Schultz and Pue heading to U17 World Challenge semi-finals

Canada White, powered by Maddox Schultz and Liam Pue, beat Finland 5-1 on Thursday to reach the semi-finals at the U17 World Challenge in Truro, NS. (Hockey Canada file photo)

Regina Pats rookies Maddox Schultz and Liam Pue powered Canada White to a 5-1 victory over Finland on Thursday in a quarter-final contest at the U17 World Challenge in Truro, N.S.

Pue opened the scoring late in the first period with his third goal of the tournament, giving Canada White a 1-0 lead. Schultz followed up with his fourth goal of the event two minutes later with Pue drawing an assist.

Sam Roberts, Brenner Lammens and Brock Chitaroni also scored for Canada White while Luukas Kokkonen replied for Finland.

Canada White outshot Finland 50-24.

Canada White, which finished the preliminary round in second place in Group A, now advances to the semi-finals on Friday and will play the U.S., which finished first in Group B.

The second semi-final will pit Czechia, which finished first in Group A, against the winner of the Canada Red-Sweden quarter-final game. The medal games are slated for Saturday.

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Schultz and Pue, who are playing full-time this season with the Regina Pat Canadians of the Saskatchewan U18AAA Hockey League while committing to the Pats for 34 games each, are underage players for this international event. The tournament spotlights the top 2009-born players in the world and both Schultz and Pue are 2010-born players.

The tournament features two teams from Canada, Canada White and Canada Red, along with teams from Sweden, Czechia, Finland and the United States. Canada White is in Group A with Sweden and Czechia while Canada Red is in Group B with Finland and the U.S.