Moose Jaw Minor Hockey product Caelan Fitzpatrick will be playing for a medal at the World Junior A Hockey Challenge, but it won’t quite be the colour he and his Canada West teammates were hoping for.
Canada West dropped a 4-1 decision to Canada East in the semifinal at the tournament in Cornwall, Ont. and as a result will face the loser of Sweden and the United States on Sunday in the third-place game.
The five-team event featured the top Junior A players from western and eastern Canada taking on teams from the U.S., Sweden and Latvia over the last week.
Fitzpatrick, 19, suited up for the Estevan Bruins during their run to the SJHL title last season, scoring 28 goals and 48 points in the process. The former Prairie Hockey Academy and Winmar Warriors standout was traded to the Centennial Cup champion Brooks Bandits in the off-season and has 12 goals and 30 points in 31 games for the AJHL-leading crew so far this campaign.
It was a solid showing for Fitzpatrick and Canada West leading up to the semifinal after putting together a 3-1-0 round-robin record to finish in first place heading into the playoffs.
Canada West opened the tournament with a huge win, scoring twice in the third period to take a 5-3 victory over the U.S on Dec. 11.
Another late-game surge proved to be the difference against Canada East in their round robin meeting on Dec. 12, with three unanswered goals in the final frame the difference in a 6-3 West win.
Fitzpatrick scored his first goal of the tournament in that contest, with his empty-netter with 45 seconds to play salting away the victory.
There were no such dramatics in Canada West’s next game against Latvia on Dec. 14. A four-goal first period was followed by another five markers in the second, and Canada would go on to a 10-0 win, holding Latvia -- who will be playing in the World Junior Championship in a few weeks time -- to only six shots in the process.
Fitzpatrick scored Canada’s fourth goal with 4:38 remaining in the first, with AJHL Drumheller’s Ty Daneault and AJHL Bonneyville’s Matteo Giampa drawing assists. Fitzpatrick then scored his third marker of the tournament unassisted 3:38 into the second.
Canada West closed out their round robin with a 5-3 loss to Sweden on Thursday, with Fitzpatrick held off the scoresheet.
Canada West goes for bronze at 12 p.m. Moose Jaw time Sunday, with the gold medal game at 4 p.m.
You can follow along with all the action at www.hockeycanada.ca.
