Canada finishes fourth, U.S. wins gold in men’s Youth Olympic hockey

By JAMES TUBB on February 1, 2024.

jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb

Medicine Hat Tigers fans had a reason to tune into men’s hockey at the Youth Winter Olympics.

Team Canada, with Tigers prospects Markus and Liam Ruck, finished in fourth place after a 5-4 shootout loss to Finland on Tuesday night at the games hosted in Gangwon, South Korea.

Canada opened the tournament with an 8-0 win over Korea on Saturday, following it up with a 4-1 victory over Finland. They lost to the United States 6-5 in a shootout Tuesday morning before falling in the bronze medal game later that day.

In four tournament games for Canada, Markus had three assists. Liam had a hat trick in Canada’s 8-0 win over Korea on Saturday but suffered an injury late in Monday’s game and missed Canada’s remaining two games.

Tigers’ 2023 U.S. draft pick Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll had a goal in the United States’ win over Canada in the semifinals.

The U.S. beat Slovakia 5-4 in a shootout to open their tournament Friday, following up with a 6-5 shootout win over Czechia on Sunday. After beating Canada, they shut out Czechia 4-0 Wednesday to win gold.

Head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins says it’s a honour for the players to be selected to the teams and enjoy the Olympic experience.

“It’s the best in the U.S., the best in Canada,” Desjardins said. “For the two Rucks, Liam had a hat trick in the first game which is good to see … that was a good tournament for them just to see that calibre. For Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll on the other side, it’s great for them to get a victory, he got a big goal in the Canadian game. It’s such a great event to represent your country, so congratulations to all those guys.”

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