WISMER SCORES TWICE AS GOLD TAKE THIRD PLACE AT U17 CAMP

LEE BOYADJIAN

CALGARY, Alta. – It was Jack Wismer (Stoney Creek, Ont./Hamilton, OMHA) who put his name in the goal column twice to lead Gold to a 2-1 win over Blue in the third-place game Monday at Canada’s national under-17 development camp, but he was quick to give credit.

“We really brought it for the last game. We had a mindset that we were going to come out on top in this one and we really did exactly that,” Wismer said.

Both teams spent plenty of time in the neutral zone, struggling to get anything going offensively.

But with an offensive-zone face-off win helped Gold capitalize in the first period; Damien Giroux (Val Carron, Ont./Sudbury, GNML) won the draw, which set up the cycle for Gold. Giroux worked the puck behind the net, allowing Wismer to sneak to the side of the crease and lift a centering pass over Blue goaltender Carl Stankowski (Calgary, Alta./Anaheim, USU16).

Blue answered back, but not until the midway point of the second. A scramble in front of Cameron Lamour (Naughton, Ont./Sudbury, ONMMAAA) allowed Samuel Stevens (Montreal, Que./Shattuck-St. Mary’s, USHS) to pick up the loose puck and bury a wraparound.

The teams picked up the offence in the third period, combining for 24 shots on goal, but only Gold managed to find the back of the net.

Justin MacPherson (Richmond Hill, Ont./York Simcoe, OMHA) read a Blue clearing attempt perfectly and kept the puck in at the blue-line. The move caught Blue transitioning out of the zone, leaving Wismer to make a move of his own.

“I knew that I was going to have to be open for him, because I knew he was going to try and slide it over so I just ready for it,” Wismer explained. “It hit me and almost missed the net, but it went it.”

Gold will go into the books as the third-place finisher, but the records aren’t what the players are taking away from the week-long camp at the Markin MacPhail Centre.

“The one thing I learned this week is that you always have to keep putting in work no matter what because out there, there is always someone working harder than you and you’ve got to beat them,” Wismer said.

“Be committed to the team,” Stevens added. “Do whatever it takes to win a hockey game the Canadian Way.”