EDMONTON — An administrative decision by the organizers of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup ended up sending Canada to the tournament’s gold-medal game.
Josh Williams scored twice, including the overtime winner, as Canada advanced to the final of the under-18 hockey tournament thanks to a controversial 6-5 victory over the United States on Friday.
Canada was credited with a goal on a shot by Dylan Cozens just as time expired in the third period. However, as there is no video replay available at the tournament, the goal stood, sending the game to overtime. Williams put away the winner 1:44 into the extra period.
"Prior to the competition, at the directorate meeting, it was decided there would be no video review because the three venues being used don’t all have that capacity," said Hockey Canada president and CEO Tom Renney. "In the best interest of consistency and fairness throughout all three venues, it was decided by all teams — and signed off on — that the officials on the ice would make that call, as they did tonight.
"I feel for everyone — for our kids too. They know what happened."
Alexis Lafreniere, Jamieson Rees and Xavier Parent also scored for the Canadians in the semifinal. Nicholas Robertson had three goals and Aaron Huglen and Luke Toporowski replied for the Americans.
"It’s hard for the guys. They played hard and battled valiantly and I think they deserved better. But we have to take the result and be men about it. It’s difficult for these young kids, though," said U.S. head coach Cory Laylin.
"It’s a bitter pill to swallow, for sure," added USA Hockey assistant executive director of hockey operations John Vanbiesbrouck. "It was determined before the tournament that they weren’t going to use video review so we have to accept our fate."
Canada will play Sweden, which they defeated 4-3 in their final round-robin game on Wednesday in the gold-medal match on Saturday.
"For sure, if it would have been us we would have been frustrated," said Canada head coach Andre Tourigny of their tying goal being allowed. "It was a really tight call. The rules are the rules, and the call is the call.
"Our focus now is what we can do better in the final."
Canada has won gold 21 times and medalled 24 times in the 27-year history of the tournament, including winning gold in nine of the last 10 years.
The U.S. will face Russia for bronze.
The Americans started the scoring with a power-play goal 3:20 into the game, although play continued for more than a minute before it was determined that a high shot by Robertson (Peterborough, OHL) had actually gone in to the net before quickly exiting.
Canada responded with a power-play goal of its own just over a minute later as Lafreniere (Rimouski, QMJHL), the early first overall favourite for the 2020 draft, showed some poise in front of the net to beat American goalie Dustin Wolf (Everett, WHL).
Just over a minute after that goal, the U.S. regained the lead on a highlight-reel play as Huglen lifted the puck onto his stick behind the net and backhanded it lacrosse-style over the shoulder of Canadian goaltender Nolan Maier (Saskatoon, WHL).
Canada made it a 2-2 game eight minutes into the first period as Rees (Sarnia, OHL) battled for a puck in front of the American net before chipping it past Wolf.
The U.S. surged in front again with five minutes left in the opening frame when Robertson scored his second of the game on a backhand shot off of a faceoff.
Canada tied it up again midway through the second period as Parent (Halifax, QMJHL) scored on a shot from the high slot on the power play.
The Canadian squad took its first lead 3:31 into the third period when Williams (Medicine Hat, WHL) scored on a screened shot on the power play.
Robertson scored his hat trick goal with eight minutes to play on a quick wrist shot to make it 4-4.
The U.S. then regained their lead with 6:27 remaining on a goal coming off a scramble out front by Toporowski (Spokane, WHL).
EDMONTON — What happened Friday night in Edmonton wasn’t about the horrible hand dealt to Team USA, which bows out of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup on a tying goal that was still on Dylan Cozens’ stick blade when the clock read 0.00.
It had been agreed upon that there would be no video review at this tournament because three separate rinks were being used and they did not all have the same capabilities. We get that.
But what really smelled Friday — as Canada won 6-5 in overtime, advancing to Saturday night’s gold-medal game against Sweden while the United States walked out of Rogers Place fully fleeced, pockets inside out as they trudged towards the team bus — was how the Americans’ game-opening goal had counted.
Officials said they couldn’t use video replay to count Canada’s game-tying goal at “19:59 of the third period,” which allowed Josh Williams to score the overtime winner just 1:46 into the extra period. However, when a rather obvious American goal had been missed just 3:20 into the game, the officials huddled and somehow re-saw what everyone on TV had already seen — the puck clearly in the Canadian net for a relatively lengthy period of time before shooting out the other side.
“They said the water bottle went up. Look at the video. Tell me if the water bottle went up,” said a highly skeptical Canadian coach, Andre Tourigny.
In fact, the water bottle did bobble up and down on that first goal, perhaps as much as an inch and a half. But what seems impossible — okay, highly improbable — is that the officials could see that tiny wiggle of a water bottle, yet all four of them missed a puck that went in over the goalie’s right shoulder, wrapped around the back of the net, and shot out past his left side.
Unless, of course, video replay somehow helped that call to be corrected.
“That’s a great point. That was my argument as well,” said American head coach Cory Laylin. “They said that they saw the water bottle go, but I think we deserved better.”
What really strikes a hockey observer, as we see a game lost on what was indisputably a goal that should not have counted, is how seldom we see these things happen anymore. Today we’re calling goals off because a player’s skate blade is a quarter-inch above the blue-line, not because a puck was three- or four-tenths of a second — perhaps even more — late in crossing the goal line.
Tom Renney, the president of Hockey Canada, explained how this could still be happening, in a state-of-the-art arena in 2018:
“Prior to the competition, at the directorate meeting, it was decided there would be no video review because the three venues being used don’t all have that capacity,” Renney said. “In the best interest of consistency and fairness throughout all three venues, it was decided by all teams — and signed off on — that the officials on the ice would make that call, as they did tonight.”
But what about that first American goal that was rightly changed?
“I’m not talking about that one,” he said.
If you’ve noticed the paucity of player quotes, it is because the American players chanted a unified theme: “It is what it is. We have a big (bronze medal) game tomorrow.” The Canadian players would not address the issue either.
Even Renney, however, did not like the smell of this one. The American kids had beaten the Canadian kids fair and square — everyone knows it. Yet on Saturday, Canada gets Sweden for the gold, while Russia and the USA play for bronze.
“I feel for everyone — for our kids too. They know what happened,” Renney said. “If I’m the U.S. squad, I’m kind of scratching my head, wondering what might have happened here. They are owed some type of an explanation and I’ll go in and see them next.”
What was masked by this non-buzzer-beater was a fabulous game, loaded with high-skill plays — including Aaron Huglen’s sizzling, lacrosse-style goal in the first period for the U.S. — and an incredible finish, with three goals in the last 8:02.
The ending, however, left a sour taste in everyone’s mouths.
“It’s a bitter pill to swallow, for sure,” said former New York Rangers goalie John Vanbiesbrouck, the head of USA Hockey. “This is a great building and the venues have been great. I believe we do have the technology. The game was broadcast on TSN and the NHL Network. We were watching it with the naked eye and we couldn’t tell, and that’s why you use technology to get things right.
“It was determined before the tournament that they weren’t going to use video review, so we have to accept our fate.”
But, somehow, that first goal was made to count.
Guess they saw that water bottle jump, after all.
Hockey Canada defeated the United States to advance to the gold medal game of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, the U-18 tournament, on Friday. From what turned out to be a goal-abundant affair between both teams, ended in controversy and led many to question the protocol set by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
As the Americans held onto a narrow 5-4 lead with time dwindling off the clock, Dylan Cozens shot the puck past the United States' goaltender Nolan Maier. Only problem with Cozens' equalizing goal is that the clock displayed "0.0" before the puck entered the net, meaning the United States was leading at the end of regulation.
Don't know how official that clock is. But if it is, Cozens clearly didn't get it off in time. pic.twitter.com/8bjqNRmo4U — Steve Kournianos (@TheDraftAnalyst) August 11, 2018
However, the IIHF didn't have the technology in place to review the goal. All teams participating in the tournament agreed to no video reviews, according to ESPN's Chris Peters. The officials ruled that the goal stood despite any notion of a possible reversal. The official score sheet dubbed that the goal occurred at the 19:59 mark in the third period.
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Josh Williams scored the dagger for Canada in overtime to propel the Canadians into the next round.
Canada gets the job done early on in overtime to win the game and advance to the gold medal game! #HlinkaGretzkyCup pic.twitter.com/JRQS4PtcOe — TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 11, 2018
United States' fans took their displeasure with the result to social media calling the game everything from "Rigged" to "Robbed." Team Canada will face Sweden on Saturday afternoon. While the United States is set to play for the bronze medal, Aaron Huglen made a bit of headlines himself with his lacrosse-style goal against the Canadians.
For Team USA it was, “O Say Can You See We Got Jobbed.”
With no video replay in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup Team Canada escaped with a last-gasp goal by Dylan Cozens that shouldn’t have counted because the clock showed 0:00 on TSN’s feed before the puck had beaten goalie Dylan Wolf, then Josh Williams won it 1:44 into overtime in a wild and wacky 6-5 piece of entertainment Friday night.
So, Canada, who’ve won the under 18 summer championship nine of the last 10 years and 21 out of 27 live to fight another day against Sweden in Saturday’s gold-medal final while the Yanks lost a game they should have won on a hat-trick by Nick Robertson and a third-period goal by Luke Toporowski before Cozens fired a shot past Wolf
While it could have been Woe Canada for the home side, the Americans were singing the sad song and the ending clouded what was a fantastic hockey game on both sides with miscues, misfires, high-fives and brilliant plays.
Hockey Canada president Tom Renney definitely felt for the Americans.
The zebras huddled after the Cozens goal, and counted it, feeling it had beat the buzzer, with no TV look at it, although they didn’t count the first Robertson goal that was in and out and moved the water bottle until they talked it over and reversed the non-call. It was very hard to see the bottle bobbling to the naked eye.
“The bottom line is before the tournament it was decided there would be no video review because the three buildings (Red Deer, Rogers Place and the Downtown Community Rink) we were using, all don’t have that capacity,” said the former Oilers coach Renney.
“Last time I was facing this much media I was getting fired,” he laughed.
“It was decided and signed off on by all the teams for consistency and fairness that the officials would make the call on the ice. It seems like there was a discrepancy in terms of the end of the game and the call that was made but we’re not criticizing officials here,” said Renney, who must have felt like former NHL head of officials Bryan Lewis, trying to explain the explainable when the NHL allowed Brett Hull’s toe-in-the-crease Stanley Cup winner in 1999.
“If I’m the U.S. squad, I’m looking at this with a bit of a jaundiced eye as to what they have to do to win a hockey game. If I’m the U.S. squad, I’m scratching my head. They are owed some type of explanation and I’ll go and talk to them next,” said Renney.
Canadian coach Andre Tourigny admitted the ending would have left his team sour.
“If it had been us we’d have been frustrated for sure,” said Tourigny.
“It was a really tight call, and the rules are the rules.”
Tourigny picked the right guy Cozens on the last shift of the third.
“He was one of our best players today … lots of reasons to put him out there,” he said.
American coach Cory Laylin was heart-broken for his kids, who lost it when Williams got his second of the night, hammering a shot home as he came off the bench in overtime.
“It’s hard for the guys, they battled valiantly. I think they deserved better,” said Laylin. “I’m proud of how they handled it, it’s such an emotional time.”
Laylin knew there was no video replay in the tournament, but how did they count the first Robertson goal then after originally not allowing it?
“That’s a good point. That was my argument as well.”
The Americans led 3-2 after the first with American forward Aaron Huglen scoring on a lacrosse shot, flipping the puck onto his blade and casually back-handing it past Canadian goalie Nolan Maier.
“I’ve haven’t seen a lacrosse goal in a long time,” said Winnipeg Jets’ GM Kevin Cheveldayoff.
Alexix Lafreniere, Jamieson Rees and Xavier Parent had the other Canadian goals.
SWEDEN WINS WITH LAST-MINUTE GOAL
In a wild finish after a sleepy first 40 minutes, Swedish centre Karl Henriksson lifted his underdog club into the gold-medal game in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup with a goal with 45 seconds left Friday to defeat Russia 2-1.
After Russian winger Vasili Podkolzin went end-to-end, splitting the Swedish defence and back-handing a shot by goalie Hugo Alnefelt with 114 seconds to play, Henriksson stunned the favoured Russians in the last minute.
His 20-footer beat Russian goalie Yaroslav Askarov on the short side with the netminder too deep in his net because Henriksson had faked like he was going to pass.
The Swedes broke the scoreless tie on a power play 40-footer by one of the tournament’s best defencemen Philip Broberg six minutes into the third and looked like they might blank the Russians who had scored 18 goals in their three wins in Red Deer to top their pool before the probable top 10 2019 pick Podkolzin scored the goal of the tournament.
“No goals in the first, no goals in the second … and we knew then we were in a good position,” said Swedish coach Magnus Havelid. “Lucky (winning) goal maybe but it was our night.
“We didn’t have the power in our legs and we needed our heads. Sometimes you need a plan B, and you follow it.
“Maybe it was an ugly win for the group but we’re in the finals.”
Neither team had much gas in the tank because it was their fourth game in five days in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup with a fifth in six nights in the gold medal game upcoming Saturday.
E-mail: jmatheson@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @NHLbyMatty
