Things are 3-0 for Canada
The Canadian men’s hockey team, which includes Saskatoon goaltender Darcy Kuemper and Saskatoon-born forward Brandon Hagel, sit 3-0 after they dominated France 10-2 in another preliminary game.
The first period featured quick play, with Canada getting on the scoreboard eight minutes and forty-one seconds in thanks to Tom Wilson. The lead was short lived as thirteen seconds later France’s Floran Douay found the back of Canada’s net bringing things to 1-1, only for Devon Toews to score again for Canada 39 seconds later to make it 2-1.
The opening period wrapped with Canada holding a 3-1 lead after Mark Stone made a shorthanded goal with four seconds left on the clock.
Scoring took a little longer in the second period, with Canada making their first goal twelve minutes and ten seconds in on a power play thanks to Cale Makar. Just over five minutes later, Macklin Celebrini added another single with a penalty shot and was followed by Sidney Crosby scoring not even twenty seconds later, leaving Canada 6-1 over France.
In response to the red and white’s performance in the second period, France made a change in net for the final period, which did nothing to stop Connor McDavid from scoring twenty seconds in.
At 1:28, Sacha Treille notched the second goal for France in which Canada’s Bo Horvat responded by scoring four minutes after bringing the score 8-2.
Hagel followed suit five and a half minutes later, in addition to the final goal claimed by Canada’s Celebrini on a power play.
Canadian goaltender Jordan Binnington stopped 12 of 14 shots made in the game. Meanwhile, France starter Julian Junca made 27 saves on 33 shots before he was swapped out for Antoine Keller who blocked 9 of 13 shots.
Canada will now advance to quarterfinals on Feb. 18 at 9:40 a.m. SK time, with their opponents yet to be announced.
Pletz finishes 53rd
Logan Pletz, who hails from Regina, finished 53rd with a time of thirty-seven minutes and 28.0 seconds in the men’s biathlon 12-kilometre pursuit.
He had five shooting penalties and finished six minutes and 16.1 seconds behind the first-place finisher.
Pletz’s next potential event would be the men’s 4×7.5-km relay event on Feb. 17 at 7:30 a.m. SK time. Team Canada has yet to announce who will be racing in the event.
McMorris qualifies for final
After the men’s snowboard slopestyle event was rescheduled due to adverse weather expected on Monday in Italy, Regina’s Mark McMorris got his first taste of Olympic action, which saw him finish third overall in the qualification rounds.
McMorris finished with 81.81 points in the first run and 78.58 points in his second, which secured his spot in finals on Feb. 18, at 5:30 a.m. SK time.
Team Canada comes back
The Canadian men’s curling team, including Regina’s Ben Hebert, brought the heat and defeated China 6-3.
Things started slow, with the first two ends coming up blank, before Canada secured back-to-back singles in the third and fourth.
China evened the score 2-2 by using the hammer to add a double at the halfway point.
From there, Canda added a double in the sixth before a blank seventh end.
Team Canada brought things to 6-2 in the eighth after they stole a double.
China picked up a single point in the ninth end, but then conceded the game to Canada.
Upcoming Saskatchewan competition
Day Ten of the Games will feature two Saskatchewan athletes returning to the ice.
Saskatoon’s Emily Clark will be back at the rink with the Canadian women’s hockey team for their semifinal match against Switzerland at 2:10 p.m. SK time.
Meanwhile, the Canadian men’s curling team, including Regina’s Ben Hebert, is set to face the Czech Republic at 7:05 a.m. SK time.
Olympic Notes: Canada strikes gold on Day Nine, with Mikaël Kingsbury securing the country’s first gold medal of Milano Cortina in the men’s dual moguls, as well as the first Olympic title in the new event. Canada’s medal count: 9 (1 Gold, 3 Silver, 5 Bronze).
Read the full day’s recap at Olympic.ca