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.

Sophie Anne Ferland