-round games during the tournament; please check local listings for details.
Quotes:
“It was a dream start scoring within the first minute. We got a little content as the game wore on – lost battles, little intangible things that don’t take skill but rather will – and before you know it you are down quite a few. The systematic side of things is the least of our worries. Within this group right now, we need to find a way and bear down on the intangibles and find a way to win.”
– Assistant coach Kris Mallette (Kelowna, BC/Kelowna, WHL) on what is needed moving forward.
“We knew [Finland] has a good team and we came out pretty hard but had stints of not playing together [as a team] that cost us the game. There was a stint where we allowed three goals in five minutes; if we can eliminate that, it is a much closer game. Coming into our next game, we have to play a full 60 minutes and I think we will be fine. I believe in our team, we just have to make sure we are playing together and playing hard the whole game.”
– Catton, the Canadian captain, on needing to play a full game.
“We tried to get off to a hot start getting in on the forecheck. [Carson Wetsch] got the puck in deep, we got it low to high, I got to the front of the net and managed to tip it. We need to be harder on pucks, get on the backcheck, play defence first and then go to our offence. But we need to play defence first and make sure we do so responsibly.”
– Beaudoin on scoring early.
