It didn’t take Dillon Dubé long to hit the target in elite international hockey.
Playing for Team Canada at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup under-18-year-old (U18) hockey tournament in Breclav, Czech Republic, the 17-year-old Cochranite sniped a short-handed goal six minutes into the first period against the Czechs. The back-hander tied the score 1-1 in a game Canada won 3-1. The Aug. 10 tilt was the tourney-opener for both teams.
It was Dubé’s first game wearing the Maple Leaf in elite international competition.
“Obviously, we didn’t want to give up the first goal but we did,” said Team Canada U18 head coach Stan Butler following the 3-1 win over Czech Republic. “But then we got that shorthanded goal to tie it up and then found a way to get two greasy goals to win the game. (The shorthanded goal by Dubé) was a pretty nice goal and gave the whole bench a lift. He’s a big-game player and the pressure didn’t get to him at all.”
Dubé went to the Memorial Cup final as a rookie last season with the Western Hockey League-champion Kelowna Rockets.
Canada is seven-time defending champion at the U18 tournament named for late Czech hockey star Ivan Hlinka, who played two National Hockey League seasons with the Vancouver Canucks (1981-83) and with Litvinov and Team Czechoslovakia in the late 1970s. The eight-team tourney features national U18 teams from Czech Republic, Slovakia, Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland, U.S. and Switzerland. Games are being held Aug. 10-15 in Breclav, Czech Republic and Bratislava, Slovakia.
- with files from hlinkamemorial.com
