Teams Wrap Up Day One at Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament

The first day of the 2014 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament has finished, with Canada, Finland, Sweden and the Czech Republic all coming out winners in their respective games. The tournament continues tomorrow with more round-robin play. Can Canada capture its seven consecutive Ivan Hlinka championship, or will another team swoop in and take the lead? Here’s a recap of the four games that were played on day one of the 2014 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament.

Canada Tops Switzerland in Ivan Hlinka Opener

Team Canada is looking to defend its Ivan Hlinka win from last year, and the team started off this year’s tournament with a bang, defeating Switzerland by a score of 5-1.

Although the Swiss were energetic from the get-go, Canada was able to get a 2-0 lead in the first period with goals from Erie Otters forward Dylan Strome – brother of New York Islands forward Ryan Strome – and Seattle Thunderbirds forward Mathew Barzal.

Kingston forward Lawson Crouse made it 3-0 in the second before Oshawa Generals defenseman Mitchell Vande Sompel scored to make it 4-zip.

Switzerland’s lone goal of the game, scored by EV Zug forward Dominik Schmid, came exactly one minute after Canada’s fourth.

Canada, of course, didn’t let up. They skated into the third period with a 4-1 lead and upped it early on with a goal by Saginaw Spirit forward Mitch Stephens, eventually taking the 5-1 victory. Zachary Sawchenko had 20 saves for Canada, while Swiss goalie Joren Van Pottelberghe had 31 saves in the loss.

Next up, Canada will face Sweden and the Swiss face Slovakia in more Group B action on Tuesday.

Finland Defeats Russia At Ivan Hlinka, Day One

In Group A action, Finland defeated Russia 5-2 on Monday.

Russia scored twice in the first period, but that’d be all they’d be able to put past Finnish netminder Veini Vehviläinen, who plays for JYP Jyväskylä.

Both Russian goals came from defensemen on the power play, as Jegor Rykov (SKA Petrohrad) and Michail Sidorov (Lokomotiv Jaroslavl) scored to make it 2-0.

The Finns, of course, came back, scoring once in the first period to cut the lead in half, then notching two goals in each of the last two periods.

Finnish goals came from Jesse Puljujärvi and Sebastian Aho (both Kärpät Oulu), Kasper Björkqvist (Blues Espoo), Sami Tavernier (HIFK Helsinki) and Patrik Laine (Tappara Tampere).

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Finland outshot Russia 34-23 and captured the 5-2 win.

Finland and Russia will both be back on the ice Tuesday to face the Czech Republic and the United States, respectively.

Sweden Tops Slovakia at Ivan Hlinka

Sweden charged ahead with a three-goal second period that helped them crush the Slovakian team by a score of 6-1 at day one of the Ivan Hlinka U18 Memorial Cup.

The teams exchanged goals in the first period, but it was the three goals in the second that really solidifed the game in Sweden’s favor. The Swedes then added another pair of goals in the third to capture the win.

Slovakia’s lone goal was scored by 16-year-old HK DUKLA Trenčín forward Marek Hecl.

Joel EK Eriksson (Färjestads BK) had a pair of goals for Sweden, with the team’s other goals coming from Alexander Younan, Rasmus Asplund, Oliver Kylington and Jonathan Davidsson. Younan plays on HV 71, while Davidsson suits up for Djurgårdens IF. Asplund and Kylington both play for Färjestads BK.

The Swedes outshot the Slovakian team by a near 2-to-1 margin (38:19), in large part due to a 17-shot performance in the second period.

Sweden faces Canada tomorrow, while Slovakia will take on Switzerland in more Ivan Hlina Memorial Cup action.

USA Falls to Czech Republic in Ivan Hlinka Game

Another Ivan Hlinka game, another three-goal second period.

This time, it was the Czech Republic who put up the performance that helped them to an eventual 4-2 victory over Team USA.

The Czech Republic outshot Team USA by a margin of 39-24 and had three power-play goals in Monday’s victory.

Team USA’s goals came from Chicago Steel forward Robert Jackson and Burnsville High School (MSHSL) forward Brock Boeser.

For the Czech Republic, the hot hands of 16-year-old Lukáš Jasek were responsible for a pair of goals. Jasek currently plays for HC Oceláři Třinec.

Jakub Zboril (HC Kometa Brno) and Filip Chlapik (HC Sparta Praha), both 17, also scored for the Czech Republic.

Ivan Hlinka action continues tomorrow as Team USA faces Russia and the Czech Republic squad takes on Finland.