U-17 World Hockey Challenge Roundup: Cole Eiserman steals the show
Cole Eiserman dominates in big USA win
The United States scored the biggest blowout victory of the U-17 World Challenge, beating Czechia 7-1.
It was the Cole Eiserman show in the first period. At 7:09, he took Cole Hutson’s chip pass and fired it past Czech goaltender Jakub Milota for the 1-0 goal. At 11:03 on the power play, Eiserman used the extra space from a feed from James Hagens and made no mistake on the shot, giving USA the 2-0 lead heading into the first break.
Eiserman wasted no time scoring his third of the night. Less than a minute into the second, he jammed in a scoring chance from in close, extending USA’s advantage. It was the lone goal in the second, but Eiserman added another in the third period for his fourth goal. Kristian Epperson scored a pair himself to make it a 6-0 game.
Adam Jecho scored for Czechia to end Jack Parsons’ shutout, but Christian Humphreys tipped Lucas Van Vilet’s shot with three minutes to go to close things out.
Finland tops Canada Black with 5-1 victory
A strong second period helped give Finland a 5-1 victory over Canada Black on Friday.
It was Finland’s first tournament win after losing 5-3 to USA on Thursday. Both teams are now at 1-1 after Canada Black edged out Canada Red in a tight affair to open the tournament.
After a tough start against the Americans on Thursday, the Finns struck first on Friday. Julius Miettinen scored the period’s lone goal, banging in a rebound from a Joonas Paqvalin shot to make it 1-0.
An issue to the ice resulted in a delay to kick off the second period. When the game finally got back underway 30 minutes later, Macklin Celebrini scored a between-the-legs goal just 47 seconds into the second to tie the game up. Heikki Ruohonen answered back at 29:43 off of an Emil Hemming feed, only for Hemming to score one of his own with 36 seconds left in the middle stanza to make it 3-1. Canada Black had nothing for the Finns in the third, with Roope Vesterinen scoring a pair to make it 5-1.
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Three Stars
- Cole Eiserman, F (USA): After a three-star appearance on Thursday, Eiserman, one of the top 2024 prospects, followed it up with two goals in the first period. He finished with four goals, marking one of the best performances in tournament history.
- James Hagens, F (USA): Every star needs a good teammate, and Hagens’ three-assist performance helped make the difference.
- Emil Hemming, F (FIN): Hemming’s late second-period surge helped set the tone in a big victory for the Finns.