On the final day of the preliminary round all of Utah’s prospects had a game. See how each player did on New Year's Eve below!
Switzerland 3, Slovakia 2
SUI: Johnson
Switzerland wrapped up the preliminary round with a 3-2 win over Slovakia. It’s the second-straight win for the Swiss. Loris Wey, Mike Aeschlimann, and Kevin Haas scored for Switzerland while Adam Nemec and Luka Radivojevic scored for Slovakia. Switzerland finished third in Group A with six points.
Mammoth prospect Ludvig Johnson played 20:00 in the win. He assisted on Wey’s goal in the first period.
Up next for Switzerland? The quarterfinals on Jan. 2. The Swiss will face Czechia at 2:30 p.m. MT.
Czechia 4, Latvia 2
CZE: Hoch, Pšenička
Czechia finished their round robin slate of games with a 4-2 win over Latvia. Tomas Poletin, Adam Jiricek, Max Pšenička, and Vaclav Nestrasil scored for Czechia while Kristers Ansons and Markuss Sieradzkis scored for Latvia. Czechia finished second in Group B with eight points.
Pšenička played 16:36 in the win, had Czechia’s third goal of the game, and recorded three shots on goal. Stepan Hoch played 11:08 and had one shot on goal.
Czechia will face Switzerland in the quarterfinals on Jan. 2. Game time is 2:30 p.m. MT.
Canada 7, Finland 4
CAN: Beaudoin, Desnoyers, Iginla; FIN: Väisänen
After both teams traded goals throughout the first period, Canada outscored Finland 4-1 in the final two periods to pick up a 7-4 win. Brady Martin and Cole Beaudoin both scored twice for Canada while Zayne Parekh, Tij Iginla, and Sam O’Reilly added a goal each. Julius Miettinen, Oliver Suvanto, Lasse Boelius, and Roope Vesterinen all scored for Finland.
Canada finished the preliminary round as the top team in Group B with 11 points. Finland finished third in Group B with seven points.
For Canada, Beaudoin scored twice and had an assist for three points. He played 20:39, had three shots on goal, and was +3. Iginla scored in the second period and had an assist for a two-point night. He played 14:07, and had three shots on goal. Caleb Desnoyers played 13:46, had two assists, recorded two shots on goal, and was +3.
Veeti Väisänen played 19:42 in the loss. Finland will face the U.S. in the quarterfinals on Jan. 2. Game time is 4:00 p.m. MT. Canada will play Slovakia at 6:30 p.m. MT for its quarterfinal matchup.
All seven of Utah’s prospects will participate in the upcoming quarterfinals on Jan. 2.
