Czech It Off

Brayden Schenn celebrates a goal with his teammates in Team Canada's 7-2 romp over the Czech Republic during the 2011 World Junior Hockey Championships in Buffalo.

          Brayden Schenn scored a goal and added four assists while Ryan Ellis had four points to lead Team Canada to a 7-2 victory over the Czech Republic Tuesday afternoon.

            For the second consecutive game, the Canadians got off to a very slow start. Goaltender Olivier Roy gave up the first shot he faced, which was a pretty weak goal from a netminder’s perspective. However, Canada battled back to take a 2-1 lead thanks to goals from Schenn and Jaden Schwartz. The turning point of the game occurred midway through the second period. Czech forward Antonin Honejsek seemed to have a sure goal, but was robbed by Roy’s left pad. The action quickly shifted to the other end of the ice, where Schenn feathered a saucer pass to Montreal Canadiens prospect Louis Leblanc who made no mistake.

            Although Team Canada dominated much of the game, the victory came at a high price. Defenceman Calvin de Haan left the game in the first period with an apparent leg injury. The New York Islanders prospect is one of four returning players from last year’s squad. Jaden Schwartz twisted his knee in the first period. Although he didn’t leave the game, it was evident that the injury was hampering him dramatically. The team also lost forward Zack Kassian, but for a different reason.

            Kassian crunched Czech forward Petr Senkerik with a controversial open ice hit midway through the second period and was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct. The analysts on TSN believed that it was a clean hit, but I strongly disagree. Kassian’s shoulder clipped Senkerik’s chin, which caused his head to snap back. To add to it, the puck was not near the collision. As a result, Kassian will be suspended for Canada’s game against Norway, and possibly more, pending a hearing with IIHF officials. Kassian has garnered the reputation as being an overly physical presence on the ice. While playing last season for the Windsor Spitfires (OHL), he was suspended for 20 games because of a vicious open ice collision. If you missed it, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAcGSbrEi-c

            Team Canada will look to continue their perfection Wednesday against Norway. Phoenix Coyotes prospect Mark Visentin will make his first start of the tournament, replacing Olivier Roy.