What an NCAA rule change might mean for junior hockey in Sask.
Nov 18, 2024
Previously, WHL players were declared ineligible to play NCAA hockey in the U.S.
It was a battle, but Canada has advanced to a semifinal at the 2022 world junior hockey championship in Edmonton.
The Canadians posted a 6-3 victory over Switzerland in a quarterfinal Wednesday, an outcome that was closer than many predicted.
Canada went 4-0-0 in round-robin play at the tournament and outscored its opponents 27-7. The Swiss were 1-3-0 in the preliminary round and were outscored 15-8.
But the Canadians prevailed in the quarterfinal, improving their all-time record against Switzerland at the tournament to 25-0-0.
Canada moves on to a semifinal Friday. Its opponent will be Czechia, which upset the United States 4-2 in Wednesday’s late quarterfinal.
Finland and Sweden with meet in the other semifinal. The Finns downed Germany 5-2 in a quarterfinal before Sweden defeated Latvia 2-1.
Canada and the Czechs are to play Friday at 2 p.m. Sweden and the Finns are to play at 6 p.m.
Canada opened the scoring just 1:07 into its game with the Swiss, with Tyson Foerster (Alliston, Ont.) lighting the lamp. But Simon Knak tied the game for the Swiss barely a minute later.
After Jack Thompson (Courtice, Ont.) restored the Canadians’ lead at 12:31 of the first, Logan Stankoven (Kamloops, B.C.) made it 3-1 at 14:32.
Nathan Gaucher (Richelieu, Que.) stretched the advantage to 4-1 at 17:01 of the first, but Attilio Biasca scored at 19:51 to cut the deficit to two goals.
Will Cuylle (Toronto) scored 4:20 into the second period to make it 5-2 for Canada, but Biasca sniped at 7:51 to get Switzerland back to within two goals.
Stankoven sealed the outcome with an empty-net goal at 18:51 of the third period.
Regina Pats star Connor Bedard was held off the scoresheet for Canada.
The Canadians outshot the Swiss 41-26.