Under-age forward to enter OHL draft
TORONTO — Shane Wright has become the sixth player to be admitted early entry into a Canadian Hockey League draft under the exceptionalplayer rule.
The Ontario Hockey Federation said on Friday the 15-year-old forward from Burlington, Ont., will be eligible for the Ontario Hockey League draft on April 6.
The exceptional-player rule was created in 2005, allowing players to apply for early entry. A panel determines if the application is approved.
Four players — John Tavares, Aaron Ekblad, Connor McDavid and Sean Day — have received exceptional-player status in the OHL, while Joe Veleno is the lone Quebec Major Junior Hockey League player to have earned the distinction. The Western Hockey League has not yet had a player under the rule.
Tavares, Ekblad, and McDavid all went first overall in OHL and NHL drafts. Day was picked fourth overall in the OHL draft and in the third round (81st overall) of the NHL draft, while Veleno was first overall in the QMJHL draft and just inside the first round (30th overall) of the NHL draft.
The six-foot, 183-pound Wright has 66 goals and 84 assists in 72 games with the Toronto-based Don Mills Flyers minor midget team.
Canadian junior 5th at world juniors
ZAGREB, Croatia — Toronto’s Stephen Gogolev recovered from a painful fall in his men’s free skate Friday and soared from 10th to fifth overall in his debut at the world junior figure skating championships.
Tomoki Hiwatashi of the U.S. won the with 230.32 points, Roman Savosin of Russia was second at 229.28 and Daniel Grassl of Italy third at 224.67.
The 14-year-old Gogolev, the junior Grand Prix champion in December, was 10th after Wednesday’s short program; he finished with 220.66.
About two minutes into his free skate, he fell awkwardly on his triple Axel. He appeared to slam his right knee on the ice in his fall.
Joseph Phan of Laval, Que., made mistakes on his first two jump attempts and dropped to 12th overall.
Russia is 1-2 after the women’s short program led by Anna Shcherbakova. Alison Schumacher of Tecumseh, Ont., is 16th.
Competition ends today with women’s free skate and free dance. Canada’s Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha were first after Thursday’s dance.
Calgary, Ryerson to battle in Final 8
HALIFAX — There will be a rematch of last year’s championship in one semifinal of the Canadian university Final 8 men’s basketball tournament.
The reigning champion Calgary Dinos, seeded second, will square off against the No. 3 Ryerson Rams on Saturday after both recorded quarterfinal wins on Friday.
Carleton faces host Dalhousie in the other semifinal today.
The Ravens thumped the Alberta Golden Bears 100-60 while the Tigers held the UBC Thunderbirds in check, 74-65. The final is Sunday.
Calgary (26-0) wiped out a five-point halftime deficit to beat the Saint Mary’s Huskies 94-78 on Friday.
The Dinos outscored the No. 7 Huskies of Halifax 28-10 in the third quarter to take command.
“I am pleased with how we responded in the second half,” Dinos coach Dan Vanhooren said. “I told our players to be themselves — we were playing too safely. We gave Saint Mary’s too much in the paint and their shooting percentage was too high (in the first half).”
Dalhousie limited the Thunderbirds to just 18 first-half points and took a 15point lead into the break before dispatching their opponent to set up a meeting with Carleton.
Alex Carson had a team-high 17 points while Sascha Kappos chipped in 15 points and nine rebounds for Dal.
Grant Sheppard had a game-high 26 points and 12 boards for UBC.
—
The Canadian Press