CANADA EARNS 4-3 SHOOTOUT VICTORY OVER HC MÖLLER PARDUBICE IN 2007 SPENGLER CUP OPENER

by Paul Romanuk

DAVOS, Switzerland – The last shot Team Canada goaltender Curtis Joseph faced in anger was on April 8th when he played for the Phoenix Coyotes against the Vancouver Canucks. Close to nine months later, he received a big “welcome back” to high level competition at the 2007 Spengler Cup – backstopping Canada to an opening day 4-3 shootout victory over HC Möller Pardubice.

“I felt not to bad, considering,” smiled Joseph after the game. “I’ll give myself a passing grade, especially because we got the win.”

Joseph faced a total of 40 shots from a Czech team that took advantage of a slow Team Canada start to stake a 2-0 lead by the early part of the second period.

Libor Pivko opened the scoring for Pardubice at 15:53 of the opening frame while Travis Green was in the penalty box serving a slashing minor, and the Canadians were lucky that was the only first period goal.

Canada looked hesitant at times in the opening period, something most hockey fans have come to expect early in a tournament where Canada is icing a team that has never played a game together.

“Yeah, sure we were rusty,” acknowledged team Canada head coach Sean Simpson. “It’s like this every year we play here, we’ve only been together for two days. You have to give us a little time to develop.”

Pardubice went up 2-0 early in the second period when Tomas Rolinek stepped out of the penalty box during what had been a two-man advantage for Canada. Michal Tvrdik hit him with a pass at the Canadian blue line and Rolinek walked in all alone and slipped the puck through Joseph’s legs.

Canada started their turnaround just 33 seconds later when Ric Jackman hammered a shot past Czech net minder Jan Lasak, who was kept busy by 16 Canadian shots during the second period.

Canada tied the score at the 7:35 marl on a 5-on-3 power play, as Kirby Law converted on a nice pass across the slot from Simon Gamache. J.P. Vigier rounded out the second period scoring with another power play goal at 12:57, sending Canada to the intermission with a 3-2 lead.

The third period was another busy one for the referees, with five more minors being called – three against Canada, two against Pardubice. The Czechs used one of their power plays to draw even, as Tvrdik drilled the puck into an empty net at 8:35 after Joseph had made two great stops from close in.

Canada out shot Pardubice 3-0 during the five-minute overtime period, but were unable to beat Lasak, and the game headed to a shootout.

“I just kind of put my head down, concentrated and tried to react in time,” said Cujo of his complex shootout strategy.

None of the Czech shooters could solve Joseph, while Dale McTavish and Serge Aubin found the back of the net for Canada to clinch victory.
“I’m really proud of the character of our hockey club,” said Simpson. “To see us come back after being down 2-0, to see the way they all worked hard, we are a team that has the potential to get a lot better as this tournament goes on.”

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Final(SO)

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Goals/Buts :
PAR Libor Pivko (Jan Snopek, Miroslav Hlinka) 16:00 PP

Penalties/Pénalités :
CAN Serge Aubin (Elbowing) 3:00
PAR Zdenek Ondrej (Holding) 4:00
PAR Jaroslav Koma (Hooking) 4:00
CAN Yves Sarault (Holding) 9:00
PAR Jiri Cetkovsky (Interference) 10:00
CAN Travis Green (Slashing) 15:00

Goals/Buts :
PAR Tomas Rolinek (Michal Tvrdik) 3:00 SH
CAN Ric Jackman (Ryan Keller, Yves Sarault) 3:00
CAN Kirby Law (Simon Gamache, Mark Giordano) 8:00 PP
PAR Michal Tvrdik (Miroslav Hlinka) 9:00 PP
CAN J.P. Vigier (Curtis Murphy, Travis Green) 13:00 PP

Penalties/Pénalités :
CAN Ramzi Abid (Slashing) 4:00
CAN Mark Giordano (Elbowing) 16:00
CAN Ric Jackman (Slashing) 16:00

Goals/Buts :
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Penalties/Pénalités :
CAN Yannick Tremblay (Kneeing) 6:00
CAN Travis Green (Hooking) 7:00
CAN Danny Syvret (Slashing) 8:00
PAR Mathias Joggi (Slashing) 14:00
PAR Michal Seda (Interference) 16:00

Dale McTavish (CAN) vs. Jan Lasak (PAR) - GOAL
Michal Tvrdik (PAR) vs. Curtis Joseph (CAN) - NO GOAL
Yannick Trenblay (CAN) vs. Jan Lasak (PAR) - NO GOAL
Libor Pivko (PAR) vs. Curtis Joseph (CAN) - NO GOAL
Serge Aubin (CAN) vs. Jan Lasak (PAR) - GOAL