Last night at the Edmonton (formerly Northlands) Coliseum the
Canadian Junior Hockey team decisively beat the Canada West Collegiate
All Stars 6-0.  The score could have been worse for the essentially pick
up team of all stars but Jamie Storr and Jocelyn Thibault of the Juniors
split the goaltending chores for the all stars in order to give coach Don
Hay and his staff a chance to evaluate all four goaltenders in camp for
the Canadians.  Dan Cloutier and Eric Fichaud shared the shutout.
        The first scoring chance for the Juniors came in the first minute
when Storr left a loose puck at his feet, but it was cleared by the
defense.  At 1:49 Eric Daze scored on a quick shot from the circle
assisted by Redden and Allison.  If no player came with a reputation
preceding him I would cite Daze as the best player on the ice tonight.
He made his chances all night long and always seemed to be where the
action was.  At the six minute mark Daze came up with another good
scoring chance on a backhand shot.
        Halfway through the period the collegians had a good offensive
shift against the Alexandre Daigle line, they were outworked in the
corner and were rewarded with a good scoring chance in front which Storr
stopped.  This picked up the intensity a bit and Lance Johnson of UBC
took a boarding penalty at 10:30.  The call was a bit lame however, I
wonder if the hit would have been called at a US college hockey game.  It
certainly would not have been at a Canadian Junior game, which is much
rougher than at least the eastern brand of college hockey I follow.
        Cloutier, in nets for the Juniors, was up to the shots he faced,
but a quick whistle saved a sure goal for the collegians at 15:00.
        Reflecting the general run of play Jason Allison scored at 16:59
on a nice pass from Daze.  The period ended with a power play for the
collegians as Larry Courville took an elbowing penalty at 19:00.  It was
clear that as Coach Hay indicated the people on the ice were playing for
jobs and seeking to impress, generally the quality of play was good.
        Shots on goal for the first period were Canada 12, All Stars 9.
        After the power play was completed for the collegians Storr made
a nice skate save off Darcy Tucker followed by a flurry of action at the
other end resulting in a hooking penalty on Cory Dosdall of the
University of Regina at 1:39.
        At 6:42 Chris Wells scored on a pass from Alison actually meant
for Daze in front of the goal, but which got passed him.  Perhaps this
set the goaltender Storr off a bit.  The second assist on the goal went
to Allan.
        The Junior's Darcy Tucker took a holding penalty at 7:44 followed
by a cross checking penalty on Jamie Rivers at 8:17 giving the collegians
a two man advantage.  Coach Hay chose to send two forwards, Daigle and
Allison, out to kill the penalty.  In this team of "equals" it is clear
that Daigle has pride of place.  He was out killing penalties and on the
power play in addition to his regular shifts.  Following the successful
penalty kills goalies were replaced at the 9:59 mark.  Although Eric
Fichaud looked shaky on his first shot he quickly settled down.  Jocelyn
Thibault's first touch chance came at the 12 minute mark on a nice shot
by Allison.  At 18:30 Lee Sorochan hit the post on a shot from the point,
had the rebound go back to him, his second shot was an easy save.  He
continued in the third period to shoot unobstructed shots from the point
when I felt he would have been better passing the puck.  In the last
minute Fichaud made a nice save from a shot from in front.
        Second period shots Canada 5  All Stars 5.
        Daze created another nice chance off of the opening faceoff
skating in on goal for a nifty backhand shot.  Evan Marble of Tri-Cities
was whistled off for holding at 3:06.  The power play was negated when
Allison was called for a cross check at 4:45.  At the 7 minute mark a
tough shot by Rivers was stopped by Fichaud.  Skating back up the ice
Courville scored on a rebound off a shot from the point in a scramble up
front.  Thibault had no chance.  Assists to Redden and Harvey.
        At 9:10 Thibault made a big time save on a deflection in front.
At 9:26 Denis Pederson took a hooking penalty to stop a Canada West
breakaway.  After the penalty was killed Daigle skated in on a two on one
and elected to shoot, the second player missed on the rebound.
        Tempers flared at 17:24 and Curtie Kleisinger of Regina went off
for slashing along with Junior's Brett Lindros for roughing.
Incidentally, Jason Botterill skated on a line with Lindros and started
the game.  If I had not been watching him particularly as the only US
college player on the ice I would not have paid any notice to him.  He
was not a factor.  If the Daigle and Lindros lines are 1-2, the Daigle
line was much more impressive tonight.  By the way, it was announced that
Brendan Morrison of Michigan was cut prior to the game.
        The Juniors finished strongly with Chris Armstrong scoring at
18:42 on a goal which the angle was possibly misplayed by Thibault.
Assists to Harvey and Daigle.  The final goal came at 19:30 when I think
the Canda West defence had already quit yielding a 2 on 0 with Lindros
scoring from Allison.
        Third period shots Canada 16 All Stars 4.
        This was an entertaining fast paced game, and a chance to get
familiar with the personnel prior to the start of the tournament.  The
Juniors play again tonight against a team of Alberta College All Stars,
so the calibre of the opposition might not be as good as tonight.
 
Arthur Berman
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