Exhibition hockey games are all about lessons learned, not necessarily results – and so it was for Canada’s national junior team Tuesday night at the Pengrowth Saddedome.
The results were actually there – a solid 3-0 victory over visiting Finland that featured goals from Alex Pietrangelo, Taylor Hall and Brandon McMillan, one in each period.
It wasn’t the offence that Canada usually produces in these events, but it was enough upend the feisty Finns who, like the Swedes two nights ago, showed they weren’t going to be intimidated – not physically anyway.
The end result was a chippy, penalty-filled game. The Toronto Maple Leafs’ prospect Nadem Kadri set the tone 12 seconds in when he was whistled down for charging. Altogether, there were nine minors in the opening period; and four more in the second, meaning the first half of the game was mostly played on special teams.
Canada took its share of unnecessary penalties, on a night when a pair of Western Hockey League referees, Derek Herman and Derek Zalaski, set a tight officiating standard.
In some ways, it was a useful reminder - officiating can sometimes be uneven in international tournaments; and more often than not, special teams play can decide the thing. Canada’s power-play and penalty-killing units both got a workout, not necessarily a bad thing at this stage of their preparation. Getting some of the undisciplined play a game like that out of their collective systems now, before they count for keeps, is a useful exercise as well.
“Maybe,” agreed Hall tentatively, “but we set a goal before the tournament – of four minors against per game, and we had that in one period, and that’s just unacceptable. It’s hard to play like that too because you’ve got a lot of guys sitting on the bench all the time. It just keeps everyone out of the game – and limits our offence.”
Team captain Patrice Cormier added: “We took way too many penalties and the coach addressed that after the game. On the bright side, our PK was great – 100 per cent. But in the tournament, we’re going to have to cut down on that when we play for keeps.”
Pietrangelo’s goal, the eventual winner, came with the entire St. Louis Blues’ brain trust, in town to play the Calgary Flames Wednesday night.
Pietrangelo is a Blues’ prospect, the fourth player chosen overall in the 2008 entry draft, a player still trying to find a regular role at the NHL level, which is why he was loaned to Canada for the upcoming world junior tournament, starting Boxing Day in Saskatoon. In a year when so many potential juniors are already establishing themselves in the NHL, Pietrangelo provides a nice blend of experience and skill.
His rising slap shot, from the right point, eluded a screened Joni Ortio in the Finnish goal about two-thirds of the way through the opening period. Ultimately, that would be all the scoring Canada would need.
Hall, who was born in Calgary and now plays for the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL, received clearance to play the game, despite a bruised knee that kept him out of most of the Swedish exhibition two nights earlier.
“The knee was fine tonight,” said Hall. “I was a little unsure, before the game, of how it would feel, but I didn’t feel it at all, so it shouldn’t be a problem throughout the tournament.”
Hall also demonstrated why he is the odds-on favorite to go No. 1 in the 2010 NHL entry draft on his goal, controlling the puck deep in the Finnish zone before dishing it back to Marco Scandella at the right point. Brandon Kozun eventually got control and sent it to Hall for the finishing touches – scoring from a difficult angle to the side of the net.
Goaltender Martin Jones recorded the shutout for Canada, playing in front of his home crowd as well – his day job is with the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen. That came only after what looked like a perfectly fine goal by Teemu Hartikainen was disallowed about halfway through the third period, when it was ruled that he kicked the puck into the goal. Had the goal stood – it came after Pietrangelo lost an edge and permitted Jyri Niemi to sneak behind him for a breakaway - it might have set up an interesting finish.
As it was, MacMillan’s goal – on a partial breakaway with time winding down in the third – put matters out of reach.
“Overall, it was a solid game defensively,” said defenceman Ryan Ellis. “The PK did a good job blocking shots; we’d like to have seen a few more power plays for us, but the penalty kill was hot tonight.”
Finland’s players had a day-of-game visit from two Flames’ stars, centre Olli Jokinen and goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff, who later watched the game from the team’s owners’ box, alongside tough guy Brian McGrattan. Jokinen was on the last Finnish team to win a world junior championship in 1998.
