ADT Canada-Russia Challenge

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Team OHL vs. Russia.

The ADT Canada-Russia Challenge is an annual six game exhibition ice hockey tournament held between a select team of Russian junior players and all-star teams representing the three leagues of the Canadian Hockey League. The current corporate sponsor is ADT Security Services. The event was first held in 2003 as the Re/Max Canada-Russia Challenge. The CHL holds a commanding lead in the overall series.

The Russian Selects play two games each hosted by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League and the Western Hockey League. All games are broadcast nationally in Canada on Rogers Sportsnet. The series features many players, also on the Canadian National junior team. [1]

[edit] 2003 Re/Max Canada-Russia Challenge

Inaugurated in 2003, the tournament was envisioned as tune-up for the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. The first series was won by the CHL five games to one in a series of blowout victories for the home squads. Following the tournament, the Russians were criticized for bringing over a team that was uncompetitive, as the Russian team kept many of its top junior players at home.

[edit] 2004 ADT Canada-Russia Challenge

Prior to the second tournament, the Russians vowed to avenge their lopsided defeats in 2003. They started off well, defeating the QMJHL in both games by identical 4-3 scores, both via shoot-out. However, the Russians were once again unable to compete with either the OHL or WHL, losing the overall series four games to two.

[edit] 2005 ADT Canada-Russia Challenge

The third challenge series saw the CHL dominate the series six games to zero as a travel weary Russian squad found itself consistently overmatched by its Canadian counterparts.

[edit] 2006 ADT Canada-Russia Challenge

In the first game, the QMJHL cruised to an easy 6-2 victory. The Q followed that up with a 4-3 victory. Goaltender Ilia Proskuryakov was named the game star in both games for the overmatched Russians who were outshot 82-34 in the first two games. The OHL continued the CHL's dominance with an easy 5-0 victory in the third game.

The fourth game was a much more spirited affair, and while the OHL came out on top for the CHL's fourth consecutive victory, the Russians made a game of it in a close 4-3 final. The game was marred by two ugly incidents late, as both the OHL's Chris Stewart and Russia's Andrey Lange were assessed match penalties in the final minute of the game.

The Russians entered game five with only 14 skaters, and while badly outshot, managed to make a close and entertaining game of it before falling to the WHL 5-3. Game six would prove an entirely different story, as a Brodie Dupont hat trick led the WHL to an 8-1 victory. The CHL swept the series for the second year in a row.

[edit] 2007 ADT Canada-Russia Challenge

The Russians started off the challenge by ending the CHL's 16 game winning streak that began in game three of 2004, defeating the QMJHL squad 6-4.

The OHL squad remained undefeated against the Russian Selects, going to 10 wins and no losses overall for the five years the challenge has run.

The WHL suffered their first ever loss to the Russians in game five, but came back in game six to clinch the series for the CHL.

[edit] All-time records

[edit] References

• CHL.CA Canada-Russia Challenge page
• russianprospects.com tournament page
• 2006 ADT Canada-Russia Challenge, chl.ca. Accessed October 17, 2006