Canada Red defeated Canada White 6-3 on Saturday in the championship final of the U17 World Challenge in Truro, NS. Maddox Schultz and Liam Pue, two rookies with the Western Hockey League’s Regina Pats, were members of Canada White with Schultz serving as team captain. Canada Red, which outshot Canada White 44-41, had period leads of 3-1 and 4-2 en route to the victory. Schultz scored on a penalty shot in the third period to finish the event with nine points on six goals and three assists. Pue had eight points in the tournament, collecting four goals and four assists. Schultz was also named a tournament all-star, along with forwards Alexis Joseph (Canada Red) and Brayden Willis (United States), defencemen Brock Cripps (Canada Red) and Diego Gutierrez (U.S.) and goalie Leif Oaten (U.S.) In the third-place game Saturday, the U.S. defeated Czechia 3-1. 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 spotlighted the top 2009-born players in the world and both Schultz and Pue are 2010-born players. The tournament featured two teams from Canada, Canada White and Canada Red, along with teams from Sweden, Czechia, Finland and the United States.
