Canada continues to dominate!
Article courtesy of Sophie-Anne Ferland at Team Canada Media
Canada was playing Liechtenstein today, new comers in the World Championships this year and therefore expected to be the weakest team in the round robin in Canada’s division. The Canadian team perhaps assumed this was going to be an easier game than against France, but they realized that the team they were facing not only had an amazing goaltender who made great stops on the Canadian shots, but also good players, most of them playing in the 4th division in Switzerland.
The first period was a slow start for Canada and even though they dominated the game, many of the passes were intercepted by their opponent and after a period the score was 2-1.
In the second period, Canada got its groove back and started the machine by quickly scoring at the beginning of the period. Canada was dominant all throughout the game and clearly demonstrated its talent and control of the ball and of the play.
Canada could count of a little more than 7 fans today…a record so far! Thanks to Seppo Lattu’s family who came to watch the game. The timing was perfect as he won today Canada’s Player of the Game honours.
Furthermore, Canada made a very good impression yesterday. Here is what we can read on the International Floorball Federation (IFF) website following yesterday’s game:
The second match between Canada and France clearly showed the fast development of Floorball. It looked like a number of the B-division teams might have a hard time with these two teams. The teams played tough, but fair and with a lot of speed and a high technical level. France did not have the strength to resist the repeated fast counterattacks made by the Canadians, who won the match with clear numbers 12-3.
FIRST PERIOD
As for all their other games since arriving in Bratislava, Canada was the first to take the lead with a goal by Simon Leblanc assisted by Patric Ducharme at 4:37 into the first period. Canada showed its dominance early in the game with their good and agile passes and good positioning, but just like yesterday’s first period against France, a lot of passes were blocked in the Liechtenstein defensive zone which made scoring for Canada harder.
Seppo Lattu had a good chance with less than 5 minutes to play in the period but the goaltender was able to stop it and Liechtenstein attacked right after and scored at 15:21. 8 seconds later the Québec line replied to take back their lead with a goal by Patrice Paré on a pass by Patric Ducharme. The score was 2-1 for Canada.
The period ended on a one-man advantage for Canada when Liechtenstein got a 2 minute penalty for obstruction. Canada sent its power play line hoping to add to their lead before the end of the first period, but Canada was not able to capitalize and therefore the period ended at 2-1, the exact same score after 20 minute of play as in the game against France yesterday.
SECOND PERIOD
The Canadian team came back on the field and started the period with a bang with Ryan Andreotti scoring unassisted a little after one minute into the period, followed, a few moments later by a goal by Seppo Lattu on a pass by Philip Schuler. Quickly, the score was 4-1.
Canada took advantage of another power play after 3 minutes of play for incorrect hit from a Liechtenstein player so the power play line was on and sure enough added to their lead with a goal by Philip Schuler assisted by Simon Leblanc. Canada was in the lead 5-1.
Canada took their first penalty at 12:35 for having too many men on the field and that gave Liechtenstein an opportunity to get back in the game, but Canada took instead the opportunity to add another goal, this one short handed by Simon Leblanc on a pass by Stéphane Laporte putting the score at 6-1.
Liechtenstein took another penalty with a little over 5 minutes to play for obstruction and Canada attacked again with their power play line allowing Eric Ulli-Vanasse assisted by Patric Ducharme to score Canada’s 7th goal of the game. Short after, Canada scored yet again with less than 4 minutes to play in the period. The score was 8-1 thanks to a goal by Philip Schuler on a pass by Jean-Olivier Vörös.
THIRD PERIOD
With a 7-goal lead, Canada started the third period with the same energy and some changes to the lines. On a delayed penalty in the beginning of the period, Canada had a few good chances to add to their lead but it wasn’t until their one-man advantage that Philip Schuler scored, following an amazing exchange of passes from the power play line in the offensive zone. The Canadian team continued its attack as Seppo Lattu scored their 10th goal a few moments later on a pass from Patric Ducharme.
Liechtenstein got another penalty, this one for incorrect hit with a little more than 3 minutes to play in the game but no goal was scored during the rest of the third period.
Final Score: Canada 10 – Liechtenstein 1
Next game for Canada is on Thursday against Australia, so there will be no update tomorrow.
To read an article on the Québec players and on the championships visit:
http://www.floorballquebec.ca/?q=en/node/355
For the official game stats, please visit:
http://www.floorball.org/default.asp?sivu=5&alasivu=251&kieli=826
http://www.floorball.org/joukkuekortti.asp?joukkue_id=1203341711&sarjaId=20&dbSarja=1203340296
To watch the games live on Web TV, please visit:
