2016-17 National Men's Under-18 Team

Canada 4 - Finland 3

CANADA BEATS FINNS TO TAKE FIFTH AT HLINKA MEMORIAL

DAVID BRIEN

BRECLAV, Czech Republic – Michael Rasmussen (Surrey, B.C./Tri-City, WHL) scored the game-winning goal with 8:36 to go, giving Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team a 4-3 win over Finland in the fifth-place game Friday at the 2016 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup.

With the Canadians enjoying a two-man advantage, Owen Tippett (Peterborough, Ont./Mississauga, OHL) found Rasmussen at the side of the Finnish net, and he calmly went to the forehand to beat goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen from in close.

Ian Mitchell (Calahoo, Alta./Spruce Grove, AJHL) scored twice and added an assist, and Joseph Veleno (Kirkland, Que./Saint John, QMJHL) chipped in with three helpers to lead the Canadian offence.

Canada leaned on its power play in the win, converting three times in six chances with the man advantage.

But it was the Finnish power play that got the scoring started, with Sami Moilanen finishing off a tic-tac-toe passing play by beating Canadian netminder Michael DiPietro (Amherstburg, Ont./Windsor, OHL) on a five-on-three just 5:04 after the puck dropped.

Mitchell got it back for Canada with just 24 seconds left in the first period, taking a no-look drop pass from Veleno before firing a low wrist shot past Luukkonen for the first goal scored by a Canadian defenceman in the tournament.

He added a second three minutes into the second period, taking another drop pass from Veleno before rifling a shot past a screened Luukkonen on a Canadian power play.

Veleno played set-up man again on the 3-1 goal midway through the middle frame, finding Nick Suzuki (London, Ont./Owen Sound, OHL) alone at the face-off dot for Canada’s second power-play marker of the period.

The Finns would cut into the Canadian lead with 4:58 left in the second period when Linus Nyman went five-hole on DiPietro on a breakaway, making it a 3-2 game after 40 minutes.

Santeri Virtanen pulled Finland even six minutes into the third with another power-play goal, but Rasmussen’s winner less than six minutes later was the difference.

Although its eight-year run as gold medallist came to an end, Canada improved its all-time record at summer under-18 tournaments to an impressive 85-13-6 (W-L-T) since first taking part in 1991.

Game Information
Game # 14 Round 5th Place
Arena Ice Bors Arena Location Breclav, CZE
Date Friday, August 12, 2016 Time 9:30 a.m. ET

 

Box Score 1 2 3 Total
CAN 1 2 1 4
FIN 1 1 1 3

 

Goals & Penalties
First Period
Goals :
05:04 FIN Sami Moilanen (Linus Nyman, Eemeli Räsänen) PP
19:36 CAN Ian Mitchell (Joseph Veleno, Jonathan Smart)

Penalties :
03:53 CAN Maxime Comtois (Holding)
04:28 CAN MacKenzie Entwistle (Boarding)
Second Period
Goals :
02:44 CAN Ian Mitchell (Joseph Veleno, Maxime Comtois) PP
09:26 CAN Nick Suzuki (Joseph Veleno, Ian Mitchell) PP
15:02 FIN Linus Nyman (Aleksi Heponiemi)

Penalties :
02:12 FIN Bernard Isiguzo (Interference)
09:17 FIN Eemeli Räsänen (Roughing)
17:44 FIN Bench (Too Many Players)
Third Period
Goals :
05:52 FIN Santeri Virtanen (Aleksi Heponoemi, Eero Teräväinen) PP
11:24 CAN Michael Rasmussen (Owen Tippett, Nick Suzuki) PP

Penalties :
02:44 FIN Teemu Engberg (Cross-checking)
04:07 CAN Michael Rasmussen (Interference)
08:01 CAN Markus Phillips (Slashing)
11:02 FIN Nuutti Viitasalo (Cross-checking)
11:02 FIN Aleksi Anttalainen (Holding)

 

Goaltenders
CAN Michael DiPietro
FIN Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

 

Shots on Goal 1 2 3 Total
CAN - - - -
FIN - - - -
Videos
Photos
2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup: CAN 3 – CZE 2 (Gold Medal)
Spence scored overtime winner to lead Canada to gold.
2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup: CAN 7 – USA 2 (Semifinal)
Canada scored five straight to advance to the gold medal game.
2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup: CAN 5 – SUI 0 (Preliminary)
Catton scored twice as Canada finished atop Group B.
2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup: CAN 14 – SVK 4 (Preliminary)
Ritchie finished with four three to lead Canada to its first win.
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