Kane and Blum now each 2-0 at the WJC

Dave Sheldon - Vancouver Giants
with notes from TSN.ca and USA Hockey




Giants Captain Jonathon Blum and forward Evander Kane continue their chase for Gold and their New Year's Eve Showdown. Blum representing Team USA and Kane representing Team CANADA each saw their teams win on Sunday and move their records to 2-0. We have two reports, the first from USA Hockey and the second from TSN.ca...

OTTAWA, Ontario – The United States National Junior Team built a 4-1 lead over the Czech Republic here tonight and finished with a 4-3 victory to win its second game in as many tries at the 2009 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship. A tournament-record 19,847 watched at Scotiabank Place as the U.S. won its 100th all-time game in the event.

With just a second left on its first power play attempt of the game, Jordan Schroeder (Prior Lake, Minn./University of Minnesota) rifled a wrist shot into the upper corner of the net from the top of the left circle at 13:00 to stake Team USA to a 1-0 advantage. U.S. netminder Thomas McCollum (Sanborn, N.Y.) stopped all nine shots he faced to help the United States maintain its 1-0 advantage after 20 minutes.

After the Czech Republic tied the game 5:14 into the middle frame, Jonathon Blum's (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) shot from the point was deflected by Matt Rust (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./University of Michigan) into the Czech net at 11:46. James van Riemsdyk (Middletown, N.J./University of New Hampshire) extended Team USA's lead with a power-play goal at 18:34 on a shot from the bottom of the right circle.

Schroeder received a pass from van Riemsdyk, made a move to get space around the net and beat Czech netminder Dominik Furch on the shortside from in tight at 3:43 of the third period to open up a 4-1 U.S. lead. After a scramble in front of the net, the puck caromed out to the center area between the circles and Martin Paryzek blasted it home with McCollum out of the net at 7:02 to make it 4-2. Then at 16:43, Jan Kana's power play goal got the Czechs to within a goal. The U.S had an empty-net goal waved off due to an offside call with :42 left and missed another opportunity at an empty net not long after. It didn't matter, however, as McCollum, who made 24 saves in all, was strong and picked up his second win of the tournament.

The U.S. National Junior Team returns to action Tuesday (Dec. 30) when it faces Kazakhstan at 7:30 p.m. EST in its third game at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa, Ontario. The game can be seen live in the United States on the NHL Network.

NOTES: The victory tonight was the 100th all-time in the IIHF World Junior Championship for the United States ... Forward Jordan Schroeder had two goals and an assist and was named Team USA's Player of the Game. Schroeder has 3-4--7 in two games at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship, and in eight career games at the event shows 4-11--15 ... The U.S. killed off 15 straight opponent power play attempts to start the tournament before yielding a late power play goal to the Czech Republic tonight ... The U.S. is slated to practice from 2-3 p.m. tomorrow (Dec. 29) at Scotiabank Place ... Defenseman Jonathon Blum (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) is the captain of the 2009 U.S. National Junior Team, while forward Colin Wilson and defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk (New Rochelle, N.Y./Boston University) are the team's alternate captains ... The 2009 U.S. National Junior Team trained in Lake Placid, N.Y., at the Olympic Training Center from Dec. 16-20 ... Ron Rolston (Ann Arbor, Mich.), head coach of the U.S. National Under-18 Team within USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program, is the head coach of the 2009 U.S. National Junior Team. Nate Leaman (Clifton Park, N.Y./Union College) and P.K. O'Handley (Waterloo, Iowa/Waterloo Black Hawks) are serving as assistant coaches, while Jeff Blashill (Indianapolis, Ind./Indiana Ice) is the goaltending coach ... The NHL Network will broadcast live all Team USA games in the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship ... Team USA finished fourth at the 2008 IIHF World Junior Championship and has played for a medal in the event each of the last six years.

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OTTAWA ONT - Team Canada continued on with the punishment that the Germans handed out the night before, scoring eight power play goals en route to a 15-0 victory over Kazakhstan at the World Junior Hockey Championship on Sunday.

Less than 24 hours after a 9-0 drubbing by Germany, the Kazakhs were victimized again - this time by the host team. Canada's aggressive forecheck at start the game quickly wore down their opponents, causing them to make early mistakes and take careless penalites.

"I think before the game we were really prepared," John Tavares told TSN after the game. "We were really focused on getting better again, and coach (Quinn) wanted to make sure we were playing hard and weren't getting lazy habits.

Jordan Eberle capitalized early with his first goal of the tournament at 1:28 and Jamie Benn followed it up on the power play to make it 2-0.

With a 5-on-3 power play for almost two minutes, Canada didn't slow down. Benn took a feed from John Tavares for a three-goal lead and P.K. Subban added another as the second penalty ended to make it 4-0 after one period.

The offence continued to roll in the second, with Cody Hodgson scoring less than two minutes in, Chris DiDomenico cashing in with second goal of the tournament and Benn's third goal of the game - with reserved celebration - to complete the hat trick.

"It's just one of those games where you can't get too excited out there," Benn told TSN. "You got to stay focused out there for the full 60 minutes and we did a pretty good job."

With Canada's second unit out on the next power play it was Tyler Ennis's turn to get on the scoreboard, scoring his second goal in as many games to make it 8-0. Tavares added another goal with the man advantage just over two minutes later, becoming Canada's all-time leader in power play goals with six.

When the dust finally settled after two periods, Canada beat Kazakh goaltender Andrei Yankov nine times on 44 shots.

Yankov was replaced by Maxim Gryaznov to start the third period and the goaltending change did little to stave off the Canadian onslaught.

Vancouver Giants forward Evander Kane, who was cut earlier this month but returned to the lineup to replace the injured Dana Tyrell, scored his first goal of the tournament less than a minute in to give Canada a double-digit lead. Tavares, Hodgson and Subban each added their second goal of the game to make it 13-0. Stefan Della Rovere, who was a game-time decision because of a shin injury, scored the 14th goal and defenceman Tyler Myers finished things off with his first goal of the tournament.

Canada also set team records in power play goals. Their three goals with the man advantage in the second and third period tied a team record for most power play goals in a period (done seven times before) and their total of eight in the game beat the previous record of six that was set in 2002.

Through Canada's first two games of the tournament, 14 different players have scored goals. "We've got four great lines that can score," said forward Tyler Ennis. "We play physical and are just very deep and it showed tonight. Everyone contributed."

After Dustin Tokarski earned Canada's first win of the tournament on Friday, goaltender Chet Pickard got the start in net against the Kazakhs. A first-round selection of the Nashville Predators in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, the 19-year-old made just 11 saves for the shutout in his international debut representing Canada. "It wasn't the most difficult (shutout)," said Pickard. "But you definitely have to stay sharp out there because you only get one or two shots a period. The guys were great in front of me tonight and I didn't have to do very much."

Pickard is also the second goalie to represent the Western Hockey League's Tri-City Americans in three years. In 2007, his former teammate Carey Price led Canada to gold at the world junior tournament in Leksand, Sweden.

Kane living the dream

December 29, 2008 2:02 PM

sports columnist Ed Willes

Photograph by: File photoEvander Kane hasn’t had a lot of first-hand experience with failure, but when he was cut by Team Canada a couple of weeks ago he accepted the move philosophically.

Kane, after all, is just 17, has already established himself as one of the best pro prospects in the country and has won a gold medal for Canada at the world under-18 championship last spring. Sure it stung but the kid from Vancouver reasoned there’d be another chance down the road and, one day, he’d pull on the Canadian jersey.

He just didn’t think it would come five days later.

“I’d kind of moved on,” shrugged the Vancouver Giants winger. “Once I got back and played that game [with the Giants] I just forgot about it. I didn’t think anything was going to go wrong that early.

“It was a bit of a surprise but a good one.”

No, Kane had barely unpacked from the junior team selection camp when he was granted a reprieve by Hockey Canada. Just days after he’d been made the final cut for Pat Quinn’s team, he was given an early Christmas present when Dana Tyrell of the Prince George Cougars went down with a knee injury.

And even if he isn’t stepping into a starring role, you don’t hear him complaining about the way things turned out.

“Watching this tournament growing up, it was always a dream putting on this jersey,” Kane said. “It’s an extraordinary feeling. Hopefully I’ll be celebrating in one after the gold-medal game.”

Sunday afternoon, Kane and his teammates continued their pursuit of that gold with a 15-0 blowout over hapless Kazakhstan before another packed house at Scotiabank Place.

While it would be easier to list the Canadians who didn’t score in this farce, Kane did provide the all-important 10th marker in the third period for his first goal of the tournament and added an assist.

Team Canada, for their part, outshot the Kazakhs 69-11, scored eight power-play goals and all but three of their players hit the scoresheet.

“It was important for me to get the monkey off my back and get a little confidence going into some of the tougher games,” Kane said.

And there will be tougher games. There has to be.

After establishing himself as one of the most dangerous offensive players in the WHL (22-26-48 in 28 games with the Giants) Kane has settled into a fourth-line checking/energy role with linemates Stefan Della Rovere and Patrice Cormier at the WJC.

The problem, however, is there hasn’t been anyone to check in Canada’s first two games. On Boxing Day, they crushed the Czech Republic 8-1. Then there was Sunday’s debacle.

Quinn, who owns a piece of the Giants, has also watched Kane develop from an uncertain 15-year old on the Memorial Cup champs of two years ago to a potential top-five pick in this summer’s draft.

The Team Canada coach said Tyrell was picked in the first place because of his physical presence and when he had to be replaced, the coaching staff didn’t spend a long time deliberating before they selected Kane.

“We thought he was the guy because he’s got a physical edge,” Quinn said. “He’s probably a kid who can play on any line but if we need a line to play [a shutdown role], they’d be the ones.”

And that suits Kane just fine.

“I think by accepting this it makes me a better player,” said Kane, whose parent Harry and Sheri are in Ottawa for the tournament. “It’s obviously a lot different than playing for your club team but when it comes to playing for Canada, you just want to be part of the team and you accept a different role.”

In fact, you accept any role.

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