(Release courtesy Hockey Canada)
Flin Flon Bomber Wyatt Stinton scored twice, plus Luke McKechnie and Taye Timmerman (Warman Wolverines) combined for 28 saves, but Canada West lost its second pre-tournament game to the U.S. in Montmagny Friday.
2025 Junior A World Challenge – Trois-Rivières, Québec – December 7-13
Canada East 4, Sweden 2
Luca Scartozzi (St-Hubert, QC/Longueuil, LHJAAAQ) netted a pair of goals for Canada East.
Joshua Brady (Peterborough, ON/Pickering, OJHL) registered two assists.
Mavrick Brunet (Laval, QC/Rockland, CCHL) scored the eventual game-winner 11:39 into the second period.
Canada East outshot Sweden 30-23.
United States 5, Canada West 2
Wyatt Stinton (Flin Flon, MB/Flin Flon, SJHL) scored both goals for Canada West in the loss.
Ben Deacon (St. Albert, AB/Devon, AJHL) and Taynton Lavender (Victoria, BC/Drayton Valley, AJHL) recorded an assist each for Canada West.
Luke McKechnie (Lumsden, SK/Whitecourt, AJHL) and Taye Timmerman (Winnipeg, MB/Warman, SJHL) split time in net, making 16 and 12 saves, respectively.
Next games (Dec. 7)
United States vs. Canada East – 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT
Sweden vs. Canada West – 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT
All tournament games will be available via livestream on HNLive.ca, while the gold medal game will also be available on TSN+.
Quotes:
“Our goal is to establish our identity during our pre-competition games, and our players are responding really well to what we are trying to achieve. There is some great chemistry that is starting to build, and I am proud of my players for tonight’s win.”
Canada East head coach Bruce Richardson (Pincourt, QC/Valleyfield, LHJAAAQ) on tonight’s win.
“It is special for me to score two goals tonight with Team Canada in Quebec, but now the time for preparation is now over. I really liked our team’s effort and I am looking forward to the tournament. Representing Canada is the best feeling in the world, especially with this being my first opportunity. Our team has great chemistry, and it already feels like a family despite our short time together.”
Scartozzi on his team’s victory.
“I thought we played with a lot of heart for most of the game. At times in the first period, we were watching [the puck] a little too much, and we gave up a breakaway goal against and a shorthanded goal against, but we were able to recover recovered. Our second and third [periods] were very competitive, and I thought our guys made adjustments when we needed to. The good thing about the power play is that we get our chances, but [Sweden] is a good team, and they have a great penalty killing. There is nothing discouraging about that situation for us, so we are going to keep it positive and we will take our chances as they come.”
Canada West head coach Trevor Blevins (Melfort, SK/Melfort, SJHL) on tonight’s game.
“I am happy with our overall game tonight. We showed up and followed our game plan. We did not play as hard as I would have liked in the first period, but we picked things up after that. We knew we were facing a very good team with a lot of talent, so we had to set the pace all game long.”
Canada West forward Esteban Cinq-Mars (Longueuil, QC/ Llyodminster, AJHL) on tonight’s performance and playing in front of his family.
Photo credit: Hockey Canada Images
