Our Finnish friend Christian Kortman may have recently returned to Helsinki but he continues to play an important role in our Canadian floorball community.  Christian is now our Finnish rep for FLOORBALL CANADA’S National Team Committee.  He will be helping us recruit, assess and select Canadian players living in Finland for upcoming U19 World Floorball Championships.  A huge thank you to Christian.  We are very lucky to have him on board!

BC Floorball President and Team BC Player Greg Beaudin will be re-joining the Off-Ice instruction team at the Sentinel Hockey Academy in West Vancouver.

“Recently in Calgary, Hockey Canada staged a Floorball clinic and tournament for 103 Hockey Canada Skills Academies and their directors. Floorball was embraced with overwhelming positivity as an off-ice training system for elite hockey players.  It’s the same reaction that we received at the Sentinel Hockey Academy over the past two seasons and I’m charged up to see some great results transfer out on to the ice.  In the world of competitive Hockey and honing skills to compete with best, it’s essential for young players to be engaged through activities that combine both fitness and fun.  Floorball is extremely fun to play, it’s a great workout without the risk of major injury, and it builds  up some essentials skills such as stickhandling and body position.  European hockey pros like the Hossa Brothers, Pavol Demitra, Forsberg, Naslund and Gaborik all grew up playing Floorball at school and continue to train with Floorball in the off-season. ” says Greg.

If your Hockey Team, Hockey Association, Hockey Academy, or Youth Sports Group is looking to learn more about Floorball, please contact the BC Floorball Federation at info@bcfloorball.com

Lauri Hannelius competed in his third WFC with Team Canada. Lauri played a key role on defense, helping the team win bronze, netting 7 goals and three assists. Now that he has had a chance to rest, he shares some thoughts on the Championship.

Aside from winning the bronze, coming oh so close to making it into the gold medal match, how did it go? How was the team?

After losing the semifinal to the coming champion Slovakia everybody was feeling quite empty. Our goal was to play in the final and win the tournament, but we ended up third which is also good result thinking about it afterwards. Team Canada was better than ever and we had three good lines who could all score goals. I was very satisfied of the newcomers in Team Canada. New players from Quebec contributed a lot to the team playing together as a line and were dangerous whenever they stepped on the field. Also the new Canadians from Europe found their place right away on the team and gave hard times to the opponents. Both new goalies were surprisingly good and we could have put either one in net. Also the players who were already with Team Canada in 2004 and 2006 were very important to the team and like I said I was very satisfied to the team this year. Too bad we didn’t get the chance to taste the gold together.

We were happy to see that on the scoresheet and live video you had a strong tournament. Were you happy with your performance?

I was quite happy with my own performance; both defensively and offensively. Our line played well, especially on power play. We easily had the best power play in the tournament.

I imagine Team Canada improved in many ways. To prepare for 2010, what is Team Canada missing? What is our new weakness?

The team improved a lot from the last WFC, especially offensively. We played the round robin with three clear wins with a goal difference 33-5. That shows the offensive power and also good defense but still I would say that defense might be the weakness if I have to find something. In the first three games the opponents weren’t really dangerous and it was maybe too easy round robin. Then in the semifinal we met the strong Slovakia which was a totally different quality opponent. Maybe we weren’t quite ready for them defensively and I’m not talking about only defenders but the hole defensive play with all five players. So maybe that is something that we have to improve.

How was the quality of play at the WFC?

The quality of play in the WFC C-division was divided pretty much in three groups. At the top were Slovakia, Canada and Spain which could all do well in the B-division as well. Then came Australia, France and Serbia, who had no chance against the top teams. And then on the bottom there was Liechtenstein, Korea and Georgia who are more or less beginners. The top three teams showed some good floorball and the IFF officials were impressed also of their game. I’m sure that when the WFC system will change to 2010 championship, these teams will be much higher in the rankings than
they are now.

-Lauri-

Canada’s run for the gold came to a halt in their semi final match against Slovakia today. In front of the home crowd, Slovakia found themselves down two goals early, but were able to come back and take the lead in the second period, 3:2. Slovakia’s third goal was followed by a fourth only two seconds later and Canada played catch up the rest of the game. The two teams exchanged goals a few times, but Canada wasn’t able to pull ahead. For more details visit http://www.teamcanadafloorball.com/ World Championship Blog.

Canada meets Australia on Sunday to compete for the bronze medal. Slovakia and Spain play for gold.

It’s been a busy few days and I haven’t had much time at my computer but I’m here now and have tons of news. I’m going to keep things simple because the situation is pretty cut and dry. Our team assumed we had wouldn’t have much trouble in the round robin because of the competition in our pool. We weren’t shocked at the fact that none of our opponents in the first round put up much of a fight. After beating France, we rolled past Liechtenstein 10 - 1 and then Australia, 11 - 1. Our defense is playing solid and our Quebec players and power play are tearing it up on offense. The reality is that we haven’t really been tested since our exhibition matches.

This tournament can pretty easily be divided into three tiers based on the quality of the teams. In the top, Canada, Slovakia and Spain; in the middle, France, Australia and Liechtenstein; in the lower Korea, Serbia and Georgia. The key match in the round robin is clearly the one between Slovakia and Spain that we just finished watching - in the semi finals, the winner would play Australia and the loser, Canada - this is based on us finishing #1 and Australia #2 in our pool. Given the disparity in the quality of the teams, finishing at the top of the B Pool would be extremely important for Slovakia and Spain. Our team’s impression was that Slovakia is stronger than Spain but that the match would be tightly fought. The game was a complete
rollercoaster.

Slovakia dominated in the early minutes, scoring once and squandering many opportunities. Spain made mistake after mistake and looked horribly uncomfortable but things started to change as Slovakia took silly penalties. Spain notched the tying goal and eventually took a lead; one weak goal that appeared to be tipped and one on a bad turnover. Slovakia eventually tied the game but had their rhythm thrown off by the success the Spaniards had. At some point it seemed as though both teams had become rather equal; no one team dominating the other as odd chances were exchanged.

In an unexpected turn, Spain capitalized to take the lead 3 - 2 and then again on a horrible turnover to extend the lead to 4 -2 while in the third period. Slovakia was still clearly the more skilled team and had the advantage of a packed house of chanting fans behind them; we knew it wasn’t over. They marched down the court again and again and it seemed as though Spain was content to just try to kill the last five minutes. In an odd series of plays, the Slovaks got the ball to the front of the net and when it was jarred loose, a free man banged it in. They had new life with the lead cut to one, 4-3.

The Slovaks pushed and pushed, creating several perfect opportunities - I was literally jumping up and down in my seat because the action was so intense and it looked like on three or four occasions, they pretty much had the ball in the back of the net. Like in the first period, the finish just wasn’t there as the minutes became seconds and soon there just wasn’t time to generate another opportunity. Heartbroken, the Slovaks choked in front of their home crowd. They out-chanced and out shot their opponents but fell to a very hot Spanish goalie and some bad luck finding the back of the net. We couldn’t have asked for a more entertaining game to watch.

What does this mean for us? Well, we will play the Slovaks in the semifinals tomorrow at 2:30 pm (8:30 am EST). We believe they are the tougher of the two but ultimately if we want the top spot we will have to beat both teams. The guys were kind of hoping for a storybook final with the hometown crowd going crazy but that won’t be the case. We are all very excited for tomorrow’s game and know what we have to do. We do face one disadvantage though; we haven’t been tested by a quality opponent since we played our exhibition matches. Many questions are left to be answered as a result. Have the defensive issues we encountered in the exhibition matches been answered or have we simply not faced a solid offence since? Have we found our scoring touch and taken our offence to the next level or were we simply privy to weaker lines of defense? I am pretty sure it’s some combination of both and at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter what the answer is - tomorrow one team will move onto the finals and we know what we need to do in order to make sure that is us.

Hope you can catch the match tomorrow - we need all of the support we can get!

With a decisive 11:1 win over Australia, Canada captures 1st. place in the A division and awaits to see if their opponent will be Spain or Slovakia in the semi finals on Saturday.

Strong play and scoring came from all over, but we must give special attention to Patrick Ducharme of Montreal who had another explosive game today, netting 6 points, capturing game MVP for a second time.  Patrick now leads A division scoring with 15 points!  Lauri Hannelius also had a great game with 3 goals and 2 assists.  Further highlights need to go to the net minders Sam Garrison and Martin Belanger.  Only 5 goals in 3 matches have made their way past these guys!  Well done Team Canada!

In the B division, Spain ad Slovakia sit sweetly at the top, both with no loses and considerable victories, to say the least, over Serbia, Georgia and Korea.  Tomorrow the two teams meet and perhaps have their first real test thus far to determine who finishes first and second.

Canada will play second place.  Australia will play first.

We are happy to announce a new web site for the Canada Floorball Federation http://www.teamcanadafloorball.com/.  Please explore this site and take advantage of a lot of the great information, resources and links on it.  My favorite section is COACHING, prepared by Unihockey.  Here you will find easy to follow video description outlining all kinds of floorball skills, giving you real insight on how perform different moves, passes, where to place the ball on a slap shot… and the such.

The CFF web site also has a summary and more details of Canada’s victory today under “World Championships Blog”.

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:

http://www.robur.sk/floorball/schedule-sk.php

Another beautiful sunny day in Bratislava and what could better than a great match of floorball?

After training in the morning, the team gathered at the hotel for a light lunch prior to their 2pm match against France.

It only took a few minutes for both the French and the Canadian teams, traveling together, to get to the venue. We were all very impressed by the venue and for many players it was the first time playing on the official IFF surface.

We had time to watch the end of the game between Australia and Liechtenstein which Australia won 8-4.

France and Canada seemed ready and energized during the pre-game practice as it was the first match for both teams. Given the fact that a few players had to accommodate to the playing surface, the passes in the first period were not as accurate as usual combined with the fact that France played intense and back checked a lot. It didn’t take too long though for the players to get used to the surface and in the second period, they were ready to increase their one goal lead.

The Québec line formed by the Red Phoenix Ball hockey players having played floorball for less than a year, played very well again today, adapting to the surface and the style of play scoring 6 of the 12 goals.

In the goal for Canada was Martin Bélanger, also a Red Phoenix Ball Hockey player with little experience in floorball, who played a very good game.

Congratulations to Patric Ducharme from Québec who received the “Best Player” of the game award at his first international game!

FIRST PERIOD

Quickly in the game Canada took the lead with the first goal by Phillip Schuler after a minute in the game. 10 minutes into the period, Canada already had a few good shots on the net but the ball did not want to go in until 11:09 when Stéphane Laporte scored on a pass by Patric Ducharme. The score was 2-0 for Canada.

The French team got a penalty for slashing a little after 15 minutes into the period and Phillip Schuler had a good shot on the goaltender but unfortunately Canada was not able to increase their lead.

After a defensive mistake in the offensive zone France got a 2-on-1 and was able to reduce Canada’s lead with less than a minute to play in the first period. France got another penalty with 13 seconds to play in the period for blocking the stick. The first period ended with a tight score of 2-1 for Canada but with Canada dominating most of the first period.

SECOND PERIOD

Canada started the period with a one-man advantage and Phillip Schuler gave back the 2-goal lead to Canada 48 seconds into the period to put the score at 3-1 Canada. The Québec line added to their lead with a goal of Stéphane Laporte on a pass by Patric Ducharme at 6:10 into the second. It didn’t take long for them to add another goal when Eric Ulli-Vanasse put it in the net at 6:40. It was 5-1 for Canada. Canada was on a roll with Randy Sa’d scoring yet another goal at 15:11, on a pass from Eric Ulli-Vanasse. Canada was then leading 6 to 1.

France got a penalty with less than 3 minutes left in the period for slashing and Canada sent 6 players on the field during a delayed penalty, but was not able to add another goal, nor during their one man advantage that followed.

Before the end of the penalty, France was awarded a penalty shot that they were able to convert putting the score at 6-2. The Canadian team protested the validity of the goal as the ball clearly seemed to have been dragged back on the penalty shot, but the referees still accepted the goal. That didn’t seem to bother the Canadian team too much as a few seconds later, with less than a minute to play, Canada scored again with a goal from Patric Ducharme on a pass from Lauri Hannelius. The score at the end of the period was 7-2.

THIRD PERIOD

France started the period with a one man advantage but it didn’t stop Eric Ulli-Vanasse to score on his own rebound on a break away. France was not able to score on their power play but did a few moments later with less than 5 minutes played in the 3rd period bringing the score at 8-3. Canada replied when Patrice Paré scored, assisted by Stéphane Laporte. And Canada didn’t stop there, as a few moments later Stéphane Laporte scored; Canada was now leading 10-3.

France took a penalty with a little more than 11 minutes to go in the third and while Canada did not take advantage of their one-man advantage, they scored their 11th goal of the match a few second after the end of the penalty. The goal was made by Lauri Hannelius on a pass from Patric Ducharme at 10:56.

France changed their goaltender with less than 7 minutes to play in the game which didn’t stop Patrice Paré from the Québec line to score again with a little less than 5 minutes to play in the period bringing the score to 12-3.

France took another penalty with 4 minutes 25 seconds left to play, this one for incorrect hit and the Canadian power play line was back on the field but did not score.

Final Score: Canada 12 – France 3

Next game for Canada is tomorrow against Liechtenstein.

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:

http://www.robur.sk/floorball/schedule-sk.php

Canada - Slovakia, originally uploaded by look2.

It was on a beautiful day in Bratislava that team Canada was playing their second practice game today against the Slovakian club team champions, Hurrikan Bratislava, which included the national team goalie.

With a bit of a break in the morning, the players were able to sleep in and, for some, fight the jet lag. The team gathered for a meeting at 11:30 under a bright sunny sky and headed towards the gym for their 2 pm game.

In front of a crowd of over 100 Slovak spectators and Slovak TV our mere 3 Canadian fans were very proud of the Canadian team who played a convincing second practice game showing that they are here to compete and ready to start the championships tomorrow.

The game was played in a very nice and modern facility and the surface was a lot better to play on than the somewhat run-down gym where the practice game was played yesterday.

The team was able to win the game and overcome the many 2-on-1 and 3-on-2 thanks to good goaltending from Sam Garrison in the first 30 minutes and by Martin Bélanger in the latter part of the game as well as a stronger presence offensively and good teamwork allowing them to score many goals.

FIRST PERIOD

A bit less than 5 minutes in the game the Quebec line worked well together and with a pass from Jean-Sébastien Plante, Patrice Paré scored from the left side. Less than a minute later the Slovaks were able to equalize by squeezing in the ball around the net in the bottom corner. At 7:58, following a bad change from the Canadian team, the Slovaks scored again taking the lead 2-1, the only time they will lead the game.

The Slovak team was given a 2 minute penalty at 8:52 after one of their players pushed Eric Ulli-Vanasse in their defensive zone. Ulli-Vanasse took his revenge by scoring a few seconds before the end of the penalty, tying the game at 2-2.

Canada missed a few good opportunities to score including an open net.

SECOND PERIOD

42 seconds in the period, Patrice Paré scored again to give Canada the lead 3-2. The Quebec line scored again at 7:19 with a goal from Jean-Sébastien Plante. Canada grew their lead to 5-2 when Seppo Lattu scored on a shot from Phillip Schuler with a little more than ten minutes to go in the second period.

Canada was on a roll and Ryan Andreotti scored at 14:01 making the score 6-2.

The Slovaks crawled closer by scoring at 15:13 reducing the lead to 6-3 on a shot that got in between Bélanger’s legs.

Slovaks played more offensively in the second period putting more pressure on the Canadian team with a few good shots but were not able to reduce Canada’s 3-goal lead.

THIRD PERIOD

The coach changed up the lines between the second and the third period by splitting the Quebec players and a little over 2 minutes in the period, Patrice Paré scored again on a pass by Patric Ducharme.

At 4:31, the Slovaks attacked yet again on a 2-on-1 and added a fourth goal. That didn’t stop Patrice Paré from attacking again at 5:37 and scoring, his fourth of the game. Canada was keeping their 4-goal lead at 8-4.

Slovakia took a 2+10 penalty at 7:27 and Canada attacked with 6 players and had a few good passes on the delayed penalty, but unfortunately stopped by the Slovak defense. With a one man advantage, at 9:31, Lauri Hannelius, increased the lead; it was 9-4.

Jean-Oliver Vörös took the first and only penalty for Canada with a little more than 10 minutes to go in the third period but the Slovaks were not able to reduce the Canadian lead.

With a 9-4 lead, the Canadian coach took at tactical timeout at 16:17 and took out their goalie with less than 1 minute to go in the game.

Final score: Canada 9 – Slovakia 4

The championships start tomorrow and Canada will be playing their first game against France.

CFF Logo, originally uploaded by look2.

CAN : SVK – 4:6

Canada played an exhibition game against the Slovaks Saturday morning.
Despite the fact that Team Canada had not played together as a unit,
not even a practice, they came out strong, showing good positioning.
With the Slovaks putting up little pressure, Canada took a 4:1 lead
after the first period. Lauri Hannelius was in on all of Canada’s
offensive action with 2 goals of his own and 2 assists on goals by
Ryan Andreotti and Eric Ulli-Vanasse.

The Slovaks turned up the heat and played much more aggressively in
the second and third periods and put an end to Canada’s scoring march.
Canada coughed up the ball mid court one too many times in the third,
allowing the the Slovaks to do a quick turn around rush, scoring 4
goals to take the match 6:4.

Erik Kaill said, “we had a pretty good game, considering it was our
first outing without even practicing together before the game. I
think the result was good.”

Over the next two days, Canada will have a chance to go over tactics,
lead by head coach Johan Osterman of Sweden, and run some of his plays
in practice. The team will have to focus as two days is hardly
considered much by any teams preparation standard.

For a more complete review of todays friendly match visit
http://www.wfc2008.sk/news.php?extend.14

Canada will play the Slovakian Champs, Hurikan Bratislava, in another
friendly match tomorrow.