I went to Kicking Horse Pass, and Banff I got hit in the face. Now I have to wear a Medicine Hat and the kids call me Moose Jaw. What you just read is a bad set of puns. The Canadien teams are anything but bad. They were nearly perfect Thursday winning six of seven games...and the one defeat was only by one goal.
Tourney favorite Ontario Black fell behind Mid Atlantic Thursday and stormed back to beat the Middies 7-2. Brice Cooke had 2G/1A to lead his team to their third win in three tries. The other Ontario team, Red won 3-1 over a spirited Team USA squad. Aidan Castle had a big night getting three points on 2G/1A including one that was pretty top shelf snipe.
The wins just coming in bunches for the Canadiens some convincing and others a bit more fortunate. Team Quebec got in the win column with an OT over Midwest. After the two teams battled to a 1-1 tie in regulation, each team had their chances including Jaxon Wilson on a breakaway, but Nicolas Ruccia for Quebec made an unbelievable pad save to save the day. On the next sequence, Jake Rozzi got loose and rang a shot off the post. From the carom, the puck bounced directly off of a Midwest defender into the net for the win for Team Quebec.
The mis-fortunes of the central states teams continued...Great Plains fell to British Columbia 4-2...BC capitalized on a couple GP miscues and played strong defense to earn the W. Max Graham came up big for BC getting 1G/1A. Great Lakes fell to Team Canada 7-3, David Goyette had an amazing day scoring four goals for the Canucks. The are a perfect 3-0 to start the tournament.
Matthew Savoie had another great day, netting two goals to help lead Alberta to a 3-0 win over Team West Thursday. At times, Alberta has shown signs of being the best team in the field.
The lone US win came when Southeast beat the Atlantic Provinces 2-1. Gavin Brindley lit the lamp twice for the boys from Florida (and North Carolina).
Ty Nelson's shot from the point finds the top shelf
Ryan Brindley, Southeast - has been a big factor for being a smaller player all week so far. Had two big goals for Southeast Thursday.
Ty Nelson, Ontario Black - the type of player that makes everyone else better on the ice. He has a lot of confidence with the puck, no matter where he is on the ice.
Nick Mikan, Great Plains - tremendous speed - he and Isaac Howard have been electric for GP.
Nicolas Ruccia, Quebec - had great balance and excellent puck control on Thursday, made the save of the day for BC in OT.
Matthew Savoie, Alberta - every last person who has seen Alberta says, "Tony, have you seen 88 for Alberta? He's awesome!"
Aidan Castle, Ontario Red - the type of player who is always the aggressor around the puck - had three points in their win Thursday.
David Goyette, Team Canada - the Montreal native skates well and has great ice presence - had four goals for the Canucks.
Connor Levis, British Columbia - plays with a lot of heart, always seems to be in the right place at the right time.
Aidan Castle from Ontario Red with the snipe