Regina, SK – The gold medal final at the 2006 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge did not disappoint as Team Quebec defeated Team USA 5-2 at the Brandt Centre in Regina on Wednesday evening.
Team Quebec took a 2-0 lead in the final two minutes of the first period as forwards Kevin Veilleux and Marc-Antoine Desnoyers scored goals 30 seconds apart.
Colin Wilson was able to cut the two goal deficit in half at 8:22 of the second period as he beat Team Quebec goalie Raffael D’Orso on a goal mouth scramble.
Trailing 2-1 heading into the final period, Team USA was able to tie things up 36 seconds into the third period when Kevin Shattenkirk scored unassisted. But Team Quebec regained its one goal lead three minutes later as Michael Stinziani beat Team USA goalie Brad Phillips.
Team Quebec’s Maxime Cliché scored at 10:46 of the third to go up 4-2 and Mathieu Tousignant added an empty netter to give Team Quebec the 5-2 victory.
This was the third time Team Quebec has won the World Under-17 Challenge, and the first time since it was last hosted in Quebec (Amos) in 1994. Team USA earns silver for the third time in the past five years.
In the Bronze medal game, the Czech Republic’s sixth shooter in the shootout to defeat Team Pacific 5-4. Stanislav Polodna scored both shootout goals for the Czech Republic, but it was Czech goaltender Marek Benda’s 46 save performance that earned him Player of the Game honours.
Final Standings for the 2006 World Hockey Challenge
Gold – Quebec
Silver – USA
Bronze – Czech Republic
4th – Team Pacific (BC and Alberta)
5th – Ontario
6th – Team Atlantic
7th – Team West (Saskatchewan and Manitoba)
8th – Finland
9th – Slovakia
10th – Germany
This year’s tournament statistics were tracked with the Real Time Stats program. To get “real time” scores, game summaries, schedules, rosters, and general tournament information, go to Hockey Canada’s official web site at www.hockeycanada.ca.