Massimo Rizzo, David Silye and Mason Snell will be back in the Penticton Vees lineup this week, but they’re bringing some hardware with them after Team Canada West won bronze at the World Junior A Hockey Challenge.
Canada West clinched the bronze with a 3-1 win over the Czech Republic on Sunday afternoon, after losing in the semifinal round to USA Saturday.
Related: Canada West loses to U.S. in semifinal
It’s the 10th medal in 13 years for West at the tournament, and second bronze – it also finished third in 2013.
Dylan Holloway (Bragg Creek, Alta./Okotoks, AJHL) scored a pair of goals and Matthew Radomsky (Winnipeg, Man./Steinbach, MJHL) made 46 saves, leading Canada West to the bronze medal at the 2018 World Junior A Challenge with a 3-1 win over the Czech Republic on Sunday afternoon.
Ethan Leyh (Port Moody, B.C./Langley, BCHL) added the game-winning goal and Layton Ahac (North Vancouver, B.C./Prince George, BCHL) chipped in with two assists for the Canadians, who were on the ice less than 15 hours after their heart-breaking overtime loss to the United States.
Despite the short turnaround, it was all West early; Holloway got it started at 1:52, banging his third chance past Czech goaltender Tomas Vomacka, and Leyh ripped home a one-timer at 7:16 to make it 2-0.
That was more than enough for Radomsky, who turned aside 33 shots through the first two periods and stopped the first 40 he faced before Michal Teply tipped in a Zack Malik shot with 6:16 remaining.
But Holloway got that back within two minutes, wiring a quick shot upstairs on Vomacka to restore the two-goal advantage and all but clinch the bronze medal.
Holloway, Leyh and Harrison Blaisdell (Abbotsford, B.C./Chilliwack, BCHL) finished as the leading scorers for the Canadians, posting five points each in six games.
Radomsky starred throughout the tournament; his 1.64 goals-against average .955 save percentage are the second-best marks in the tournament, both behind Russian netminder Yaroslav Askarov.
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Steve Kidd
Senior reporter, Penticton Western News
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