U18 Men’s Worlds Recap – Canada 7, Switzerland 3
Macklin Celebrini’s four-point night time led Canada to a win over Switzerland and a spot within the semifinals.
GAME STATISTICS | LIVE GAME BLOG
BASEL, Switzerland – Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team erupted for 5 objectives within the second interval and booked its spot within the semifinals after beating host Switzerland 7-3 on Thursday on the 2023 IIHF U18 World Championship.
- Macklin Celebrini (Vancouver, B.C./Chicago, USHL) led the offence with two objectives and two assists, giving him a team-leading 11 factors.
- Andrew Cristall (Burnaby, B.C./Kelowna, WHL) added his first two objectives of the event.
- Berkly Catton (Saskatoon, Sask./Spokane, WHL), Calum Ritchie (Oakville, Ont./Oshawa, OHL) and Matthew Wood (Nanaimo, B.C./University of Connecticut, HE) tallied a objective and an help every.
- Angus MacDonnell (Toronto, Ont./Mississauga, OHL) had two assists.
- Lukas Dragicevic (Richmond, B.C./Tri-City, WHL), Andrew Gibson (LaSalle, Ont./Sault Ste. Marie, OHL), Riley Heidt (Saskatoon, Sask./Prince George, WHL) and Caden Price (Saskatoon, Sask./Kelowna, WHL) added an help every.
- Carson Bjarnason (Carberry, Man./Brandon, WHL) turned apart 28 photographs.
- Canada narrowly outshot Switzerland 33-31.
Next Game:
Canada vs. Sweden (semifinal) – Saturday, April 29 (1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT)
TSN and RDS, Hockey Canada’s official broadcast companions, are broadcasting all Team Canada video games on the 2023 IIHF U18 World Championship. Please test native listings for particulars.
Quotes:
“I think they’ve grown a lot and the expectations have grown as well. They believe in themselves, they believe in each other and that’s been a process ever since we got together. You know we’re going to be tested and you know we’re going to be challenged. Our guys have really done a good job when that happens to stay calm on the bench, and they’re accountable. We talk about the ways they need to play to elevate themselves. From start to finish, right now, it’s come a long way and we’re looking to elevate that level again.”
“He’s an exciting player, a dynamic player who does everything with speed. He makes the right reads, has a great shot and he’s a tremendous talent. He’s a driver on that line with two really good linemates that compliment him, and he complements the other two, so it’s pretty good chemistry there.”
- Head coach Jeff Truitt (Rosetown, Sask.) on the crew’s efficiency and the play of Celebrini
“It feels nice. I’ve been a little snakebitten over the tournament, so to get the first one was good. For the team to put up seven on the board is nice, but we didn’t think it was our best. We didn’t play a full 60 minutes, but you have to credit the Swiss, they played well. We’re looking to capitalize and do better in the semifinals; that’s been our team motive was to get one per cent better. I think from the first game to the quarterfinals here we’ve progressed a long way.”
- Cristall on the crew’s enchancment every recreation
“It was good to get the win, but we didn’t play the way we expected and that’s what we have to do if we want to win gold. We still had too many turnovers, our tracking wasn’t good enough and we gave up too many odd-man rushes. We made some strides in the third period, but next game we have to be better. Overall, [the tournament] has been awesome. You never know how many chances you’re going to get to wear the Maple Leaf on your chest, so you have to take advantage and run with it.”
- Ritchie on protecting centered on making an attempt to win a gold medal
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