Canada rolls to rout over Switzerland in opening game of Hlinka Gretzky Cup
Nine players score in 10-0 victory for home side in front of 7,000 fans at Rogers Place
About 7,000 curious fans took in Canada’s rout of Switzerland on the first day of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup Monday at Rogers Place with Wayne Gretzky on hand for the ceremonial puck drop.
Predictably, the Canadian side, which has won nine of the last 10 tournaments and 21 of 27 overall, overwhelmed the Swiss 10-0 with nine players scoring.
The Swiss, who have a small talent pool to draw from, were outshot 48-15 with Canadian goalie Nolan Meier in a La-Z-Boy as his teammates beat up on the five-foot-nine Sasha Ruppett and the marginally bigger Thibault Fatton in the Swiss net.
Peyton Krebs of the Kootenay Ice was the only Canadian player to score twice. Fort Saskatchewan centre Kirby Dach (Saskatoon Blades) and Sherwood Park defenceman Matthew Robertson (Edmonton Oil Kings) were part of the goal flurry.
In other action, Sweden, which has beaten Slovakia 11 straight times, got a terrific goal from probable first-round NHL pick Philip Broberg in the third period to put away the stubborn Slovaks 4-2.
They also got inspired play from first-line forwards Alexander Holtz and Lucas Raymond, who aren’t eligible until the 2020 draft. Holtz had two assists.
‘DIFFERENT’ ANIMAL
Team Canada coach Andre Tourigny, who worked as Patrick Roy’s assistant in Colorado for two years, was parachuted in to be head man for the Hlinka Gretzky Cup when Gilles Bouchard was hired in late June by Tampa Bay as an assistant on their American Hockey League affiliate in Syracuse, N.Y.
Tourigny is head coach and vice-president of hockey operations for the Ontario Hockey League’s Ottawa 67’s. He admits summer hockey is a strange animal for players.
“We had several conference calls and talked to players individually and told them this would be different. The under-17 (world championship) is in November and players are in full stride. At the world junior, that’s in December and players are used to the pace of the game. In April at the world tournament, you’re in full shape,” said Tourigny.
“For this, you’re coming from power-skating sessions with your coach or work with a skills coach and you have to jump in against the best under-18s in your country and compete for a spot. Now we have to compete against the best players from other countries in this tournament. But it’s part of the challenge, we’re not looking for obstacles, though.”
Dach, meanwhile, is playing right wing because there are too many centres.
“I haven’t done the math, but we might have seven or eight centres on this team,” said Tourigny, who is using Ryan Suzuki, Krebs, Dylan Cozens, Xavier Parent and Dylan Holloway in the middle. “They were prepared to move around. Look at Canada’s Olympic team. They had about 13 centres and they did a pretty good job.”
TOO YOUNG TO PLAY
The Hlinka Gretzky Cup is only for players born in 2001.
If a player is born after Sept. 15, 2001, however, he isn’t eligible for the 2019 NHL draft.
That ruled out one of Canada’s best 17-year-olds, Halifax centre Raphael Lavoie. Lavoie was born Sept. 25, 2001, and instead played for Canada at the World Junior Summer Showcase in Kamloops, B.C.
Also disqualified were Finnish defenceman Lasse Thomson, who’ll be playing for Kelowna this season.
THIS ’N’ THAT
Czech goalie Nick Malik is the son of former NHL defenceman Marek. He was born in Raleigh, N.C . ... Team Canada assistant captain Dylan Cozens left Whitehorse for Delta Hockey Academy in B.C. at 14 because former NHL winger Yogi Sjevkovsky was running the bantam team there. Cozens was billeted by the parents of Oil Kings goalie Boston Bilous in Delta ... Cozens has two hockey-playing brothers at home in Whitehorse — Connor, 15, and Luke, 12. Cozens’ dad Mike is a judge, and his mom Susan Buckle is a federal prosecutor. Cozens has no interest in studying torts. Maybe meeting John Tortorella, but that’s it. “Dylan’s quite happy doing what he’s doing,” said Mike ... The Swedes started 15-yearold goalie Jesper Wallstedt, who isn’t eligible until the 2021 draft. He gave up a softie to the Slovaks on the first shot of the game Monday, but the kid from Tommy Salo’s hometown of Vasteras is a baby ... The Swedes’ best player might be right-winger Holtz. “He carries himself like a player, really smart,” said former Minnesota amateur scout Paul Charles ... Last summer’s Hlinka tournament in Slovakia and the Czech Republic had 77 players who were drafted in June’s NHL draft, including seven of the top 10 picks. The only ones that weren’t: Brady Tkachuk (fourth, Ottawa), Vitali Kravtsov (ninth, New York Rangers) and Evan Bouchard (10th, Edmonton) ... Russian team winger Oleg Zaytsev will be playing for the Red Deer Rebels this winter.