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World Junior Championships

U.S. National Junior Team Tops Czech Republic, 6-3, in Exhibition Play; Team USA Preparing For 2007 IIHF World Junior Championship

NORRTALJE, Sweden -- Nate Gerbe (Oxford, Mich./Boston College) scored two goals, Patrick Kane (Buffalo, N.Y./London) added three assists and Jeff Zatkoff (Chesterfield, Mich./Miami (Ohio) University) made 36 saves as the U.S. National Junior Team defeated the Czech Republic, 6-3, in an exhibition game at Contigahallen Arena today in preparation for the upcoming 2007 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship.

“I thought we gave a pretty solid effort overall,” said U.S. Head Coach Ron Rolston (Fenton, Mich.). “It was a good game for us in the sense that we pretty much encountered every type of situation a game could have.”

After the Czech Republic got out to a 1-0 lead 8:25 into the contest, the United States struck back with a pair of goals late in the first period. Gerbe tied the game at 16:11 when he tapped in a cross-ice pass from Kane during 4-on-4 action. Mike Carman (Apple Valley, Minn./University of Minnesota) gave the U.S. a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission when he tipped a Taylor Chorney (Hastings, Minn./University of North Dakota) wrist shot over Czech goaltender Ondrej Pavelec’s outstretched glove with just :09 left in the opening frame.

The Czech Republic tied the game at 1:07 of the second period, but the United States erupted for the next four goals to gain a 6-2 advantage after 40 minutes.

Jack Skille (Madison, Wis./University of Wisconsin) banged home the rebound of an Erik Johnson (Bloomington, Minn./University of Minnesota) one-timer on the power play at the 7:19, followed by a Jack Johnson (Ann Arbor, Mich./University of Michigan) power-play tally 26 seconds later.

Gerbe notched his second goal of the game following a nifty triangle passing play involving Kane and Peter Mueller (Bloomington, Minn./Everett). Mueller controlled the puck behind the net before handing it off to Kane, who then fed a pass across the ice to Gerbe for the tap-in at 18:07.

Trevor Lewis (Murray, Utah/Owen Sound) capped off Team USA’s scoring just 65 seconds later after taking a feed from Kyle Okposo (St. Paul, Minn./University of Minnesota) and firing a wrist shot past Czech goaltender Jakub Kovar from the top of the circle.

The Czech Republic scored the only goal of the third period to account for the 6-3 final.

The United States will play its second and final exhibition game on Friday (Dec. 22) against Switzerland at Contigahallen Arena. Game time is slated for 1:00 p.m. EST.

IIHF World Junior Championship competition kicks off for Team USA on Tuesday, Dec. 26, when the United States takes on Germany at Ejendals Arena in Leksand, Sweden, at 9 a.m. EST.

NOTES: A total of 11 Team USA players picked up points in today’s win ... Zatkoff stopped a Czech Republic penalty shot at the 4:16 mark of the second period ... The 2007 IIHF World Junior Championship will feature athletes under the age of 20 on international teams including the United States, Belarus, Canada, Germany, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland … The U.S. National Junior Team is coming off a fourth-place finish at the 2006 World Junior Championship in Vancouver, British Columbia …Eight members of the U.S. National Junior Team are returning from last year’s team, including Chorney, Jeff Frazee (Burnsville, Minn./University of Minnesota), Gerbe, Erik Johnson, Jack Johnson, Brian Lee (Moorhead, Minn./University of North Dakota), Mueller and Skille.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

USA 2-4-0 -- 6
CZE 1-1-1 -- 3

First Period – Scoring: 1, CZE, Cerny (Rakos, Kveton), 8:25; 2, USA, Gerbe (Kane), 16:11; 3, USA, Carman (Chorney), 19:51. Penalties: USA, Lawson (hooking), 6: 06; CZE, Kindl (hooking), 9:19; CZE, Lesak (hooking), 14:52; USA, Stoa (interference), 15:24.

Second Period – Scoring: 4, CZE, Sobotka (Kana, Vojta), 1:07 (pp); 5, USA, Skille (E. Johnson, Kane), 7:19 (pp); 6, USA, J. Johnson (Mueller, Okposo), 7:45 (pp); 7, USA, Gerbe (Kane, Mueller), 18:07; 8, USA, Lewis (Okposo, Stoa), 19:12. Penalties: USA, Team (delay of game), 0: 00; USA, Mueller (delay of game), 0:38; USA, Geoffrion (roughing), 5:22; CZE, Barton (double minor – roughing), 5:22; CZE, Sobotka (hooking), 6:42; USA, E. Johnson (holding), 9:51; USA, Lee (holding), 15:51.

Third Period – Scoring: 9, CZE, Frolik (Voracek, Barton), 10:01. Penalties: USA, vanRiemsdyk (slashing), 10:15; USA, Fraser (holding), 16:52.

Shots By Period 1 2 3 Total
USA 8 10 9 27
CZE 12 16 11 39

Goaltending (SH-SV) 1 2 3 Total
USA, Zatkoff 60:00 12-11 16-15 11-10 39-36
CZE, Pavelec 29:51 8-6 5-3 - 13-9
CZE, Kovar 30:09 - 5-3 9-9 14-12

Power Play: USA 2-4; CZE 1-8

Penalties: USA 9-18; CZE 5-10

Officials: Referee-Patrik Sjoberg; Linesmen-Jimmy Dahmen, Daniel Winge

Glad to hear that. It would be great to see a strong performance here after recent disappointments at the Olympics.

2007 IIHF World Junior Championship

Dec. 27, 2006

Canada Downs USA, 6-3, In World Junior Championship; Team USA Has Two Days Off Before Next Meeting Slovakia

MORA, Sweden -- While the final score finished 6-3 in favor of Canada over the United States tonight in preliminary round action at the 31st annual International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship, the game was far closer than the final score indicated.

“I was proud of our effort overall,” said U.S. Head Coach Ron Rolston (Fenton, Mich.). “We battled back and kept coming until the end. I told our guys afterward to stay positive and stay together. This team has not yet reached its potential and we’ll work hard in practice the next two days to work on some areas that need to be addressed.”

Canada held a 2-0 lead after the opening period with the goals coming in the final 5:17 of the period. Steve Downie beat U.S. netminder Jeff Zatkoff (Chesterfield, Mich./Miami (Ohio) University) between the legs on a two-on-one break at 14: 43 before Tommy Pyatt tipped a puck past Zatkoff off Cody Franson’s shot from the center point on the power play at 17:33. Team USA’s best chances came on Justin Abdelkader’s (Muskegon, Mich./Michigan State University) shot from in tight on the power play midway through the period and on a Nate Gerbe (Oxford, Mich./Boston College) blast from the left faceoff circle off a 3-on-2 break with two minutes left in the period.

Team USA fell behind 3-0 just 1:55 into the second period when Jonathan Toews scored on the backhand off a rebound with Canada on the power play. The United States took just :29 to get back into the contest when Erik Johnson’s (Bloomington, Minn./University of Minnesota) shot from the center point beat a screened Carey Price. Bill Sweatt (Elburn, Ill./Colorado College) made one of the tournament’s prettiest plays as he circled behind his own net and avoided multiple Canadian players in a rush up the right side of the ice. Sweatt’s shot from the right circle went off the end boards and came out the other side where Mike Carman (Rosemount, Minn./University of Minnesota) banged it in an open net.

Toews scored on a penalty shot at 9:13 of the third period to put Canada back in front by two. Erik Johnson threw his stick in an attempt to knock the puck from Toews, who was in on a break. Sweatt got the U.S. back to within a goal at 13:50 when he put home a rebound off Jack Skille’s (Madison, Wis./University of Wisconsin) initial shot. Two goals by Darren Helm in the final 1:43, including an empty-netter at 19:03, sealed the win for Team Canada.

Zatkoff finished with 21 saves, while Price made 32 stops for Germany.

Team USA will have two days off before battling Slovakia in the third of its four preliminary-round games on Saturday (Dec. 30). Opening faceoff is set for 11 a.m. (EST) and the game can be heard live on usahockey.com and seen live on NHL Center Ice.

NOTES: Skille was named the U.S. Player of the Game ... The 2007 IIHF World Junior Championship features athletes under the age of 20 on international teams including the United States, Belarus, Canada, Germany, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland … The U.S. National Junior Team is coming off a fourth-place finish at the 2006 World Junior Championship in Vancouver, British Columbia … Eight members of the U.S. National Junior Team are returning from last year’s team, including Taylor Chorney (Hastings, Minn./University of North Dakota), Jeff Frazee (Burnsville, Minn./University of Minnesota), Nate Gerbe (Oxford, Mich./Boston College), Erik Johnson (Bloomington, Minn./University of Minnesota), Jack Johnson (Ann Arbor, Mich./University of Michigan), Brian Lee (Moorhead, Minn./University of North Dakota), Peter Mueller (Bloomington, Minn./Everett) and Jack Skille (Madison, Wis./University of Wisconsin).

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

USA 0-2-1 -- 3
CAN 2-1-3 -- 6

First Period – Scoring: 1, CAN, Downie (Letang, Bourdon), 14:43; 2, CAN, Pyatt (Franson, Russell), 17:33 (pp). Penalties: CAN, Neal (interference), 8: 38; CAN, Parent (holding), 10:18; USA, Stoa (kneeing), 17:14.

Second Period – Scoring: 3, CAN, Toews (Pyatt), 1:55 (pp); 4, USA, E. Johnson (Chorney), 2:24; 5, USA, Carman (Sweatt), 6:12. Penalties: USA, Lewis (holding), 1:04; CAN, Marchand (tripping), 3:22; USA, Stoa (roughing), 4: 34; CAN, Bourdon (roughing), 4:34; CAN, Downie (misconduct), 7: 30; USA, Zimmerman (roughing), 9:02; CAN, Helm (boarding), 11: 23; USA, Lee (interference), 13:51; USA, J. Johnson (charging), 15:09; CAN, Franson (slashing), 16:12; USA, Okposo (roughing), 18:18.

Third Period – Scoring: 6, CAN, Toews, 9:13 (penalty shot); 7, USA, Sweatt (Skille), 13:50; 8, CAN, Helm (unassisted), 18:17; 9, CAN, Helm (Downie), 19:03 (en). Penalties: CAN, Bench (too many players), 5:09; CAN, Downie (roughing), 8:25; USA, Kane (roughing), 8:25; USA, Mueller (cross checking), 11:04; CAN, Bourdon (cross checking), 14:40.

Shots By Period 1 2 3 Total
USA 9 10 16 35
CAN 9 6 11 26

Goaltending (SH-SV) 1 2 3 Total
USA, Zatkoff (59:38) 9-7 6-5 11-9 26-21
CAN, Price (60:00) 9-9 10-8 16-15 35-32

Power Play: USA 0-7; CAN 2-7

Penalties: USA 9-18; CAN 10-28

Attendance: 3,539

Officials: Referee-Danny Kurmann; Linesmen-Petr Blumel, Leo Takula