Team Canada is in the final of the 2021 World Under-18 Men’s Hockey Championship. On Thursday, Team Canada will play Russia after trouncing Sweden 8-1 in the semifinal on Wednesday.
In the seven-goal Canadian victory, captain Shane Wright of Burlington, Ontario led Team Canada in scoring with four points. With one goal and three assists, Wright also won 13 faceoffs, which tied for the Canadian lead in that category with Mason McTavish of Pembroke, Ontario.
The other star for Canada in the semifinal was Connor Bedard of North Vancouver, British Columbia. The Regina Pats center notched a hat trick. The other Canadian goal scorers were Brennan Othmann of Scarborough, Ontario, Chase Stillman of Sudbury, Ontario, Francesco Pinelli of Hamilton, Ontario, and Conner Roulette of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
In the semifinal, the game was extremely close for the first half of the contest. The game was in fact tied at one goal apiece when Stillman scored the game-winning goal at 9:51 of the second period. Canada then scored six of their eight goals in the third period.
Russia is in the final after beating Finland 6-5 in the semifinal. Only once before has Canada played Russia in the final of the World Under-18 Hockey Championship. That came in Kazan, Russia in 2008. Canada came away with a dominant 8-0 victory thanks to a shutout by Jake Allen of Fredericton, New Brunswick. Some of the recognizable names on Team Canada in 2008 were Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Travis Hamonic, Matt Duchene, Tyler Myers, Brayden Schenn, and Ryan Ellis. The Canadian coach was Pat Quinn.
