Former Northwest Giants major midget defenceman Dante Fabbro helped Canada win its eighth straight gold at the unofficial under-18 summer world hockey championships.
Fabbro, who currently plays for the B.C. Hockey League Penticton Vees, was one of just two junior A players named to Canada’s national u-18 that shared the gold medal following a 7-3 win over Sweden at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup in Breclav, Czech Republic on Saturday.
Pierre-Luc Dubois of Rimouski, Que. scored the first two of four first-period goals to lead the Canadians. Canada led 5-0 midway through the middle period on a goal by Tanner Kaspick of Brandon, Man. before Sweden was able finally figure out Canadian keeper Dylan Wells of St. Catharines, Ont., who posted an earlier 2-0 shutout over the Swedes in pool play.
Dubois and Vancouver Giants Tyler Benson led Canada with six points apiece at the tournament.
The gold medal was Canada’s 11th in the past 12 seasons since 2004.
Canada got by Russia in the semifinals 2-1 in a tight contest on Friday that came down to penalty shots.
Nolan Patrick of Winnipeg tallied the shootout winner for Canada on the opening shot.
Russian keeper Valdislav Sukhachev was outstanding in goal, registering a .979 save percentage, while stopping all but one of Canada’s 47 shots on goal in regulation time and one period of scoreless overtime.
Canada topped Pool A with wins over Switzerland, a previous 2-0 shutout win over Sweden and the host Czech Republic. The Canadians outshot their combined opponents 209-88 in five games.
