Ross Armour Shields Canada West to Advance to WJAC Semi’s

Canada West took down their counterparts from the East with a 4-3 overtime victory to advance to the semifinals.

Fans were confused who to cheer for, with both teams coming from the same country. Canada West, however, did get to amaze the crowd after Carter Turnbull finished off an incredible passing play around the net, confusing Canada East’s defenders for the first goal of the game.

A terrible bounce gave Canada West the 2-0 lead. Just over a minute into the second, Jarrod Gourley scored a fluke from just around centre ice when the puck bounced off the end boards and behind Jett Alexander, giving West a further advantage.

Alexander would make up for it a minute later. With East buzzing for a goal, Alexander sent the puck down the ice to Colton Kalezic, who sent the puck to Derek Dicaire for the 2-1 goal, ending Zach Rose's bid at a shutout.

Canada East got some big saves from Alexander to keep them in the game, but it would be his North York Rangers teammate Nick Campoli that would tie the game up at two. Campoli would poke the puck in a wild scramble in front of Rose, scoring on the power play at 2:31 in the third to knot up the battle.

21 seconds after that, 2018 NHL Draft prospect Jack McBain would fire one in to steal all momentum for Canada East, giving his team the 3-2 lead.

With 6:29 left in regulation, Canada West tied the game back up again. This time, Ross Armour was in a perfect spot to receive the pass in the slot and fired it past Alexander’s glove, giving Canada West a chance late in the fight.

The game required overtime, and before it was even a minute old, Canada West had won the game. Armour took advantage of a defensive collapse by Canada East in the neutral zone, stealing the puck and blasting into the zone at full speed. Armour doesn’t miss many opportunities, and his quick wrister put an end to the game and helped Canada West advance to the semifinals.

With the win, West will meet up with the Czech’s in the medal round on Thursday evening, with a chance at playing in Saturday’s gold medal game at stake. Canada East will take on the Swiss on Friday in a rematch of East’s victory over Switzerland earlier in the tournament.

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