Five Ridge Meadows Minor Ball Hockey Association players won a world championship on Canada Day in the Czech Republic.
Defenceman Mitchell Shelton, forward Cole Moffatt, defenceman Eddie Riddell, goalie Evan Jonson, and defender Tyler Slavin, led by coach Dave Weloy were wearing the Maple Leaf in Zlin, Czech Republic at the U16 World Championships with Junior Team Canada.
They won the championship game over Slovakia 3-1 on Sunday.
Shelton had three goals and three assists in the five games, while Moffatt had two goals and an assist, Riddell three assist and Slavin a goal and an assist. Jonson played two games between the pipes, posting a 90.48 save percentage.
The Canadian kids blew away the opposition in the early going, with a 7-0 win over USA Blue on Thursday, an 8-1 win over Switzerland on Friday and an 11-1 laugher against Poland on Friday.
Then they beat the host Czech team 7-6, and Slovakia 3-1 in a close final.
In the championship game, the play of both teams was quite careful in the early minutes, and the Slovak goalie thwarted their scoring chances.
Slovakia scored first in the second period, and then Team Canada woke up. Late in the second, they scored two goals within 90 seconds and took the lead. In the third period the Slovaks had to score to keep their hopes of winning alive, but their offensive effort kept crashing into the well-organized Canadian defence. With 36 seconds left, the Slovaks took a timeout and pulled their goalie. But the Canadians stayed tight and finally, they scored an empty-netter two seconds before the end.
