Winning In Davos

While everyone will be talking about Canada's win over Finland in Gothenburg, Sweden today at the 2024 World Junior Championship, I want to focus on the Spengler Cup. There's no doubt that Canada's 5-2 win over the Finns was impressive as the Canadians showed an aggressive forecheck and solid goaltending in helping them achieve victory, but the effort shown in Davos by several members of Team Canada was nothing short of impressive. An undrafted forward showed up in a big way, an offensive defenceman paced the team, and an unsigned goaltender who last played an NHL or AHL game in April 2023 came up big in Team Canada's first win at the Spengler Cup, setting them up for Thursday's game against Davos.

We'll start with Ty Smith, the 17th-overall pick in 2018, who now skates for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the AHL. Smith was expected to push the pace and the puck up the ice to the forwards, but he often played as a fourth forward as he flew around the offensive zone while being solid in his own end. As stated a few days ago on this blog, "expect players like Ty Smith and Joey LaLeggia to push the play and be like a fourth forward," and that happened today as Smith had a goal and a pair of assists in helping Canada to the win.

Jonathan Hazen was the other major contributor for Canada today as the undrafted, high-scoring forward that came out of Val d'Or in the QMJHL showed why he's one of the top scorers in the Swiss National League. The 33 year-old who scored 106 goals in the QMJHL had a pair of goals today, played physical as he went to the net, and was solid on the defensive side of the puck. His first goal saw him shake a check to get loose to redirect a Dillon Heatherington pass into the Frölunda, and his second goal saw him take a pass in front of the net, make a move to the backhand, and slide home his second of the game. Scoring goals at the Spengler takes talent, and Hazen has it.

I know I was concerned about the goaltending when I spoke of Aaron Dell's NHL numbers that show a "2.92 GAA and a .905 save percentage," but Dell is still an NHL-calibre goaltender based on some of the saves he made today against Frölunda. I had lobbied for Thimas Milic getting the start, but Bruce Boudreau clearly went with the experienced guy, and it paid off as Dell was good on all 30 shots put up by Frölunda in posting a shutout. Dell's first showing this season for the majority of the planet was impressive, and he was a big part of why Canada is now 1-0 in the tournament.

Canada wins 4-0 today over Frölunda as Hazen had a pair of goals, Smith added single, and Corban Knight picked up the other goal. Hazen and Smith both finished with a three-point day, and I'll throw a little kudos out to Massimo Rizzo, the University of Denver forward, who picked up an assist on Smith's opening goal. Rizzo's inclusion is a nice touch to this lineup, and seeing him contribute early should have Carolina Hurricanes fans excited that he'll be a solid middle-six guy based on how he played.

Highlights of this game are below!


In the Torriani Division game, it looked like the defending champs in HC Ambri-Piotta might run away with their game after former Senators forward Alex Formenton scored two first-period goals to stake Ambri-Piotta to a 2-0 lead just eight minutes into the frame. HC Pardubice wasn't going away quietly, though, and the top team in the Czech Extraliga showed why they're a force this season as they began to dominate puck possession and offensive zone time. Matej Paulovic scored a goal in the second period to make it 2-1, Thomas Zohornas' long shot made it 2-2, and it could have been much worse had Janne Juhoven, Ambri-Piotta's netminder, not made a couple of massive saves in the final two periods.

These two teams would push into overtime, though, and the game wouldn't stretch long into the extra frame. Lukas Sedlak picked up a turnover, broke in on Juhoven with defenders desperately trying to catch him, and ended it with Sedlak tucking it between Juhoven's legs for the five-hole goal just 75 seconds after the puck was dropped, and the final score showed a 3-2 overtime victory for HC Pardubice!

Highlights of this game are below!


With Pardubice's and Canada's victories today, that means that Wednesday's games will see KalPa Kuopio meet HC Ambri-Piotta (9am ET on TSN2) while HC Davos will take on Frölunda HC (2pm ET on TSN2). Pardubice and Canada get the day to rest and watch their Thursday opponents - KalPa Kuopio and HC Davos, resepctively - as they look to wrap up the round-robin with 2-0 records in their respective divisions. After two incredible games of hockey today, it appears that the 2023 Spengler Cup is going to be another incredible tournament!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!