Canada’s U-18 Team Starts With A Win

By: Sean Kelly – OIH Correspondent

The Canadian National Men’s Under-18 team defeated the Czech Republic 5-0 today in their first game of action at the 2011 IIHF World Under-18 Championship in Dresden, Germany.

The Czech Republic, coming off an opening day upset over Sweden on Thursday, was looking to carry some strong momentum into today’s game.

Canada had different plans in mind however with Eric Locke (Barrie, OHL) scoring just 1:10 into the game. Morgan Rielly (Moose Jaw, WHL) and Mark Scheifele (Barrie, OHL) both tallied before the end of the first period.

After no scoring in the second period, Scheifele got his second of the game followed by their final goal netted by Ryan Murphy (Kitchener, OHL).

Making his debut for the national team in net was Malcolm Subban (Belleville, OHL), brother of Montreal Canadians defenseman P.K. Subban. He stood tall stopping all 26 shots faced in the team’s first game of the tournament.

With eight different Canadians contributing on the scoresheet today, they will surely look to build off this win tomorrow when they play Finland.