Loss to U.S. will motivate national team
Canada takes aim at Worlds
The last time they held a world sledge hockey challenge in Calgary, Canada wore the gold medal after beating the U.S., only to lose to their rivals when it mattered most a few months later — at the world championships in Norway.
This time, they’re hoping for a reversal of fortunes.
A slow start hurt Canada on Saturday as the home team dropped a 1-0 decision to the Americans in the championship game of the 2012 edition of the challenge in front of 1,300 fans at WinSport’s Markin MacPhail Centre.
“We’ll trade that this year. I’m fine with that,” said Canadian captain Greg Westlake.
“That’s already come up in the dressing room,” conceded head coach Mike Mondin. “We’re hoping that’s what is going to happen.”
Norway captured the bronze for the second straight year when they defeated Japan 5-0. Lloyd Remi Solberg had the hat trick for the winners.
“The difference was the first two periods, when we came out and just got off our game plan,” noted Mondin.
“We allowed the Americans to establish a good forecheck. We beat them to a lot of races for the loose puck, but once we got there, we didn’t do anything with it,” he continued.
Canada defeated the U.S. 2-1 in the round-robin, so there was no doubt in anyone’s mind this would be a tightly played, one-chance-wins-all contest.
The play that drew a big response from the crowd in the first period was a hit at centre ice by Canada’s Keiran Block on Taylor Chace, sending both sleds flying. Chace would, in the second, score the only goal.
“It’s always nice to literally check yourself into the game,” he said with a smile.
“We just had a lot of fun out there. It’s always a blast playing Canada. It’s always a tight game. Both countries know that and it’s the best thing for sledge hockey. The fact we came out on top is the cherry on the top.”
The Canadians were held shotless in the first period and it wasn’t until the third they were able to exert pressure on U.S. goalie Steve Cash. Westlake had a great opportunity to beat Cash on a breakaway, but his shot missed the mark.
“I had him completely deked, I just didn’t get enough with my left hand,” Westlake said.
“Right then, if he was to make the same move, I would make the same move. It’s frustrating. I feel bad. We had such a great week in Calgary and I want to thank everyone for supporting us.”
The U.S. outshot Canada 9-8 overall. Five of Canada’s shots came in the third.
“It’s one of those games,” said Mondin.
“We have to learn from it; we’re capable of playing a lot better than that and that’s something we have to key on when we play the U.S. next. One of the things we have to improve on is to come out and have a really good start in a final game like this.”
Canada has a few months of heavy work before the 2013 Worlds in Korea.
There’s a camp in January and games against Norway are planned. In February, Canada will entertain the U.S. in a three-game series in Ottawa.
“U.S.A. has done a good job of taking away our dreams at the end of a tournament and I think we’re pretty excited to come at them and use this as fuel for the next four months,” said veteran forward Billy Bridges.
“We’re not thinking about Christmas presents or taking time off.
“We’re thinking about the next time we can get in the gym and get back going.”