Wednesday, August 17 | 5 p.m. MT | Edmonton, Alberta | Quarterfinal

GAME NOTES: CANADA VS. SWITZERLAND (AUG. 17)

It’s on to the playoff round for Canada’s National Junior Team , which takes on Switzerland in the third of four quarterfinals on a busy Wednesday at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship.

LAST GAME

Canada capped off a perfect preliminary round with a 6-3 win over Finland on Monday, getting goals from six different players. Special teams were the story for the Canadians; they scored on both of their power-play opportunities and killed four of five Finnish chances, including a five-minute major and a pair of five-on-three advantages in the third period. Mason McTavish added a goal and two assists to his tournament-leading totals, while Olen Zellweger had three helpers to move into a tie with American defenceman Luke Hughes for the scoring lead among blue-liners.

The Swiss went down to the wire to clinch their quarterfinal spot, getting a power-play goal from Attilio Biasca with 4:07 left to score a 3-2 win over Austria on Monday afternoon and advance to the playoff round. Joshua Fahrni and Jonas Taibel provided the other goals for Switzerland.

LAST MEETING

The Canadians and Swiss met last in the preliminary round of the 2021 World Juniors inside the Edmonton bubble, with Canada cruising to a 10-0 win for its third victory in as many tries. Quinton Byfield was the offensive star, scoring twice and adding four assists to post the 12th six-point effort by a Canadians in tournament history. Jakob Pelletier added two goals and an assist and Devon Levi made 15 saves for Canada, which led 1-0 after one period and 5-0 after two before pulling away over the final 20 minutes.

WHAT TO WATCH

As mentioned above, how about the special teams for Canada? The Canadians are clicking as a 60% success rate on the power play (6-of-10) – tops in the tournament – while the penalty kill has allowed only two goals in 11 opposition chances. And in goal, Dylan Garand has been lights out in his second World Juniors (third if you count the cancelled December event); he has fashioned a 1.67 goals-against average and .930 save percentage in three games, both second-best among all puck-stoppers.

The Swiss are never an easy out. They may rank near the bottom of the tournament on the offensive side of the puck (eight goals in four games and a 7.2% shooting percentage), but they put third-period scares into Sweden and Germany in a pair of 3-2 losses and kept the high-powered Americans scoreless for the first 26 minutes. They tend to find a way to hang around, and in a win-or-go-home game, that could create some excitement.

A LOOK BACK

Canada has dominated the head-to-head history since the first meeting in 1980, winning all 24 meetings – 23 of them in regulation time.

The history includes six playoff meetings, four of them in the quarterfinals – Brandon Reid had two goals and an assist in an 8-3 win in 2000, Brayden Schenn notched two his record-tying 18 points in a 4-1 win in 2011, Anthony Mantha scored the game-winner on a penalty shot in a 4-1 triumph in 2014 and Brett Howden had a goal and three helpers as part of an 8-2 victory in 2018.

All-time record: Canada leads 24-0-0 (1-0 in OT/SO)
Canada goals: 154
Switzerland goals: 40

RELATED LINKS

2021-22 National Junior Team

Canada vs. Switzerland

Source: iihf.com

…Dr. Rob Drapala and Dr. Michael Orenstein also announced as new Team Physicians

Vancouver, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin announced today that Dr. Bill Regan has been named Head Team Physician, while Dr. Rob Drapala and Dr. Michael Orenstein have also joined the organization as Team Physicians.

Dr. Regan has been a member of the Canucks medical staff for more than 20 years as a Team Physician. In his new role, Dr. Regan will serve as the team’s primary full-time doctor. In addition to his work with the Vancouver Canucks, Dr. Regan has served as an Associate Professor and Head of the Division of Arthroscopy at the University of British Columbia (UBC) since 1996.

He was first appointed to the UBC Department of Orthopedics in 1990 after joining the university from the University of Western Ontario. Dr. Regan’s academic background includes a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Toronto and an undergraduate degree from Bowdin College in Maine, USA.

Dr. Drapala is a primary care sports medicine physician, currently working as a Clinical Instructor, Division of Sport Medicine at UBC’s Allan McGavin Sports Medicine Clinic. He received his undergraduate degree from Simon Fraser University prior to completing a Doctor of Medicine and Family Practice Residency at UBC. His professional highlights include serving as Chief Medical Officer at the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championships and UBC Varsity Athletics, as well as Lead Physician at the Vancouver Whitecaps Academy.

Dr. Orenstein is a fellowship trained Sport and Exercise Medicine Physician, serving at UBC as Clinical Instructor in the Department of Family Practice. He completed his undergraduate degree, medical school and a Family Medicine Residency at McGill University in Montreal, before moving to Vancouver to complete the Sport and Exercise Medicine Fellowship at UBC. His professional experience has included providing coverage at the IIHF World Junior Championships, Ironman Whistler, and UBC Varsity Athletics.