CANADA EAST OFFENCE EXPLODES IN ROUT OF RUSSIA
O’LEARY, P.E.I. – One night after putting five goals on the board in a shootout loss to the MJAHL
all-stars, Canada East exploded for nine more against Russia on Friday, routing the European side 9-1 in the
final pre-tournament game for both.
In front a pro-Canadian crowd at the O’Leary Community Sports Centre, Jacob Laliberte (Rockland,
Ont./Cornwall, CJHL) picked up a hat trick and two assists and Nick Huard (North Bay, Ont./Woodstock, MJAHL),
added to the Canada East roster following Thursday night’s game, notched a pair of goals as the Canadians
jumped out to a 4-0 first-period lead en route to victory.
Julian Melchiori (Richmond Hill, Ont./Newmarket, CCHL), Greg Carey (Hamilton, Ont./Burlington, CCHL), Jeff
Vanderlugt (Richmond Hill, Ont./Aurora, OJAHL) and Sebastien Gingras (Pierrefonds, Que./Brockville, CJHL)
also found the back of the net for Canada East, which scored the game’s final five goals.
Semen Zherebtsov scored the lone goal for Russia, which arrived in P.E.I. late Thursday after a long
cross-Atlantic flight. Kiril Brashkin and Sergey Kostenko split the net duties for the Russians, who were
outshot 44-28.
Canada East looks to continue its offensive roll when it opens the tournament against the United States on
Sunday night (7 p.m. AT), while Russia will hope to get on track in time for the tournament’s first game
against Canada West on Sunday afternoon (2 p.m. AT).
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summary.
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AMERICANS GET GAME’S FINAL THREE TO KNOCK OFF CANADA WEST
MONTAGUE, P.E.I. – It may not have been the gold medal game, but the United States got the better of
Canada West again on Friday night, scoring the game’s final three goals to earn a 5-2 win at the Montague and
Area Wellness Centre.
In a rematch of last year’s final game, won 7-1 by the Americans, the U.S. got two goals from Shane
Berschbach, a goal two assists from Nic Dowd and timely goaltending from Will Yanakeff to pick up the
victory.
Jeff Costello and John Parker also dented the twine for the Americans in their lone pre-tournament game.
The U.S. side had little opportunity to practice coming in, thanks to an airline mishap that saw them arrive
in Summerside on Wednesday with only two of 22 equipment bags.
Twins Connor Jones (Montrose, B.C./Vernon, BCHL) and Kellen Jones (Montrose, B.C./Vernon, BCHL) scored the
goals for Canada West, which saw its pre-tournament record evened at 1-1 with the loss.
Both teams will see action on Sunday, the first day of the 2009 World Junior A Challenge – Canada West
will take part in the tournament’s first game, taking on Russia at 2 p.m. AT, while the U.S. faces Canada
East at 7 p.m. AT.
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summary.
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MJAHL ALL-STARS HANG ON TO TOP BELARUS
AMHERST, N.S. – The Maritime Junior A Hockey League all-stars completed a two-game sweep of 2009 World
Junior A Challenge competition, getting two goals from Stuart Lenehan in a 5-4 win over Belarus at Amherst
Stadium on Friday night.
The MJAHL all-stars led 5-2 late in the second period before hanging on to earn their second win in as
many nights – they needed nine rounds of a shootout to defeat Canada East 6-5 on Thursday in Truro, N.S.
Dana Fraser added a goal and two assists for the MJAHLers, while Brad Tesink and Nicholas Cyr had a goal
and an assist apiece. Andre Guay earned the win between the pipes, turning aside 29 of 33 shots. Despite
taking the loss, Belarus outshot the MJAHL all-stars 33-25.
Siarhei Drozd, last year’s top goal scorer at the World Junior A Challenge, Dzianis Hrkbko and Aliaksei
Sadovik scored goals for Belarus, which fell to 0-2 in pre-tournament play – it squandered a late 2-0 lead to
Canada West on Thursday night in Charlottetown, P.E.I., losing 3-2 in a shootout.
The MJAHL all-stars will now return to their club teams to continue regular season play, while Belarus
kicks off the 2009 World Junior A Challenge on Monday night against Canada East (7 p.m. AT).
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summary.
