A handful of British Columbia Hockey league stars led the way for Team Canada West on Tuesday, helping their team clinch second place in Group A at the 2009 World Junior A Challenge with a decisive 6-3 victory over Sweden in their final preliminary round game.
Connor Jones picked up three assists on the afternoon, twice setting up Chris Kunyk while also helping out on a goal by brother Kellen. Powell River Kings captain Mat Bodie, who is also wearing the 'C' with Canada West, made an impact from the blueline, scoring an unassisted shorthanded goal to cap a two-point game. Penticton Vees defenceman Joey Laleggia picked up helpers on two Canada West goals, while Cowichan Valley's Curtis Gedig scored the game winner with less than a minute remaining in the second period.
Vees netminder Sean Bonar started his second consecutive game in goal for Canada West, and held his team in the game despite being outshot 15-4 in the third period. Bonar finished the game with 33 saves for his first WJAC victory.
The Canadians needed just 12 seconds to score a pair of goals with the man advantage – setting a WJAC (twice) by scoring just six seconds into a power play. The victory puts Canada West (1-0-0-1) into a Thursday quarter-final (3:30 PM Pacific), where they will take on the loser of Tuesday night's game between the United States and Belarus.
Click HERE to view the complete boxscore from Tuesday's game between Team Canada West and Sweden.
