Sask. players help Team Canada take bronze at Hlinka Gretzky Cup

By Nick Nielsen

After going a perfect 3-0 in the round robin stage, Prince Albert Raiders’ Daxon Rudolph and the rest of Team Canada were on to the final rounds where they first would play against the United States in the semis.

It went all the way to a shootout, where Canada would lose 4-3, setting up a bronze medal game against Finland in a rematch of the first game of the tournament. In the first game of round robin play, Canada won 5-3, the only round robin game in which Rudolph was held pointless.

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Rudolph would put up two points in the bronze medal game, helping Canada take bronze with a 3-0 score.

In the first five minutes of the game, Rudolph helped put Canada on the board. With the Fins trying to clear the zone, Rudolph swatted the puck out of the air on his backhand to play it forward for Peteborough Petes forward Colin Fitzgerald, and he’d pass across the crease to Saskatoon Blades’ forward Cooper Williams for the finish.

Later in the second period, Canada and Finland traded penalties back and forth, but Canada would score on their second thanks to a nice play from Ethan Belchetz in front of the goal.

The third period saw lots of penalties, and with Canada on a powerplay, Rudolph would get a pass from Mathis Preston, and Rudolph would hit the empty net with a little over two minutes left to give Canada a 3-0 lead and help the team to a bronze medal.

In the semifinal against the U.S., Canada took a penalty five minutes in, and the Americans scored right away. Canada tied the game 34 seconds into the second period, but the Americans took the lead back at the 8:32 mark.

The Americans would score their second power-play goal of the game in the final minute of the second period, but Canada didn’t back down. They’d score a power-play of their own three minutes into the third, and Spokane Chiefs’ forward Mathis Preston scored unassisted with five minutes left to tie the game at three.

In the shootout, the U.S. went 3/3 while Canada went 1/4, earning the U.S. a shot at gold. They would go on to win the tournament against Sweden.

With 2G-2A during the tournament, Rudolph finished in a three-way tie for second among defencemen behind teammate and fellow WHLer Ryan Lin of the Vancouver Giants, and also tied for fifth in scoring through the whole tournament.

Rudolph’s four points tied him with fellow first overall pick in the WHL Landon DuPont of the Everett Silvertips, and Victoria Royals defenceman Keaton Verhoeff.

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