CANADA 4 - DAVOS 2
By Paul Romanuk

DAVOS – Canada punched home three goals in the second period and rode the crest of that wave to a 4-2 win over HC Davos on day two of the Spengler Cup Championship in Davos, Switzerland.

“We played a much more controlled game and did more of things we need to do to be successful”, said Team Canada coach Marc Habscheid. “We were playing Canadian hockey, getting to the front of the net to create chances.”

Canada opened the scoring at 2:08 of the second period when Ryan Gardner stuffed home a rebound on Swiss goalie Jonas Hiller. Jean-Guy Trudel put Canada up 2-0 at 13:07 on a power play off a beautiful feed from linemate Jeff Toms. The line of Trudel, Toms and Domenichelli are teammates with Ambri in the Swiss League and were put on the same line prior to the second game of the tournament. They combined on two of Canada’s four goals.

 “They don’t play together that often in Ambri,” said Habscheid, “but there is still a lot of chemistry there. They looked good.”

Dominic Pittis put Canada up 3-0 at 14:21 of the second period on the powerplay when he converted on a beautiful pass from the point from Jason York.

Things got a little shaky for the Canadians late in the third period when Davos scored two goals within three minutes of one another. Tommi Miettinen drilled one past netminder Andy Chiodo at 15:04 to ruin the shutout bid. Peter Guggisberg followed up with another at 17:56, but Canada regained control of the pace after that and cruised to the win.

“We had a bit of a lull there late in the third period,” said Habscheid, “but most teams get that once a game. We got it back and, all in all, I feel good about the way we played.”

Chiodo, who was toiling away in the East Coast Hockey League with Wheeling when he got the call to come and play, has looked very good in Canada’s first two games.

“It’s so true what they say. It’s just an honour to wear this jersey. It feels great to play for Canada. The atmosphere here is amazing and it’s been a great experience so far.”

The win moved Canada into second place in the tournament standings, one point behind first place Magnitogorsk. Canada’s next game is Thursday against Berlin.