2018 IIHF World Juniors Semi Finals Roundup – Buffalo, N.Y.
Team Canada has a date with Sweden in the gold-medal game at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship thanks to their 7-2 semi-final win over the Czech Republic Thursday night at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y.
Led by Drake Batherson’s (New Minas, N.S./Cape Breton, QMJHL) hat trick, Canada earned the right to play for its 17th overall gold medal in the tournament.
- Batherson finished the game with four points (three goals, one assist), while Maxime Comtois (Longueuil, Que./Victoriaville, QMJHL), Boris Katchouk (Waterloo, Ont./Sault Ste. Marie, OHL), Jordan Kyrou (Toronto/Sarnia, OHL) and Sam Steel (Sherwood Park, Alta./Regina, WHL) each added a goal apiece.
- Canada’s powerplay was three-for-four on the night and 13 different players registered at least a point in the win.
- Carter Hart (Sherwood Park, Alta./Everett, WHL) picked up his fourth tournament win after registering 18 saves.
- Canada outshot Czech Republic 39-20 in the game.
“Not getting the invite this summer, I think I saw a few guys last year who had a good start; got an invite to camp and ended up making the team so maybe I thought I could be like that and it’s worked out. I just worked on my game all summer, just progressing as a player and getting better every day.”- Drake Batherson, on making an impact in his first international experience representing Canada
Other results:
Semi-final: Sweden 4, U.S. 2
Relegation: Denmark 3, Belarus 2 (F/SO)
*Denmark’s shootout win sweeps relegation series; Denmark returns to elite division in 2019
Next Games:
Bronze-medal game: Czech Republic vs. U.S., 4 p.m. ET
Gold-medal game: Canada vs. Sweden, 8 p.m. ET