ÉCJ: Owen Beck’s trio shine in curtain-raiser victory

After seeing Filip Mesar and the Slovaks dominate the Czech Republic early this morning, it was the turn of the Canadian team to make its CMJ debut. For the occasion, ÉCJ crossed swords with the Finnish team.

Here’s the line-up for both teams:

The first period saw two goalkeepers in fine form. For both Finland and Canada, the two goaltenders played some great hockey.

Niklas Kokko, the Finnish goaltender, frustrated Matt Poitras early on.

That said, it was the ÉCJ goaltender who made the save of the period, as Mathis Rousseau made a superb save to deny Lenni Hameenaho a certain goal.

Can we already talk about the possible “save of the tournament”?

And to reward their goalkeeper, Maveric Lamoureux and Nate Danielson decided to join forces seconds later to score ÉCJ’s first goal of the tournament.

Danielson understood that you have to get into the pay zones to score, and it paid off.

After 20 minutes, the score was 1-0 in favor of Canada.

The second period was far less exciting. The first half of the second won’t go down in history, but at least there was some action in the next 10 minutes.

Jordan Dumais came very close to doubling ÉCJ’s lead, but he hit the post hard. It was a shame.

That said, just over two minutes later, Canada’s lead doubled, as young Owen Allard also took advantage of the pay zone to score.

Nice pass from Danielson on the sequence.

Finland struck back before the end of the second period, however, when Aleksanteri Kaskimaki deflected defenseman Arttu Karki’s shot for his side’s first goal.

It’s hard to blame Mathis Rousseau for this: the defense in front of him did nothing to trouble Kaskimaki in front of the Canadian net.

After 40 minutes, the score was 2-1 in favor of ÉCJ.

In the third period, we were treated to the Macklin Celebrini Show, as the 17-year-old (and potential first overall pick in the upcoming draft) demonstrated the full extent of his talent.

First, he came very close to scoring… but then hit the post hard.

However, it was all over for Celebrini, who attacked the opposing net and took advantage of the congestion in front of the net to slip the puck under the Finnish goalkeeper.

We needed a video replay… but the goal was awarded.

Mathis Rousseau made sure to hold the fort afterwards, and Matt Poitras scored a fourth for his side in an empty net.

Jere Lassila scored the Finns’ second late on, but Maveric Lamoureux completed the scoring with Niklas Kokko back on the bench.

A less-than-perfect game for ÉCJ, but the important thing is that the club was able to go on and get the win.

Final score: 5-2 Canada

Canada returns to action tomorrow at around 1:30 p.m., when it takes on Latvia. We’ll see if Mathis Rousseau gets another start or if Samuel St-Hilaire gets his chance.

Extension

– Owen Beck’s trio was the best in the Canadian line-up today. Expected to play a more defensive role, it was this trio that scored Canada’s first two goals. Well done.

– We’ve found Sweden’s Wes McCauley!

– Canada will have to find a way to be much more disciplined in their next games. Against Finland, the club can afford penalties, but against bigger teams (like the USA, for example), you can’t afford to be penalized six times.

– Mathis Rousseau was very solid in front of his net today. He has the opportunity to be this team’s #1 goalie, and today he did nothing to lose his position.