The Sudbury Wolves advanced to the semi-finals of the JUNIOR CLUB WORLD CUP championship in Omsk, Siberia with a convincing 7-2 victory over TEAM DENMARK.   The win was highlighted by a 4 point performance by Leafs' prospect JOSH LEIVO.  The Barrie native scored a tournament record of THREE SHORTHANDED GOALS to start the third period.   LEIVO's performance was simply "sensational!"

A number of Wolves' players also had solid performances.  Goaltender JOHN CHARTRAND recorded his first tournament win with a 28 save performance.  MATHEW CAMPAGNA recorded three assists, DEREK SCHOENMAKERS had two goals and JUSTIN SEFTON had a goal and assist -- while playing injured.

The Wolves got off to a good start in a must-win situation.   NATHAN PANCEL scored the opening goal of the game at 2:33 of the first period.  JUSTIN SEFTON then made it 2-0 at the 13:36 mark.  SCHOENMAKERS made it 3-0 before Denmark scored at the 19:12 mark to close the gap to 3-1 Sudbury heading into the second period.   Shots on goal in the first period were 11-9 in favour of the Wolves.

The Wolves were then assessed two consecutive 'five' minute major penalties to start the second period.   MICHAEL KANTOR was assessed a butt-ending penalty while MACKENZIE BRAID was assessed a major penalty for high-sticking.   The 10 minutes in power play time gave TEAM DENMARK ample opportunity to take the lead but Wolves' netminder JOHN CHARTRAND made some great stops in the penalty-killing situation.   The Wolves' penalty kill was very solid as the shots on goal in the second period were 16-7 in favour of Team Denmark.

The third period was simply the JOSH LEIVO show.   The Wolves were assessed a minor penalty at the end of the second period and had to start the period short-handed.   JOSH LEIVO scored his first short-handed goal at the 52 second mark with a great individual effort.  JEFF CORBETT was then given a holding penalty at the 9:52 mark, and amazingly, LEIVO scored twice in the short-handed situation.  TEAM DENMARK then scored on the power play at the 11:32 mark to make the score 6-2 for Sudbury.  SCHOENMAKERS then scored at the 13:42 mark to close out the scoring and seal the victory for the Wolves.

Shots on goal in the third period were 11-5 for Sudbury.  Shots overall in the game were 30-29 in favour of TEAM DENMARK. The Wolves power play went 1/6 while Team Denmark was 1/5.   JOSH LEIVO was the Wolves' game first star with MATHEW CAMPAGNA as second star and JOHN CHARTRAND as third star.

Wolves' Head Coach TRENT CULL was pleased with the win.  "I thought that we came prepared to play today and we got off to a much better start.  Josh had a great game and John Chartrand was very good.   We had three great performances by our three netminders in this tournament and that is great to see.  We did take some needless penalties and it almost cost us, so, we will have to make sure we stay in control from this point forward.   I'm pleased that we have advanced to the semis but we have a big game tomorrow against TEAM SWEDEN so we will see how we do against the top team in the tournament."

Combined with a TEAM LATVIA loss to TEAM FINLAND tonight, TEAM CANADA/WOLVES will advance to the semi-finals and will play undefeated TEAM SWEDEN on Thursday evening to determine first place in the 'B' Division.   The undefeated Swedes currently have 9 points while the Wolves have 7 points.   The winner of tomorrow's game will play the second place finisher in Division A.   The host team OMSK and TEAM USA will play tomorrow to determine the second place position in Division A. TEAM BELARUS has already clinched first place in division A and they will play the loser of tomorrow's game between Sweden and Sudbury in the semi-finals.

GAME SUMMARY

TEAM DENMARK VS TEAM CANADA/SUDBURY

1st Period

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2:33  CAN - N. PANCEL - J. LEIVO, M. KANTOR

13:36 CAN - J. SEFTON - M. CAMPAGNA, B. SILK

18:17 CAN - D. SCHOENMAKERS - J. CORBETT, M. CAMPAGNA

19:12 DEN - M. HANSEN

2nd Period

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no scoring

3rd Period

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   :52 CAN - J. LEIVO - unassisted              SHG

10:50 CAN - J. LEIVO - J. SEFTON, J. HARRIS    SHG

11:22 CAN - J. LEIVO - unassisted              SHG

11:32 DEN - S. EHLERS - M. ELLER               PPG

13:43 CAN - D. SCHOENMAKERS - M. CAMPAGNA

Shots on Goal:  Denmark 30  Sudbury 29

Power Play % :  Denmark 1/5 Sudbury 1/6