DU Recruit Wins Under-17 Challenge Tourney

(above) DU recruit Zac Larraza picked up a Gold Medal on Monday night in Canada at the World Under 17-Challenge

The U.S. National Under-17 Team as it defeated Canada-Ontario, 2-1, to capture the gold medal at the 2010 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge here tonight at a jam-packed McIntyre Arena. One of the members of the team is DU recruit Zac Larraza from Scotsdale, Arizona.

"I couldn't be happier for the 22 players in the room," said Ron Rolston, head coach of Team USA. "They went through a lot of adversity to not only win the tournament, but to win every game. This might be one of the toughest international events to win and the players competed hard throughout. I think this is the strongest field I've seen in the three years I've coached at this tournament, so it shows the heart and character of our players."

2010 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge

Dec. 29, 2009 - Jan. 4, 2010 • Timmins, Ont.

DateOpponentLocationTime (EST)/Result
Dec. 28Canada-Quebec (Exh.)KapuskasingW, 6-3
Dec. 29Canada-AtlanticTimminsW, 7-0
Dec. 30Czech RepublicNew LiskeardW, 3-2
Dec. 31RussiaIroquois FallsW, 7-4
Jan. 2Canada-PacificKirkland LakeW, 2-1
Jan. 3Sweden
Semi-Final
Iroquois FallsW, 6-5 OT

1 comment:

puck swami said...

Nice victory for Team USA, but it's tempered by the fact the Canada spreads its U17 talent onto multiple teams from different regions (I can see why they do it with so many players to evaluate).
Our boys got quite a playing tour of the small Northern Ontario mining towns that were once one of the the backbone of Canadian Hockey. Former DU coach Ralph Backstrom was from Kirkland Lake, which was one of Team USA's game sites.

If you want to see and feel the soul of North American hockey, see it played in small town in Canada or Northern Minnesota.