Photos from IIHF.com. Used without permission.If Dany Heatley is always going to play this well for Team Canada, maybe the Senators should drop the colours black and gold from their uniforms and just run with red and white.
After four points in his first game against Slovenia, Heater kept his pace with another four against Latvia on Sunday, May 4, and then added another two--both goals--against the United States on Tuesday, May 6. He continues to lead the tournament with 10 points in three games, featuring six goals including two game winners and four assists.
It can't hurt to be playing alongside Rick Nash and Ryan Getzlaf, though. I wonder if we could lure either of those guys from their respective teams... I doubt it. Jason Spezza got his first point in the tournament with an assist on Martin St. Louis' goal against Latvia.
With the three wins, Canada has clinched first place in Pool B and will play whoever finishes second in Pool C, which features Finland, Slovakia, Germany, and Norway. If my math is correct, Canada will be playing Slovakia is the Slovaks beat the undefeated Fins tomorrow, but if Finland wins then Canada would be playing Germany.
Heatley (CAN): 3GP, 6G, 4A, 10P, 13 SOG, 4 PIM, +7, 14:54 AVG TOI
Spezza (CAN): 3GP, 0G, 1A, 1P, 2 SOG, 0 PIM, +3, 12:15 AVG TOI
Speaking of the Germans, they would win the head-to-head tie-breaker thanks to a 4-2 victory over Slovakia on Monday, May 5. Christoph Schubert--who, for the record, is playing defence in the tournament--finished the game with an assist and four shots on goal in 20:18 in ice time. He finished even on the night because his assist came on a powerplay.
Schubert (DEU): 2GP, 0G, 1A, 1P, 6 SOG, 0 PIM, -1, 21:23 AVG TOI
Then comes Martin Gerber, who improved his tournament record to 2-0 with a 2-1 victory for Switzerland over Belarus. He stopped 22 of 23 shots on net, surrendering a goal to only Konstantin Koltsov of the Belarussians. His goals-against average and save percentage are right up there with the tournament leaders, and given his knack for stepping it up in the Suisse jersey (we all remember when he shut Canada out in the 2006 Olympics), he gives another reason for the Sens to switch the uniforms to red and white. And he's even got an assist, which puts him among the 10 Swiss players who've recorded at least one point.
Gerber (SUI): 2-0, 1A, 2GA, .959 SV%, 1.00 GAA
Finally is Sens prospect Kaspars Daugavins, whose Latvian squad stayed away from a relegation playoff by beating Slovenia on Tuesday, May 6. Snoop Dauggy-Daugg hasn't done much in the way of offense for his team, with no points through three games, but he's probably just waiting until the time is right. Wait and see. Also in Daugavins' favour are the wicked-awesome Latvian uniforms, whose simplicity really goes to show that you don't need crazy designs to make nice jerseys (I'm talking to you, RBK designers. And you, Buffalo Sabres designers).Daugavins (LAT): 3GP, 0G, 0A, 0P, 5 SOG, 0 PIM, -1, 12:45 AVG TOI
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