2010-11 National Men's Under-18 Team

BRASSARD GETS SHOOTOUT WINNER AS WHITE CLOSES U18 CAMP WITH WIN

CALGARY, Alta. – Austen Brassard (Windsor, Ont./Belleville, OHL) scored the game-winning goal in the shootout and Robin Gusse (Terrebonne, Que./Chicoutimi, QMJHL) stopped two of the three shooters he faced as White avoided an intersquad sweep with an 8-7 win over Red on Tuesday afternoon at the National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team selection camp.

The game was the second of the camp to end 8-7 – Red opened the camp with a victory by that score on Sunday night.

A White win seemed unlikely in the early going, as Ty Rattie (Airdrie, Alta./Portland, WHL), Matt Puempel (Essex, Ont./Peterborough, OHL), Garrett Meurs (Ripley, Ont./Plymouth, OHL) and Adam Lowry (Calgary, Alta./Swift Current, WHL) staked Red to a 4-0 in the opening 6:02.

Meurs’ second of the game on a terrific individual effort made it 5-0 just 86 seconds into the middle frame and a sweep seemed likely for Red, despite a number of players switching teams after Sunday’s 5-1 Red victory.

But Ryan Murphy (Aurora, Ont./Kitchener, OHL) quickly got White to within three, scoring twice in a span of 27 seconds to make it 5-2, the second coming on a penalty shot – instead of two minutes in the box, all penalties were punished with penalty shots.

Michael Curtis (Mississauga, Ont./Belleville, OHL) and Brett Ritchie (Orangeville, Ont./Sarnia, OHL) both went upstairs on Jeffrey Noonan (Laval, Que./Laval-Montreal, LHMAAAQ) – Curtis over the glove, Ritchie over the blocker – to cut the lead to one before Murphy stepped over the blue line and blasted his hat trick goal over the glove of Noonan to pull White into an unlikely 5-5 tie after 40 minutes.

Despite both teams holding one-goal advantages in the third period – Red went up 6-5 thanks to Ryan Murray (White City, Sask./Everett, WHL) and White took a 7-6 advantage on a Brent Andrews (Hunter River, P.E.I./Halifax, QMJHL) goal – the third period ended as the second had, with the teams deadlocked.

A scoreless overtime gave way to a shootout, where Red’s Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Burnaby, B.C./Red Deer, WHL) and White’s Daniel Catenacci (Newmarket, Ont./Sault Ste. Marie, OHL) traded goals before Brassard converted on White’s third and final shot.

Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team will be announced on Tuesday afternoon, with the 22 players set to depart for Europe and the 2010 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka on Wednesday. Canada opens the tournament on Saturday, August 7 when it faces Sweden.

Goals/Buts : 
00:36 RED Ty Rattie PS/LP
03:37 RED Matt Puempel (Lucas Lessio)
05:35 RED Garret Meurs (Bryce Milson)
06:02 RED Adam Lowry (Stuart Percy)

Penalties/Pénalités : 
00:36 WHT Austen Brassard (Interference/Obstruction)

Goals/Buts : 
01:26 RED Garrett Meurs (Xavier Ouellet)
08:38 WHT Ryan Murphy (Duncan Siemens)
09:05 WHT Ryan Murphy PS/LP
12:57 WHT Michael Curtis (Phillip Danault, Brett Ritchie)
18:17 WHT Brett Ritchie
19:34 WHT Ryan Murphy (Daniel Catenacci, Jimmy Oligny)

Penalties/Pénalités : 
09:05 RED Boone Jenner (Kneeing/Donner du genou)

Goals/Buts : 
07:17 RED Ryan Murray (Matt Puempel, Lucas Lessio)
13:33 WHT Carter Sandlak (Ryan Murphy, Jimmy Oligny)
14:20 WHT Brent Andrews (Michael Curtis, Brett Ritchie)
15:12 RED Lucas Lessio

Penalties/Pénalités : 
06:51 RED Jean-Francois Leblanc (Tripping/Faire trébucher)

Goals/Buts : 
None/Aucun

Penalties/Pénalités : 
None/Aucune