Canada beats Sweden 4-1 in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup
RED DEER –
Canada scored early and often and also stayed out of the penalty box en route to a 4-1 victory over Sweden in the gold medal final of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
Tanner Howe, Ethan Gauthier, Calum Ritchie and Brayden Yager scored for the Canadians, who had 2-1 and 3-1 period leads at the Peavey Mart Centrium on Saturday. Riley Heidt also chipped in with two assists for the champions.
Hugo Pettersson scored for Sweden, who won 36-26. Each team received eight minutes in penalties.
Canada had defeated Sweden 3-0 on August 3.
“Three weeks ago we put this roster together and I felt right away that this was a tight group,” said head coach Stephane Julien. “It’s not easy when you have so much talent, but everyone accepted their role and I’m so happy for them.”
The win is Canada’s first gold medal since 2018, the last time this tournament was held in Canada.
“I’m so happy for this group,” added Julien. “They haven’t had it easy in their careers in the last two years with the pandemic, but now they have this, a gold medal and something they’ll remember for the rest of their careers.”
Canada advanced to the final with a 4-1 win over Finland, while Sweden defeated the Czech Republic 6-2. Finland beat the Czech Republic 3-1 in Saturday’s bronze final.
The Hlinka Gretzky Cup will move to Europe in 2023 and return to Breclav and Piestany, Czech Republic for the first time since 2021.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on August 6, 2022