Canada Opens U-18 Tourney With Win

In a surprisingly entertaining game, Team Canada defeated Latvia 11-6 to kick off the World Under-18 Hockey Championship today in Switzerland.

Sea Dogs defenseman Thomas Chabot had an assist in the game, firing a point shot that was redirected by Brett Howden in the second period. Sea Dogs forward Nathan Noel had two assists, helping set up two second period goals.

Other than an unfortunate turnover by Noel in the first period that led to a Latvian goal, both Sea Dogs players seemed to play quite well and drew the praises of the TSN broadcast crew.

Team Canada obviously has some work to do after allowing six goals to the Latvians. The game was very entertaining, at least.

Canada’s next game is on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. against Switzerland. The game can be seen on TSN.

Some other news and notes...

• Jakub Zboril and the Czech Republic lost their first game at the U-18 Championship today, falling 6-1 to Finland. Zboril had an assist in the game. The Czechs play Latvia tomorrow. Over at The Hockey House, Zboril is listed as one of the draft eligible players to look out for at this year’s tournament.
• Nathan Beaulieu and the Montreal Canadiens bested Mike Hoffman and the Ottawa Senators in game one of their first round playoff series last night, winning a thrilling game 4-3. Beaulieu recorded an assist on Brian Flynn’s third period goal, a goal that proved to be the game winner. Beaulieu also had two shots and two hits in 15:34 of ice time. Meanwhile, Hoffman had three shots and a hit in 12:21 of ice time.
• Tonight, Tomas Jurco and the Detroit Red Wings open up their series against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Also, Charlie Coyle and the Minnesota Wild take on the St. Louis Blues while Simon Despres and the Anaheim Ducks face the Winnipeg Jets.
• The Moncton Wildcats evened their second round series with the Halifax Mooseheads at 2-2 with a 3-2 overtime win last night at Scotiabank Centre. Taylor Burke scored the winner late in OT – with an assist from Noah Zilbert. Kelly Bent tied the game for the Mooseheads late in the second period. Game five is tomorrow night in Fredericton.
• Elsewhere in the Q, Joey Richard and the Gatineau Olympiques were shutout 3-0 by the Rimouski Oceanic last night. Rimouski leads that series 3-1 heading into game five on Friday. In Baie-Comeau, the Val-d’Or Foreurs staved off elimination with a 4-3 double-overtime victory over the Drakkar.
• The 2015 Allan Cup is taking place in Clarenville, Newfoundland this week. The Q News has a list of all the former QMJHL players taking part in the senior hockey championship. Former Sea Dogs include Jason Churchill (Clarenville), Danny Wicks (Grand Falls-Windsor) and Charles Bergeron (P’tit Mousse de Lameque). The championship game takes place on Saturday at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on TSN.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation