World U17: Team Pacific vs Team West – Game Story

January 2nd Team West Vs. Team Pacific (U17 World Championship)Right out of the gate of this game you could tell that one team was playing loose and the other playing very hesitant, as this game meant a lot more in the standings for team Pacific than it did for team West. They came out and looked very nervous and things didn’t seem to get better after a weird bounce that went off a defenders stick on a centering pass by team West to give them the lead less than a minute in to the game on a goal that was awarded to Kolten Olynek. Team Pacific slowly started to ease in to this game starting with a great rush by Ryan Gropp to drive wide showing some excellent hands and getting in to the slot for a great opportunity from in tight. Virtanen was driving the puck wide very well as well, and Point was showing some great hands and puck protection to skate the puck out of his own end and move it up to start the breakout. MacMaster was playing very well all game on, and early on he won a race to the puck and made a great pass to Sandhu who was driving down the middle to the net for a great chance. MacMaster was also displaying some excellent agility to twist away from the opposition and move the puck down low, and then was able to walk out from behind the net to put a good shot on from in tight. Riley Stadel was jumping up on the attack to keep the play alive in the offensive zone making some good decisions on when to pinch. Finally as the period came to a close Josh Thrower put a great shot on from the point with some good traffic in front on the power play to tie the game up with under 3 minutes to go in the period.[sociallocker]

The second period started out with Gardner making a great steal for team West to take the puck on some good pressure on the puck carrier and then cut to the net for a fantastic chance but was robbed by the goaltender. Virtanen then displayed some of his great speed off the rush for team Pacific and was driving hard to the net with the puck. Pacific continued to put some good pressure on the fore-check to force some turnovers but started to take some penalties by being a little aggressive. On the power play chance for team West the puck came out on a rebound for an open net opportunity but Thrower made an excellent defensive play to block the shot. Later on Thrower had a great rush to gain the offensive zone and get the puck in deep on the cycle to start the attack, and was jumping up on the rush a few times to put some pressure on the fore-check. Point and MacMaster displayed some great chemistry on the cycle playing in the offensive zone and generating some good scoring chances on the attack with some great puck possession. Point was able to walk into the slot on the power play and took a great shot to beat the goalie and score the team’s 2nd goal of the game giving them the lead. Thrower continued to hold the line very effectively on the power play and showed some nice moves to walk around the opposition and create some open space. MacMaster continued his great playmaking with a great pass attempt on some excellent vision to spot an open man on the far side next to the net but they just couldn’t connect on the pass.

The puck went the other way for a great chance for Team West, as there was a great pass across to Gardner who got an excellent one-timer chance from right in the slot but the goalie robbed him on the save. Pacific kept pushing and had a good chance again on a scramble play in front as Bleakley stole the puck and had a breakaway attempt but fell on the play, and then it appeared that no one could control the puck as there was a huge scramble in front. West took the puck back up to continue their push to tie up the game late into the period as Warkentine walked in to the high slot and made a nice move to score on a good shot to score Team West’s 2nd goal of the game. Ryan Pilon showed his great shot late into this period on a nice shot on target and kept down low from the point as well but this game headed into the 3rd all tied up at 2-2.

As the game went into the third period it was very evident that Pacific needed to win this game in regulation as they started to put on some really good pressure. Sandhu took the puck early on with some great pressure to walk into the slot from behind the net as he drove hard for a good chance and drew a penalty. On the power play Point was moving around well with the puck and passing it to some dangerous scoring areas but they just couldn’t finish off any plays. MacMaster then took the puck a few minutes into the third period on a great pass by Reid Duke to walk in and put a good shot on then tuck in the rebound to score the go-ahead goal giving his team the 3-2 lead. Team West didn’t say die though, as Tim Vanstone then put some great pressure on the puck carrier to force the turnover in the offensive zone and get a real good chance coming in on net. But the penalties started to pile up for team West, taking 2 straight, but Team Pacific could not get anything going as they had a ton of trouble just entering the offensive zone. On the second chance MacMaster and Point were moving the puck really effectively and had a nice give and go which finished off with a pass across to Duke who was open back-door next to the net for an excellent chance from in tight. MacMaster had his great hands on full display with some really nice moves to beat defenders and get the puck in deep into the offensive zone. Virtanen then put some great pressure on the fore-check to force the turnover and take the puck out and make a good centering pass for a nice chance, but the puck quickly went back the other way and Chartier was able to move the puck down low to Sanheim who passed the puck across to Reid Gardiner to tuck in the tying goal with only 3 minutes remaining in the game.

Pacific was awarded a power play with 1:55 left in the 3rd to try and take the lead again, and Point displayed some great hands to walk into the slot and move the puck down low to MacMaster for a great chance. MacMaster showed his real nice puck control and was walking out to the slot for some good chances as Pacific kept pushing late with lots of shots but to no avail as this game went into overtime. Just 45 seconds into overtime Hickey got a shot from the point right off the draw to score a nice shot and give his team the win, just not the win they were looking for as they lost out on the extremely valuable extra point and were not able to move on to the medal round despite the win.

HockeyProspect.com 3 Stars of the game:

15 Tanner MacMaster: MacMaster finished this game with 1 goal and 1 assist, but was so effective all night. He displayed some incredible chemistry with Point as they were generating chances every time they were on the ice, and showed some great passing and play-making between the two of them. MacMaster scored a clutch goal to give his team the lead in the 3rd period even though his team could not hold on to the lead, and was getting to some good scoring positions to create some chances on excellent shots.

17 Brayden Point: MacMaster’s counterpart in this game was Brayden Point, as the two of them were playing in the offensive zone all night long and making something happen every time they stepped out onto the ice. Point finished the night with 1 goal and 1 assist as well, and was showing some really nice speed, hands, puck protection and puck distribution all game. He has some great vision and sense in the offensive zone and plays the game at a high pace.

6 Josh Thrower: Thrower was really active all night jumping in on the rush and leading the attack down low. He was blocking shots in his own end on many occasions and chipped in as well with a goal on a good shot on the power play. He was making some really big hits to separate his man from the puck playing very physical and is a big body who can really skate. He rushes the puck up the ice effectively finding lanes and space to work with and rarely turned the puck over.