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North Bay Battalion

Gold Gives Butler an Hlinka Twinkle

August 17, 2015 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


NORTH BAY, Ont. - Stan Butler had a golden glow on his return to the Gateway City after coaching Canada to a victory in the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament.

Canada, with a roster that included North Bay Battalion forward Zach Poirier, defeated Sweden 7-3 Saturday night in the championship game at Breclav, Czech Republic. It was Canada's eighth consecutive title and its 20th in 25 tournaments since the inaugural event in 1991.

"It went exactly the way we wanted - we won the gold medal," Butler, director of hockey operations and head coach of the Ontario Hockey League's Battalion, said Monday.

"That's what we went there for. In a short-term competition, you've got to get better every day, and that's what we did. We played our best game in the last game, which was important."

In group play, Canada defeated the Czech Republic 3-1, Sweden 2-0 and Switzerland 9-2 before advancing to the final with a 2-1 semifinal victory via shootout over Russia.

The final saw the Canadians take a 5-0 lead with less than a minute gone in the second period and lead 6-1 after 40 minutes. Brett Howden was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for spearing early in the third period, a call that Butler suggested resulted from fakery.

"We played Sweden early in the tournament, and it was really a 1-0 game and we got an empty-net goal with 30 seconds to go, shorthanded. In this game it was 6-1 after two, and there was kind of a questionable five-minute penalty early in the third where they scored two goals. Other than that, I thought we dominated the game pretty good."

Poirier, who earned one assist in five games, was among six OHLers on the 22-man Canadian roster, including goaltender Dylan Wells of the Peterborough Petes, who got the call in both the semifinal and final.

"It's great for Zach," said Butler. "He was our 13th forward. He played about three shifts a period.

"He was in a tough position, but he handled it well and did a good job when we ran into injuries in a couple of games and he played on our top line with Nolan Patrick and Tyler Benson. He did a really, really good job with that. Then when Howden got kicked out, we shuffled our lines.

"He was in a tough spot, but he was playing with the best players in Canada, and to make that team in itself was an accomplishment."

Poirier, a Mountain, Ont., resident who turned 17 on May 12, had eight goals and three assists for 11 points in 60 games with the Battalion as a rookie last season playing centre and right wing. He added one goal and one assist for two points in 15 playoff games.

North Bay's first-round pick in the 2014 OHL Priority Selection from the Upper Canada Cyclones minor midgets, he played last November for Canada Black in the World Under-17 Challenge, at Sarnia and nearby Lambton Shores, leading the team with three goals in five games. Canada also iced Red and White squads in the eight-team tourney.

"The good thing for these kids is that none of them got a medal at the World Under-17 Challenge," noted Butler. "They were five, six and seven, so for them to come together as a group - and people would say probably our top defenceman, Jakob Chychrun, didn't play - it's a credit to these guys and how well they played."

The Sarnia Sting's Chychrun has been sidelined by injury, but coach Derian Hatcher said Friday at OHL meetings at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., that the rearguard should be ready for training camp.

Butler's assistants with the Canadian team were Shaun Clouston of the Western Hockey League's Medicine Hat Tigers and Darren Rumble of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's Moncton Wildcats.

Butler won Ivan Hlinka gold for the second time, having led Canada to the title in 1999. He also served as an assistant coach with Canada's World Junior Championship, or under-20, entry in 1999 before holding the head coaching job in 2001 and 2002.

Defenceman Cam Dineen, a Toms River, N.J., product who'll join the Troops for the 2015-16 season, played for the United States at the world under-18 tournament. Group play at Bratislava, Slovakia, saw the U.S. beaten 5-1 by Finland and 5-2 by Russia before a 7-3 victory over Slovakia. The Americans downed the Czechs 4-3 in the fifth-place game at Breclav.

"I think he'll be a good player for us here, and the experience he got in that tournament will help as well," Butler said of Dineen, an 11th-round pick in the 2014 OHL Priority Selection from the New Jersey Rockets midgets.

"He played on their power play and did very well."

Russia defeated Finland 4-3 for the bronze medal.

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