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Tuesday, December 27, 2022

World juniors begin with two big upsets

MONCTON
- The opening day of the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship featured a couple of unexpected results.

  • The day started with Vincent Despont and Switzerland upsetting Finland 3-2 in overtime at Avenir Centre. Halifax Mooseheads captain Attilio Biasca scored the game-winner in the extra frame. Jonas Taibel of the Moncton Wildcats, playing in his home building, recorded two assists.
  • Despont dressed as Switzerland's seventh defenseman and played just 4:31 in the game. Despite the limited ice time, he finished with a +2 rating.
  • The second upset of the day came in the final game, which saw Czechia post a 5-2 victory over the heavily favoured Canadians at Scotiabank Centre. One of the major turning points in the match was when Gatineau Olympiques forward Zach Dean was given a five-minute major for a check-to-the-head, which Czechia scored twice on.
  • Just a mess of a game for Canada. They return to action on Wednesday against Germany.
  • Monday's other games had Sweden hammering Austria 11-0 and the United States edging Latvia 5-2.
  • Day one attendance numbers: Noon - 4,465; 2:30 p.m. - 7,274; 5 p.m. - 4,927; and 7:30 p.m. - 10,030.
  • The pucks at this year's world juniors have a microchip in them for puck tracking. Fans are being asked to return the puck in exchange for a non-microchipped version when the object flies into the seating area.
  • The IIHF website has a rather interesting list of 23 things to do in Moncton and Halifax during this year's tournament.
  • At the Spengler Cup, Chris DiDomenico and Team Canada opened the tournament with a 3-2 loss to HC Sparta Praha. Ostap Safin was in the lineup for the Czech side. DiDomenico will wear an 'A' for Canada at the Spengler, it was announced Sunday.

Tuesday will feature four games at the world juniors. In Moncton, Finland will face Slovakia at noon and Switzerland will take on Latvia at 5 p.m. In Halifax, Germany faces Sweden at 2:30 p.m. and Austria battles Czechia at 7:30 p.m.

At the Spengler Cup Tuesday, Canada takes on HC Davos at 3:15 p.m. Atlantic.

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