DAY IN REVIEW

Tuesday, January 4, 2005

ONTARIO 4 ATLANTIC 5
BRONZE MEDAL

It was the final game for Team Ontario and Team Atlantic as they competed for the Bronze medal at the Enmax Centre. Atlantic opened up the scoring when Blake Gallagher scored his sixth goal of the tournament. James Sheppard continued his domination in the tournament as he scored the second goal for Atlantic. With under a minute to go in the first, Ryan McDonough scored for Ontario, cutting the lead in half. In the second period, Atlantic added to their lead when Andrew White scored his team’s third goal. The lead did not last long, as Myles Applebaum scored two goals to tie the game at three. In the third, Atlantic regained the lead when Blake Gallagher scored his second of the game. James McGinn of Ontario tied up the game again with a goal that set up a very exciting final ten minutes. With 2:41 left in the game Ryan Hillier received his souvenir from the tournament, the game winning goal. The win for Team Atlantic gave them their first medal in the World Under-17 Hockey Championship tournament. The player of the game for Team Ontario was Myles Applebaum. Andrew White received the player of the game for Team Atlantic.

PACIFIC 1 WEST 3
GOLD MEDAL

The gold medal game at the Enmax Centre proved to be the battle of the tournament’s two best teams. Team West and Team Pacific were evenly matched as they kept each other scoreless after 20 minutes. The only exception was the shots-on-goal differential as West considerably outshot Pacific. The story of the first period was Pacific net minder Leland Irving, who turned aside 16 shots in the frame. In the second period, West continued to pepper Irving with shots until forward Kyle Bortis was able to squeeze one past him. West led 1-0 until Pacific retaliated shortly thereafter. JP Szaszkiewicz stuffed the puck into the West net to tie the game 1-1. Pacific was only able to muster 4 shots on net in the second period, matching their first period shot total. Pacific’s 8 shots on net was 21 shots fewer than West’s two period shot total. There was no scoring in the third period until Jonathan Toews scored a big goal 6:54 into the final frame to put West up 3-1. West completely shut down Pacific’s third period drive, and drove the nail into the coffin when Toews scored with 13 seconds left in the game. Team West won the game 2-1 and won the gold medal! It is West’s first ever gold medal in the Under-17 hockey championships. Team Pacific was awarded the silver medal and a second place finish. Kyle Bortis was the player of the game for the West. Leiland Irving was the undisputed player of the game for Pacific, as he stopped 40 shots on the evening.