U.S. Junior Select Team Bests Canada East in World Junior A Challenge Pre-Tournament Game

By USA Hockey, 12/09/22, 10:15PM EST

U.S. opens preliminary play against Canada West Sunday

U.S. Junior Select Team best Canada in 2022 World Junior A Challenge pre-tournament game.

CORNWALL, Ontario – Garrett Schifsky (Andover, Minn.) had two goals and an assist to help the U.S. Junior Select Team defeat Canada East 6-1 in a pre-tournament game ahead of the World Junior A Challenge on Friday night at the Cornwall Civic Complex.

“I thought it was a very good start for us,” said U.S. Junior Select Team Head Coach Eric Rud (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.). “We had a lot of puck possession and spent a lot of time in the offensive zone. In the third, we started wearing them down a bit. It was a great pre-tournament game for us because we got to see a lot of different situations. There's a lot of things we'll be able to pull off the video and learn from with this group.”

Cole Knuble (Grand Rapids, Mich.) opened the scoring just over one minute into the game, with Garrett Brown (San Jose, Calif.) and Ryan St. Louis (Burlington, Vt.) picking up assists on the play.

Schifsky added another to the U.S. tally with a power-play goal at the 3:59 mark in the second. Alex Bump (Prior Lake, Minn.) and Sam Rinzel (Chanhassen, Minn.) each earned assists.

Schifsky scored his second of the night on the power play, with Bump and Rinzel picking up assists just 2:52 into the third.

Tanner Ludtke (Elko, Minn.) increased Team USA’s lead to 4-0 with a shorthanded goal midway through the third. Andrew Strathmann (Beach Park, Ill.) earned the assist.

Shortly after, Canada East headed to the power play and scored its first of the night.

Joe Palodichuk (Cottage Grove, Minn.) scored at 15:34 to give the U.S. a 5-1 lead and Quinn Finley (Suamico, Wis.) collected an assist.

Finley scored the game’s final goal just under a minute later to bring the final tally to 6-1. Schifsky was credited with the assist.

Christian Manz (Blaine, Minn.) and Jacob Fowler (Melbourne, Fla.) split time in net, with Manz making eight saves and Fowler making 16.

The U.S. opens preliminary round play in the World Junior A Challenge Sunday (Dec. 11) against Canada West at 5 p.m. ET. The game will be streamed live, and a link will be available here approximately 30 minutes prior to puck drop.

NOTES: Team USA outshot Canada East 46-25 … Team USA was 2-4 on the power play, while Canada East was 1-3.