tidbits

Belarus 5 - Canada West 2

In the final game of the tournament, Canada West played their toughest opponent - the team from Belarus. Across the board, they were the biggest team in the tournament, and they were definitely the best skating and passing team. In the first period, they dominated most of the play, but Canada West came out with a 1-0 lead when Marcus Hall came across the blueline and fired a wrist shot into the top corner, catching the goalie by surprise. The Belarus coach was definitely there to win, and read his goalie and his team the riot act in the first intermission, and the team responded.

The Belarus team came out with even more jump in the second period, and before long, they had not only erased the Canada West lead, but they pulled ahead 3-1 by the mid point of the game. The third goal was a power play goal, and was scored with two players in the crease, something that isn't supposed to be allowed. Canada West started to come a little unglued, losing focus on what they needed to do and spending a little too much energy complaining about the bizarre officiating. The refs refused to speak to the Canada West coaches, and Coach Kropf vociferously expressed his displeasure, which resulted in a bench minor and his ejection from the game, but when he didn't leave the bench, the refs eventually just continued the game without speaking to him. Belarus added one more goal in the second to lead 4-1.

During the intermission, Canada West tried to refocus on playing hockey, and came out with a better effort in the third period. Playing much of the game on penalty kill up to that point, they managed to stay out of the box for the most part, and even got a couple of power plays. The period was a 1-1 tie, with Dawson Sawatzky scoring for Canada West.

Canada West ended with a 2-2-1 record, which was good for fourth place in the tournament. Belarus was first, Hvezda Praha (Prague) was second, and Slavia Bratislava (Slovakia) was third. A slow start against Hvezda, and the disallowed goal against Slavia cost the team medal position, but that is how it goes. The players were blessed to have an incredible hockey experience, and to learn some good life lessons going through some challenging situations.