GRANADA, Spain (CIS) – Six different players scored and Ryan Holfeld recorded a 10-save shutout as Team Canada improved to 2-0 at the 2015 Winter Universiade with a dominant 7-0 performance over Sweden Thursday.

Added to Tuesday’s tournament-opening 11-1 win over South Korea, the victory means Canada sits tied with Russia atop the Group B standings at the biennial competition in Andalusia. The Red and White clinched a quarter-final berth with the win, but first they’ll face Russia Saturday in their final round robin game with top spot in Pool B on the line (5 p.m. local / 11 a.m. EST, live on www.fisu.tv).

Jordan Hickmott (Mission, B.C.) scored twice and added an assist to lead the Canadian squad, made up of all-stars from the Canada West conference, at the Granada Sports Palace.

“I thought our puck movement was better today,” said Canadian head coach Dave Adolph, “and I think more people were firing on all cylinders as well. As a result our speed and our team game was better today.”

UBC defenceman Neil Manning (Nanaimo, B.C.), captain Kruise Reddick (Manor, Sask.) from Alberta, and Calgary Dinos standout Chris Collins (Calgary, Alta.) each tallied in the first period, and all three of them were pretty. Manning’s goal came just as a Canadian power play expired as he wired a shot from the left point over Swedish netminder Emil Helin at the 10:03 mark. Just 1:01 later, Collins threaded a pass to Reddick in the slot, and the Canadian captain made a nice move to the stick side to put Canada up by two.

Then, with just over three to play in the period, Collins wired a wrist shot from the circle up high, beating Helin on the blocker side to make it 3-0.

Calgary’s Elgin Pearce (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) recorded the only goal of the second period, while Hickmott added his pair in the third with a tally by T.J. Foster (Slave Lake, Alta.) sandwiched in between. Foster added two assists on the day, giving him six points in two games and the tournament scoring lead.

"I'm feeling pretty good,” said the second-year forward. “Playing on the big ice helps, because it really suits my game, but I'm also just trying to have fun out there and really take in the experience of representing my country, and playing with that sweater.”

University of Saskatchewan goaltender Holfeld (Leroy, Sask.) wasn’t busy in the Canadian net, needing to make only 10 saves in the contest for the shutout. Canada outshot Sweden 59-10 in the contest.

Canada finished the game 1-for-5 on the power play, while the Swedes went 0-for-4.

Canada and Russia, widely considered among the favourites in the tournament, will face off Saturday night for top spot in Pool B and, likely, the top seed in the medal round. Canada defeated Russia 2-1 in the 2013 semi-final in Trentino, Italy, en route to a gold medal victory.

Foster says the team has been focused on improving each game, despite the lopsided scores.

"The coaching staff is on us to make sure we stick to good habits,” he said. “When you win like we have, it can be easy to cheat a little bit, or maybe try things you normally wouldn't, but the coaches have been doing a good job keeping us focused on getting better and playing the right way.

“With all the history between Canada and Russia, we're all excited for that game. I'm sure they are too, but it's a big game, and we're going to prepare tonight and tomorrow for it so that we're ready to go.”

“I don't know what to expect,” said Adolph of facing the Russians. “Watching them play today against the Koreans, and the hair on the back of my neck was standing up because they're so good. They're big, heavy, old, and experienced, but I really don't have any comparison for us. I can tell you that the Russians haven't smiled at me or said hello in any of our encounters at the rink, or at the food line at the hotel. It's going to be a good one.”

NOTES: It was only the second Canada-Sweden contest in Universiade history and the first in nearly 50 years, following a 1968 game that ended in a 3-3 tie in Canada’s first-ever appearance at the FISU Winter Games... Sweden is playing in just its fourth Universiade tournament and finished 10th in 2013... In 14 previous appearances at the FISU tourney, Canada has reached the podium 13 times, including four gold medals, three silver and six bronze... Its four triumphs came in 2013 and 2007, when represented by AUS standouts, in 1991 (senior national team) and 1981 (Alberta Golden Bears).

Team Canada website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/universiade/winter/2015/index                   
Granada 2015 website: http://www.granada2015.org/en/ 
                                                                                                                                   
TEAM CANADA SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times local / 6 hours ahead of EST)

Tuesday, Feb. 3 (17:00): Canada 11, South Korea 1
Thursday, Feb. 5 (17:00): Canada 7, Sweden 0
Saturday, Feb. 7 (17:00): Canada vs. Russia (www.fisu.tv)
Wednesday, Feb. 11 (TBD): Quarterfinals (www.fisu.tv)
Friday, Feb. 13 (TBD): Semi-finals (www.fisu.tv)
Saturday, Feb. 14 (12:00): Bronze (www.fisu.tv)
Saturday, Feb. 14 (16:00): Final (www.fisu.tv)

SCORING SUMMARY

Official boxscore

Canada 7, Sweden 0

FIRST PERIOD

SCORING:

1. CAN Neil Manning (1) (Mitchell Maxwell, Jordan DePape), 10:03
2. CAN Kruise Reddick (1) (Chris Collins, Luke Paulsen), 11:04
3. CAN Chris Collins (2) (Levko Koper), 16:51

PENALTIES:

Victor Bjork Lindstrom (SWE) holding, 1:25;
Stefan Bergqvist (SWE) high-sticking, 8:02
Team (CAN) too many men (served by Elgin Pearce), 9:55
Daniel Andersson (SWE) tripping, 11:35

SECOND PERIOD

SCORING:

4. CAN Elgin Pearce (2) (Mitchell Maxwell, Cody Fowlie), 17:54

PENALTIES:

Erik Lyrvall (SWE) holding, 0:42;
Cody Fowlie (CAN) slashing, 4:57;
Kevin King (CAN) slashing, 6:42;
Matthew Delahey (CAN) hooking, 12:30.

THIRD PERIOD

SCORING:

5. CAN Jordan Hickmott (2) (Kevin King, T.J. Foster), 11:05
6. CAN T.J. Foster (1) (Luke Paulsen, Jordan Hickmott), 14:40
7. CAN Jordan Hickmott (3) (T.J. Foster, Kevin King), 19:12 PP

PENALTIES:

Emil Helin (SWE), tripping, 17:13.

GOALS (by period)
CAN: 3-1-3: 7
SWE: 0-0-0: 0

SHOTS ON GOAL (by period)
CAN: 23-13-23: 59
SWE: 3-5-2: 10

POWER PLAY:
CAN: 1-5
SWE: 0-4

GOALTENDERS
CAN – Ryan Holfeld (W, 2-0, 10 shots, 10 saves, 0 GA, 60:00)
SWE – Emil Helin (L, 0-1, 59 shots, 52 saves, 7 GA, 60:00)

REFEREE: Iurii Oskirko (RUS)

LINESMEN: Gjermund Lorentsen Bakli (NOR), Chris van Grinsven (BEL)

ATTENDANCE: 850

START: 17:00
END: 19:11
LENGTH: 2:11

POOL STANDINGS

Pool A

                      GP         W        OTW    OTL         L         GF       GA       PTS

1. ESP              1          1          0          0          0          8          0          3

2. CZE             1          1          0          0          0          6          3          3

3. SVK             1          0          0          0          1          3          6          0

4. CHN            1          0          0          0          1          0          8          0

Pool B

1. CAN             2          2          0          0          0          18        1          6

1. RUS             2          2          0          0          0          18        1          6

3. SWE            2          0          0          0          2          1          12        0

4. KOR            2          0          0          0          2          1          24        0

Pool C (USA vs. JPN starts at 8:30 pm local on Thursday)

1. KAZ             1          1          0          0          0          3          2          3

2. USA             0          0          0          0          0          0          0          0

3. JPN              1          0          0          0          1          2          3          0

Scoring system:
3 points for a win in regulation
2 points for a win in overtime or shootout
1 point for a loss in overtime or shootout

Legend: W (win), OTW (OT win), OTL (OT loss), L (loss)

About the Winter Universiade

The Winter Universiade is a biennial international multi-sport event open to competitors who are at least 17 and less than 28 years of age as of January 1 in the year of the Games. Participants must be full-time students at a post-secondary institution (university, college, CEGEP) or have graduated from a post-secondary institution in the year preceding the event.

The Granada Universiade will feature nine compulsory sports and one optional sport. Compulsory sports: alpine skiing, biathlon, ice hockey, curling, nordic skiing, short track speed skating, figure skating, synchronized skating, snowboarding. Optional sport: freestyle skiing.

NOTE: Biathlon and nordic skiing will take place in Strbske Pleso and Osrblie, Slovakia from Jan. 24 to Feb. 1, prior to the start of the Games in Granada.

Official website: www.granada2015.org

About Canadian Interuniversity Sport

Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Every year, over 11,500 student-athletes and 700 coaches from 56 universities and four regional associations vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca or follow us on:

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