Nagano Cup
February 10, 2003
Nagano , Japan

Canada's Saint-Georges (QC) Garaga earned its first point at the 2003 Nagano Cup, with a 2-2 tie with Finland on Monday at the Big Hat Arena in Nagano.

Canada opened the scoring on a Joel Prpic (Sudbury, ON) unassisted goal at 9:04 of the opening period.  The Finns tied the game at 15:40 of the first, as Janne Pesonen beat Canadian netminder André Racicot (Rouyn-Noranda, QC) during a powerplay.

Canada took its second lead in the second period, as Prpic scored his second goal of the game, during a powerplay, on an assist from fellow Japan Elite League player Mark Kaufmann (Vancouver, BC).  At 16:37 of the second, Mikko Niinikoski evened the score at 2-2.  Finland outshot Canada 22-7 in the period, but beat Racicot only once.

Neither team could find the mark in an evenly matched third period, and the score remained deadlocked at 2.

In other action at the Nagano Cup, the Czech entry, Pardubice, made it two wins in two games, with a 5-2 win over Japan.  The Czech Republic stand alone in first place, with four points, followed by Finland with three points, Canada with one point and Japan still looking for its first point.

Canada's 2002 Allan Cup Champions from Saint-Georges (QC) can finish as high as second at the 2003 Nagano Cup with a win over Japan, and if the Czech Republic beats Finland on the final day of the event.