BRECLAV, Czech Republic – Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team will take home silver from the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup after falling 3-2 to Russia in the gold medal game.

The medal marks the third silver and 26th medal overall in summer under-18 play since 1991. Canada has now won 22 gold medals, three silver and one bronze.

Quinton Byfield (Newmarket, Ont./Sudbury, OHL) got the offence started for Canada, jamming in a rebound on the power play to even the score at 1-1 early in the second period, with Connor McClennon (Wainwright, Alta./Winnipeg, WHL) and Hendrix Lapierre (Gatineau, Que./Chicoutimi, QMJHL) picking up assists.

Canada would surrender two more goals before Jean-Luc Foudy (Scarborough, Ont./Windsor, OHL) found the back of the net to bring Canada within one with five minutes remaining. Despite late pressure, and a 37-13 edge in shots on goal, Canada could not beat Russian goaltender Yaroslav Askarov before time expired.

“The first three games here were big time highs for our team and we were able to build a lot of chemistry. We played some tough opponents in the medal round and really had to dig deep,” said captain Jamie Drysdale (Toronto/Erie, OHL). “The semifinal was obviously a big test for us, but we came out today and gave everything we had in the final game. Unfortunately it just did not go our way.”

Full game story and stats are available here.

Canada finished the preliminary round with a perfect 3-0 record and secured first place in Group A, defeating Finland, Switzerland and the Czech Republic. It faced off against Sweden in the semifinals, a game that saw Canada win in an eight-round shootout.

“It was hard to complete passes but we just tried to get a lot of pucks to the net. [Russia] was able to convert their opportunities and we were not, and I think that was the difference,” said head coach Michael Dyck (Lethbridge, Alta./Vancouver, WHL). “I am really proud of these guys and the way they came together as a group. This is the ultimate short-term competition and our team did a great job this week.”

Player flight arrival information for Sunday, Aug. 11 – all times local:

Toronto

AC 899 – 1:30 p.m. – Quinton Byfield, Will Cuylle, Jamie Drysdale, Jean-Luc Foudy, Tristan Lennox, Cole Perfetti, Ryan O’Rourke, Donovan Sebrango

Montreal

AC 418 – 5:15 p.m. – Hendrix Lapierre, Jérémie Poirier

Vancouver

AC 119 – 5:59 p.m. – Justin Sourdif

Calgary

AC 149 – 6:13 p.m. – Connor McClennon, Jake Neighbours, Ozzy Wiesblatt

Quebec City

AC 1794 - 6:31 p.m. – Mavrik Bourque

Edmonton

AC 171 – 7:07 p.m. – Kaiden Guhle

Winnipeg

AC 8527 – 7:30 p.m. – Daemon Hunt, Seth Jarvis

Victoria

AC 8077 – 7:31 p.m. – Dylan Garand 

Moncton

AC 8904 – 8:44 p.m. – Lukas Cormier

Lethbridge

AC 7989 – 9:23 p.m. – Ridly Greig

Bagotville

AC 8686 – 9:44 p.m. – Théo Rochette

For more information on Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow along via social media on Facebook, Twitter and Twitter.com/HC_Men.