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Canada, fifth time World Champion!
Sunday, May 2, 2010
 “Canada! Canada! Canada!” chanted the electrifying crowd gathered at the Saint-Michel arena on Sunday afternoon for the SUPER FINAL of the Amputee Hockey World Championship, closing event of the 27th Défi sportif. The Canadians pleased their partisans, making short work of their Finnish opponents by a score of 11-2, to earn their fifth world title in a row.
From the ceremonial drop of the puck and the singing of the national anthem by Marie-Ève Côté, of Star Académie IV fame, the thousand or so spectators transported the local players.
“Wow! It makes a whole lot of difference to be at home”, admitted Terrebonne’s Julien Bélanger, who scored three goals and had two assists in the victory. “We were at home. We won a good game. It was really super”, added the forward who could count on the support of family and friends at the rink and of his significant other via webcasting. She and he are the parents of little Olivia, only three days old.
Slade Doyle (Brandon, Manitoba), Francis Pépin (Rouyn-Noranda), Sylvain Coste, Scott Stafford (2 goals – St-Thomas, Ontario), Jacob Vader (St-Thomas, Ontario), Kory Lorentz (2 goals – St-Clements, Ontario) also contributed to the Canadian victory.
“It’s incredible to win here”, commented Jamie McGuire, the coach. If the Canadian team can count on many veterans who were present for the other four world titles, for some other players, it was a first conquest. “There are six or seven players who were participating in their first World Championship. It really is a fantastic experience for them.”
In a class of their own
The first game between the two teams in the preliminary round certainly was not foretelling of such a Canadian domination in the SUPER FINAL. That first match-up had ended with a tight score of 6-5 in favour of Canada who even lagged behind at one point. “I believe that the players were very emotional in the first game, so I tried to keep them calm for the final. They were less nervous, they played their game and it worked well”, the coach explained.
“We arrived totally ready. Our lines were prepared and we had worked hard all week during the workouts and today, it showed, we never gave up”, maintained Julien Bélanger. “We wanted to put on a lot of pressure in their zone, because we knew that the defence was their weak point. That’s how we got our goals.”
Facing Finland in the Championship final is good for the future, according to Bélanger. “It shows that it’s not only a Canada/US domination. It is really good for our sport”, concluded the player who hopes to see a North-American league next year.
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