The 2007 ADT Canada/Russia Challenge is well underway as they are waiting to play Game 4 on Monday. So far this challenge has been exactly that, a challenge for the Canadians. In years past, Canada has had very little trouble against their Russian counterparts as they swept the series in 2006 and 2005 and took four of six in 2004 and five of six in 2003. It’s interesting to note that all losses to date were all suffered by the representing team from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
The Russian Selects came out firing in game one of this year’s series by scoring the first goal less than seven minutes into the first period and taking a 3-1 lead into the first intermission. The Quebec team battled back in the second period to tie the game before the second intermission. Team QMJHL looked like they would take control of the game as they scored just thirty-six seconds into the third but the Russians replied with three unanswered goals of their own to take game one 6-4.
Team QMJHL played with a bit more fire in game two, as evidenced by the increased number of penalties, and scored the lone first period goal. The second period saw the Russian Selects fall behind by two before their scorers woke up. By the midway point of the second period the game was knotted at two and stayed that way for the remainder of the game. Since ties are not allowed on this continent anymore, a shootout was used as the deciding factor. Team QMJHL scored twice and shut out the Russian Selects for the victory.
The third game moved into Ontario and into the site of the 2008 Memorial Cup, the Memorial Auditorium (the “Aud”) in Kitchener. Similar to game 1, the Russians came out firing early and took an early 2-0 lead. Team OHL woke up in the second half of the first and tied the game before intermission. In the second each team scored once and the game remained tied going to the last stanza. Team OHL was determined to keep their perfect record against the Russians in this challenge and netted two goals in the third for the 5-3 win. As an aside, the boys from the Gens played a big role in the game as they combined for 1 goal and 5 assists and took the game’s first star.
The Russian Selects came out firing in game one of this year’s series by scoring the first goal less than seven minutes into the first period and taking a 3-1 lead into the first intermission. The Quebec team battled back in the second period to tie the game before the second intermission. Team QMJHL looked like they would take control of the game as they scored just thirty-six seconds into the third but the Russians replied with three unanswered goals of their own to take game one 6-4.
Team QMJHL played with a bit more fire in game two, as evidenced by the increased number of penalties, and scored the lone first period goal. The second period saw the Russian Selects fall behind by two before their scorers woke up. By the midway point of the second period the game was knotted at two and stayed that way for the remainder of the game. Since ties are not allowed on this continent anymore, a shootout was used as the deciding factor. Team QMJHL scored twice and shut out the Russian Selects for the victory.
The third game moved into Ontario and into the site of the 2008 Memorial Cup, the Memorial Auditorium (the “Aud”) in Kitchener. Similar to game 1, the Russians came out firing early and took an early 2-0 lead. Team OHL woke up in the second half of the first and tied the game before intermission. In the second each team scored once and the game remained tied going to the last stanza. Team OHL was determined to keep their perfect record against the Russians in this challenge and netted two goals in the third for the 5-3 win. As an aside, the boys from the Gens played a big role in the game as they combined for 1 goal and 5 assists and took the game’s first star.The next game will be played in Sudbury before heading west for two games against the Western Hockey League. Game five goes Wednesday in Cranbrook BC and game six will be played Thursday in Medicine Hat, AB.
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