Eurolanche

WJC: Timmins, Makar make int'l debuts

For hockey fans, the winter holidays are not only about Christmas and New Year’s, as it’s the time they can see the best hockey prospects in action at the big international stage. The 2018 World Junior Championship held in Buffalo kicked off yesterday with four games of the group stage. Joining in on the action were two Colorado Avalanche prospects – defensemen Cale Makar and Conor Timmins, both representing Canada. The defensive duo made their international debuts against their Finnish peers.

Canada – Finland 4:2 (3:1, 1:1, 0:0)

6. Katchouk (Thomas), 7. Steel (Raddysh, Kyrou), 13. Batherson (Gadjovich, Mete), 33. Raddysh (Thomas) - 13. Heponiemi (Valimaki), 28. Jokiharju (Tolvanen, Koivula)

Timmins and Makar made their debut at the international stage in a game that saw a number of questionable calls made by the officials. The Finns felt they were wronged by the referees at two points in the game. Boris Katchouk’s opening goal was scored in controversial fashion, as the puck crossed the goal line along with Katchouk, who crashed the net hard and knocked it off its moorings. The Finns felt like Katchouk helped the puck cross the goal line by pushing the left pad of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, but the goal stood even after video review. The second questionable call came as the Finns were looking to mount a comeback in the third period – defenseman Callan Foote stopped the puck from sliding into Carter Hart’s net right at the line with his glove, with many calling at least for a penalty, if not for a penalty shot. The game was a tale of two cities for Timmins (pictured above) and Makar (below). While Timmins ranked third in TOI (18:55) on Team Canada, Makar only spent 6 minutes and 54 seconds on the ice, having the second-lowest ice-time on the team after forward Tyler Steenbergen, who had a TOI of 5 minutes. To make things worse, Makar's failed clearance in front of the Canadian goal only found the stick of Aleksi Heponiemi for an easy tap-in into the gaping net. Makar finished the game -1, but with two shots on goal. Timmins fared better in the plus-minus department, being on the ice for two Canadian goals and clearly establishing himself as one of the leaders on the team’s blueline. Despite Makar's bad turnover, the coaching staff will likely look to ease him into the lineup more as the tournament progresses, with the defenseman being likely to see more ice-time during tonight’s game against underdogs Slovakia.