2018 mwc may 20 can usa

Canada finishes fourth at 2018 IIHF World Championship

Team Canada falls to U.S. rivals in bronze-medal game

NR.038.18
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May 20, 2018
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COPENHAGEN, Denmark Canada’s National Men’s Team closed out the 2018 IIHF World Championship with a 4-1 defeat by the United States in Sunday’s bronze-medal game.

With the loss, Canada finishes in fourth place and out of the medal standings for the first time since 2014. Canada was on pace for four consecutive medal finishes; the last time it accomplished that feat was 1994-1997 when it won two gold, a silver, and a bronze.

The game was scoreless after the opening period before the Americans took the lead in second. Canada finally found the back of the net in the final minutes of the middle frame when Marc-Édouard Vlasic (Montreal/San Jose, NHL) pulled the red-and-white even. The Canadians ran into penalty trouble and were shorthanded seven times, allowing the U.S. to capitalize on two of those opportunities. Curtis McElhinney (London, Ont./Toronto, NHL), who was making his first start in eight days, was outstanding in goal, coming up with one big save after another and stopping 33 of the 35 shots he faced. 

Full game stats and story are available on HockeyCanada.ca.

“I think we needed more discipline, myself too with a bad penalty late in the game that obviously led to a goal against us,” said alternate captain Ryan O’Reilly (Varna, Ont./Buffalo, NHL). “It’s disappointing. We gave them their opportunities and the power plays and it’s something we had to be a lot better at. You give skilled players time with the puck, they’ll create those opportunities and they beat us.”

In seven preliminary-round games at the world championship, Canada finished third in the Group B standings with a record of 4-1-1-1. Canada defeated Russia in the quarter-finals before suffering a semifinal loss to Switzerland.

“It’s an impressive group of young players and it’s a young team when you look at it,” said head coach Bill Peters (Three Hills, Alta./Calgary, NHL). “Some are representing Canada at the men’s level for the first time, but I’m impressed by them through the different stages of the tournament. At different times they rise up and show what they’re about. It’s a real good group, they’ll learn from this and be better moving forward.”

Since 1931, Canada has won the world championship 20 times – not counting the years when the gold-medallist at the Olympic Winter Games was also considered world champion. Canada has also collected 12 silver and six bronze medals in that timespan.

Team Canada return flight itinerary information:

Players and staff will return to their final destinations on Monday, May 21. Flight itineraries for Canada’s players and staff are listed below. Any player not listed is returning at a later date. Information is listed alphabetically by city. Flight information may change without notice; all arrival times are listed in local time.

Calgary, Alta. / Air Canada – AC851 / 11:55 a.m.
Jordan Eberle

Edmonton, Alta. / KLM – KL675 / 3:30 p.m.
Tyson Jost

Ottawa, Ont. / Air Canada – AC9877 / 9:02 p.m.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau

Quebec City, Que. / Lufthansa – LH6640 / 9:29 p.m.
Thomas Chabot

Raleigh Durham, NC / United Airlines – UA400 / 6:26 p.m.
Bill Peters (Head Coach)

Regina, Sask. / Air Canada – AC1117 / 6:45 p.m.
Ryan Murray

St. Louis, Mo. / Scandinavian Airlines - SK3975 / 6:59 p.m.
Joel Edmundson, Mike Yeo (Associate Coach)

Toronto, Ont. / Air Canada – AC873 / 11:35 a.m.
Curtis McElhinney

Toronto, Ont. / Lufthansa – LH470 / 4:30 p.m.
Josh Bailey, Bo Horvat, Connor McDavid, Ryan O’Reilly

Vancouver, B.C. / Lufthansa – LH492 / 2:25 p.m.
Mathew Barzal, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

Windsor, Ont. / Air Canada – AC 8873 / 8:18 p.m.
Michael DiPietro

Winnipeg, Man. / Air Canada – AC269 / 8:22 p.m.
Ryan Pulock

For more information on Canada’s National Men’s Team, please visit HockeyCanada.ca or follow along on Facebook and Twitter.

For more information:

Esther Madziya
Manager, Communications
Hockey Canada

(403) 284-6484 

[email protected] 

Spencer Sharkey
Manager, Communications
Hockey Canada

(403) 777-4567

[email protected]

Jeremy Knight
Manager, Corporate Communications
Hockey Canada

(647) 251-9738

[email protected]

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