CANADA TO FACE USA ON JANUARY 4TH

PARDUBICE, CZECH REPUBLIC – Canada’s National Junior Team has advanced to the semi-finals at the 2008 IIHF World Junior Championship, Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) announced on Wednesday. Canada will now face USA on January 4th in the semi-final, in a rematch of an exciting semi-final at the 2007 IIHF World Junior Championship, which saw Canada come out on top 2-1 in a shootout. The game will be broadcast live on TSN, RDS and The Fan Radio Network (check your local listings for broadcast times).

Canada reached the semi-finals of the 2008 IIHF World Junior Championship by winning its quarterfinal game against Finland 4-2

Brad Marchand (Hammons Plains, NS/Halifax, QMJHL) scored the game-winning goal midway through the third period as Canada fought back from an early 1-0 deficit against the Finns to qualify for the medal round at the World Juniors for the 10th consecutive year.

John Tavares (Oakville, ON/Oshawa, OHL), Steven Stamkos (Unionville, ON/Sarnia, OHL) and Stefan Legein also scored for Canada, while Steve Mason (Oakville, ON/London, OHL) turned aside 21 shots to pick up the win in the Canadian goal.

TSN, TSN HD and TSN.ca, as well as RDS, RDS HD and RDS .ca, continue to provide live coverage of the 2008 IIHF World Junior Championship, airing through January 5th from the Czech Republic. Coverage this year features 11 games, including all Team Canada games and the medal round games. Following each Team Canada game, TSN.ca will stream a live post-game show. All games will also be available on-demand on TSN.ca throughout the duration of the tournament.

All of Team Canada games will also be broadcast LIVE on The FAN Radio Network (check local listings).

Canada has medaled in nine straight IIHF World Junior Championships including: gold medal performances in 2005, 2006 and 2007, silver medals in 1999, 2002, 2003 and 2004 and bronze medals in 2000 and 2001.

The 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship will be played in Ottawa, Canada, marking the eighth time that Canada has hosted this event.

MEDIA INTERVIEWS WITH TEAM CANADA MEMBERS DURING WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFF ROUND

Hockey Canada’s manager of communications, André Brin, will be on-site with the team through the end of the 2008 IIHF World Junior Championship to assist with media requests. Due to the time difference between North America and Europe and due to the team’s schedule, phone interviews over the coming days will be limited. Priority in all cases will be given to media requests on-site.

André Brin’s contact information in Europe :
e-mail - [email protected] / cell - 011 37 253 386 941

A Team Canada flight return itinerary will be posted at www.hockeycanada.ca in the coming days. Interview requests with players AFTER their return to Canada can be coordinated through their club teams.