There was an Island tinge to the proceedings as all three players from Victoria teams scored Sunday as Canada defeated host Germany 8-3 in the IIHF world U-18 championship tournament in Landshut.
Forwards Brayden Schuurman of the Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League and Matthew Wood of the Victoria Grizzlies of the B.C. Hockey League and blue-liner Kalem Parker of the Royals all found the twine.
The star of the game was B.C.-born prodigy Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats of the WHL with a hat-trick to move ahead of Matthew Barzal as Canada’s all-time points leader in the tournament with 19 and ahead of Shane Wright as Canada’s all-time goals leader with 11 in nine career tournament games.
“I think everyone’s a leader,” North Vancouver product Bedard said in a statement. “I’ve tried to round out my game a little more and being physical can be a part of it,” added the player overwhelmingly projected to be the top overall selection in the 2023 NHL draft.
“You don’t want to be hitting too much, but getting physical and chippy gets you into the game.”
Canada, with a roster quickly put together from junior teams that missed the playoffs, opened the tournament Saturday with an 8-3 loss to the centralized U.S. team. Wood, who hails from Nanaimo and is touted for the top-10 in the first round of the 2023 NHL draft, scored also against the Americans and has two goals in the tournament.
“We just came together, so we’re still learning how to play with each other, and moving forward. I think we’re going to be a stronger team,” said the six-foot-three Grizzlies rookie, who led the BCHL with 45 goals and 85 points in 46 games.
Schuurman, who scored 29 goals with 54 points for the Royals, is the 58th ranked North American skater for the 2022 NHL draft. Parker had two goals and 20 points for the Royals as an emerging two-way blue-liner.
“Both of them [Schuurman and Parker] displayed a shooting mentality in the win against Germany,” said Royals GM and head coach Dan Price.
“I love the fact they are showing the confidence to shoot. They will come back from the world tournament with an elevated level of pace, because the pace is just so high up there, and everyone moves the puck so quickly and well. Every element of their game will improve for next season in Victoria.”
Canada plays Czechia today at 6:30 a.m. PT to close round-robin play before the medal round begins. With Russia and Belarus banned by the IIHF, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the tournament is down to eight teams with all guaranteed to move on to the quarter-finals with seedings based on the round-robin results.
TSN is broadcasting 13 games in the tournament, including all the Canada games.
Defending-champion Canada has won four gold medals since 2002 at the U-18 worlds, in 2003, 2008, 2013 and 2021. Canada took silver in 2005 and bronze in 2012, 2014 and 2015.
cdheensaw@timescolonist.com
