Once again, Hockey Canada found itself in the win-column at the Spengler Cup this week in Switzerland.
The six team tournament — which Canada is using as its last evaluation period to set its final roster before heading to the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in February — kicked off Tuesday. Canada knocked off Mountfield HK 5-3 in its opening match, and then beat HC Davos 4-1 on Thursday.
And on Saturday, Canada knocked off Mountfield HK once again, 5-2, in the semifinal match to improve to 3-0 overall in the tournament. Canada will now head to the championship match of the tournament on Sunday, where they'll take on Switzerland in an attempt to win it's third-straight Spengler Cup title.
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"We came out better than the last couple games, we had a lot more confidence," Maxim Noreau said. "The guys are catching their wind up here at the altitude. It’s been a tough transition for a lot of guys and (there’s) the big ice.
"We’ve tried not to make a lot of excuses but it’s always at the back of your mind. So I think today was a lot better."
GAME OVER! :flag-ca: is into the #SpenglerCup final for the :three:rd year in a row, beating @MountfieldHK 5-2 in the semifinals. Statistics: https://t.co/bpWVpudS5i pic.twitter.com/6fMGzu8vbh
— Team Canada Men (@HC_Men) December 30, 2017
It wasn't an easy win by any means, though. Zach Boychuk scored a late power-play goal in the third to give Canada a two-goal lead, and then Noreau added an empty netter to seal the deal.
David McIntyre, Jay McClement and Cody Goloubef recorded the other three goals for Canada.
"We expected a tight game going in," Canada coach Willie Desjardins said. "We thought that we might have an advantage on the energy level (since) they played an extra game. But they kind of surprised (us), they played hard. They’re a good team."
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Switzerland beat HC Davos 8-3 in the other semifinal game to improve to 3-0.
Hockey Canada is expected to finalize its roster Jan. 11 before the Olympics start Feb. 9.