In a battle between unbeatens at the World Junior Championships on Wednesday night, Canada defeated the United States 7-4 in Ottawa, Ontario. Canada had four power play goals. The Americans led 3-0 before Canada got in gear. Duluth defenseman Cade Fairchild had an assist for the U.S. The Americans face Slovakia in Friday’s quarterfinals, while Canada has a bye into Saturday’s semifinals.

      In the World U-17 Hockey Challenge, the United States scored the only two goals of the third period Wednesday night to defeat Quebec 4-3 in Port Alberni, British Columbia. The Americans (2-0), which include defensemen Derek Forbort of Duluth, who had a goal Wednesday, and Justin Faulk of South St. Paul, face Slovakia on Thursday.

    Kara Goucher of Portland, Ore., was in Duluth on Tuesday to receive congratulations as Mayor Don Ness, a fomer Duluth Central basketball player, proclaimed it Kara Goucher Day, in honor of the former Duluth East runner. It was the first time that Goucher (the former Kara Grgas-Wheeler) was in town since competing as a first-time U.S. Olympian in the Summer Games in Beijing, at 5,000 and 10,000 meters. She’s now training for the Boston Marathon on April 20 and had a long run of 20 miles on her schedule while visiting her mother, Patty, sister, Kelly, and grandparents, Cal and Ola Jean Haworth.

    In at least one other winter trip to Duluth, Goucher injured herself running on slippery streets and sidewalks. Her revelation on this trip: Yaktrax, a heavy-duty steel coil and rubber traction device that fits over the soles of shoes. Somehow, she hadn’t heard of Yaktrax, which many Northland runners and walkers (including Cal Haworth) have been using in recent years on snow and ice covered surfaces. Goucher, 30, completed her training runs in Duluth with no problems on this trip, she reported. The Yaktrax Pro, for running, sells for about $30 at running equipment stores.

    Below, Goucher looks at an issue of Rolling Stone magazine in which she was listed as one of America’s more prominent athletes, as Mayor Don Ness congratulates her during a reception in City Hall on Tuesday. Photo by Amanda Hansmeyer/ ahansmeyer@duluthnews.com

     The second round of holiday tournaments starts Friday, including Minnesota Duluth back on the ice against Massachusetts-Lowell in Hoffman Estates, Ill. Todd Milewski of the Madison Capital Times ranked all of the tournaments in December and January, according to the combined win-loss records of the entrants. Here’s what he put together of U.S. College Hockey:

Every year, maybe just for my own amusement, I compile the rankings of college hockey’s holiday tournaments in order of combined winning percentage. It started as a quest a few years back to track how many tournaments there were on a yearly basis — it seemed like the number was getting out of hand — but it changed into a crude look at which tournaments should be the best, based on the teams’ records.

Before too long, I realized rankings involving records that may be inflated by mediocre schedules wasn’t really the best way to go about things, but it was too late to abandon the pursuit. And since the RPI is still a little skewed at this point of the season, I didn’t want to turn to that yet.

So here’s this season’s rankings of the 10 holiday tournaments:

1. Shillelagh Tournament (Massachusetts-Lowell, Minnesota Duluth, Union of N.Y, Notre Dame) 38-22-9, .616

2. Florida College Classic (Colgate, Maine, St. Cloud State, No. 10 Cornell) 31-21-6, .586 (Cornell and Colgate tied 2-2 in the final and Cornell won a shootout)

3. UConn Hockey Classic (No. 11 Air Force, Connecticut, Merrimack, Quinnipiac) 29-27-4, .517 (Quinnipiac defeated Air Force 4-2 in final)

4. Catamount Cup (Ferris State, St. Lawrence, Colgate, No. 13 Vermont) 29-27-9, .515

5. Ohio Hockey Classic (Clarkson, No. 2 Miami, Army, Ohio State) 29-28-9, .508

6. Denver Cup (No. 3 Boston University, Rensselaer, Holy Cross, No. 5 Denver) 32-33-4, .493

7. Ledyard Bank Tournament (Army, Dartmouth, Bemidji State, Massachusetts) 25-26-2, .491 (Dartmouth defeated Bemidji State 4-2 in final)

8. Dodge Holiday Classic (Brown, No. 4 Minnesota, Western Michigan, No. 6 Northeastern) 23-25-13, .484

9. Great Lakes Invitational (No. 12 Michigan, Michigan Tech, Michigan State, No. 18 North Dakota) 28-40-6, .419 (Michigan beat Michigan State 5-1 in final)

10. Badger Hockey Showdown (Lake Superior State, Harvard, Alabama-Huntsville, No. 14 Wisconsin) 19-30-11, .408 (Wisconsin and Lake Superior State tied 1-1 in the final and the Badgers won a shootout)

     The United States smacked Kazakhstan 12-0 Tuesday night to stay unbeaten in the World Junior Championships in Ottawa, Ontario. The Americans (3-0) next face unbeaten Canada (3-0) on New Year’s Eve. Jordan Schroeder’s two assists were enough to tie him for the lead in tournament scoring with Canada’s John Tavares and Cody Hodgson with nine points.

     Yale handed Minnesota State-Mankato a sixth straight loss Tuesday night in New Haven, Conn., 3-2 to make the Western Collegiate Hockey Association 2-6-2 to start the second half of the season. Mankato (8-9-3) held a 2-1 lead, but Yale (8-4) rallied despite being outshot 32-31.

     Air Force, at the UConn Classic, tied Connecticut 2-2 Monday and lost to Quinnipiac 4-2 Tuesday. Air Force started the season with 13 wins, but is 1-3-1 the last four. Also PairWise top-ranked Princeton beat No. 16 Nebraska-Omaha 5-1 breaking UNO’s five-game unbeaten streak.

     Tuesday’s results dropped Minnesota Duluth to No. 20 in the PairWise, Denver is No. 8, Minnesota No. 10 and Wisconsin No. 19. College hockey is now off until Friday, including UMD vs. Massachusetts-Lowell in Hoffman Estates, Ill.

Professional players with connections to Minnesota Duluth or Northeastern Minnesota. Click on player’s name to go to individual stats page.
      If we’re missing anyone, please e-mail kpates@duluthnews.com 

NHL 

Alex Goligoski, D, Pittsburgh, 35 GP, 6-12-18

Jamie Langenbrunner, F, New Jersey, 33 GP, 5-17-22

Matt Niskanen, D, Dallas, 33 GP, 3-9-12

Mason Raymond, F, Vancouver, 37 GP, 9-9-18

Steve Wagner, D, St. Louis, 16 GP, 1-1-2

Craig Weller, F, Minnesota, 18 GP, 1-1-2

AHL

Zach FitzGerald, F, Manitoba, 26 GP, 0-4-4

Jason Garrison, D, Rochester (N.Y.), 33 GP, 2-12-14, Florida 1 GP, 0-0-0 

Tim Hambly, D, Rockford (Ill.), 32 GP, 2-7-9

Junior Lessard, F, Chicago, 33 GP, 5-2-7

Jay Rosehill, D,  Norfolk (Va.), 28 GP, 2-5-7

Aaron Slattengren, F, Portland,  21 GP, 4-4-8; Augusta (Ga.), 6 GP, 5-4-9 

Tim Stapleton, F, Toronto, 34 GP, 6-23-29

Clay Wilson, D, Syracuse, 27 GP, 8-9-17

ECHL

Ross Carlson, F, Florida, 16 GP, 7-8-15 

Mike Curry F, South Carolina,  12 GP, 1-2-3

Jon Francisco, F, Ontario (Calif.), 25 GP, 13-13-26

Travis Gawryletz D, Elmira (N.Y.), 30 GP, 1-9-10

Ben Gordon, F, Cincinnati, 22 GP, 5-3-8

Gino Guyer, F, Phoenix, 27 GP, 5-4-9

Dan Knapp, D, Ontario (Calif.), 18 GP, 2-5-7

Bryan McGregor, F, Idaho, 28 GP, 11-13-24, Johnstown (Pa.), 1 GP, 0-1-1 

Matt McKnight, F, Idaho, 21 GP, 3-7-10; Las Vegas, 4 GP, 0-1-1

Neil Petruic, F, Stockton (Calif.), 14 GP, 2-2-4

Andy Sertich, D, Utah, 27 GP, 3-9-12

Tom Sawatske, F, Cincinnati, 21 GP, 0-1-1; Phoenix, 5 GP, 0-0-0 

IHL

Rod Aldoff, D, Kalamazoo (Mich.), 28 GP, 5-17-22

Luke Stauffacher, F, Muskegon (Mich.), 25 GP, 18-13-31

CHL

Brett Hammond, F, Colorado, 22 GP, 5-7-12

Jay Hardwick, D, Rio Grande Valley, 27 GP, 1-3-4

International

Nick Anderson, F, Fischtown Germany, 27 GP, 11-11-22

Sean Hill, D, Biel, Switzerland, 33 GP, 2-14-16

Evan Schwabe F, Aalborg, Denmark, 33 GP, 11-18-29

SPHL

B.J. Radovich, Huntsville (Ala.), 23 GP, 11-15-26

Goalies

ECHL

Josh Johnson, Gwinnett, 11 GP, 2.53, .899; South Carolina, 4 GP, 3.20, .894                  

IHL

Isaac Reichmuth, Muskegon (Mich.),  22 GP, 3.85, .885

SPHL

Terry Dunbar, Twin City (N.C.),  16 GP, 3.63, .882

International

Adam Hauser, Kassel, Germany, 24 GP, 2.99, .910

Click on player’s name to go to individual stats page 

Alberta Junior Hockey League 

Wade Bergman, D, Olds, 26 GP, 6-11-17 

U.S. Hockey League 

Keegan Flaherty, F, Fargo, 27 GP, 13-5-18 

Jake Hendrickson, C, Sioux City, 21 GP, 1-7-8 

Luke McManus, D, Omaha, 21 GP, 0-4-4 

Drew Olson,D, Omaha, 25 GP, 1-4-5 

Mike Seidl, F, Cedar Rapids, 23 GP, 11-23-34 

Chris Stafne, C, Indiana, 19 GP, 6-3-9 

North American Hockey League 

John O’Neill, F, North Iowa, 19 GP, 1-4-5 

Mac Carruth, G, Wenatchee (Wash.), 6 GP, 3.85, .858

High School

Joe Basaraba, F, Shattuck-St. Mary’s, 29 GP, 9-11-20

Dan DeLisle, F, Totino Grace, 7 GP, 7-9-16

Caleb Herbert, F, Bloomington Jefferson, 9 GP, 6-8-14

Max Tardy, C, Duluth East, 8 GP, 9-5-14

USNDT U-17

Justin Faulk, D, South St. Paul, 12 GP, 4-5-9

      Biathlon news from Monday, Dec. 29 — Raleigh Goessling of Esko won the Youth Boys 10-kilometer race as the U.S. World Junior Team Trials opened in Anchorage, while Duluth native and 2006 Olympian Carolyn Bramante of Minneapolis has been named to compete in the IBU Cup, Jan. 9-17. Here’s a release from USA Biathlon:

Youth 10K

A veteran of last year’s team that competed in Ruhpolding, Germany, Raleigh Goessling won the Youth 10K Sprint. Goessling had five penalties on his way to a 34:20 win. Second went to Ethan Dreissigacker (Morrisville, VT), eight seconds back, also with five penalties. Third went to Kelsey Boyer (Fairbanks, AK), with five penalties, 1:08 back.

IBU Cup

US Biathlon Director of Athlete Development Piotr Bednarski announced that three women and two men have been selected to compete in the upcoming IBU Cup competitions in Altenberg, Germany and Nove Mesto na Morave, Czech Republic. The top US finishers in thvying for positions on the team during the IBU Cup competitions.

The three women at these competitions will be nominated to the Senior World Championships Team that will compete in the Biathlon World Championships in Pyeong Chang, Korea, in February. Several members of the December World Cup Team who have not pre-qualified for the Korea competitions are also Dartmouth College graduates are Carolyn Bramante, Sara Studebaker (Boise, ID), and Susan Dunklee (Barton, VT). Zach Hall (Nikiski, AK) and Mark Johnson (Grand Rapids are the two men. The team selection was based on the combined results from recent North American Cup competitions.

     This Mankato Free Press report on Minnesota State Mankato’s loss at top-ranked Princeton on Monday night in Princeton, N.J. The Mavericks (8-8-3) have lost five straight:

PRINCETON, N.J. — Just like that, the Minnesota State men’s hockey team is back to .500.
After starting the season with their best record in more than a decade, the Mavericks have now dropped five games in a row.

On Monday, they lost 5-2 in a nonconference game against No. 8 Princeton.

Princeton outshot MSU 42-33, scored three power-play goals and pulled away after the Mavericks (8-8-3) made it a 3-2 game early in the third period.

The Tigers opened up a 3-0 lead after a first-period goal by Dan Bartlett and a pair of second-period power-play goals by Jody Pederson and Derrick Pallis before five minutes elapsed in the second.

Junior forward Geoff Irwin finally put the Mavericks on the board with a short-handed goal with 68 seconds remaining in the period.

At 3:07 of the third, MSU freshman Mike Louwerse scored a power-play goal to make it 3-2. Rylan Galiardi and Kael Mouillierat assisted.

However, Princeton (11-2) quickly took back the lead, as Bartlett beat goalie Mike Zacharias (37 saves) for the second time at 5:44, and Brett Wilson added a power-play goal at 6:42.

Tigers goalie Zane Kalemba recorded his 11th win of the season, making 31 saves.

The Mavericks, who haven’t won since Nov. 29, have lost five consecutive games for the first time since early in the 2006-07 season.

Minnesota State plays at Yale today and returns home to play Nebraska-Omaha Saturday at the Alltel Center. On Monday, Omaha defeated Yale 8-3.

      Princeton, No. 1 in the PairWise Rankings, defeated Minnesota State Mankato 5-2 Monday night in Princeton, N.J. Princeton (11-2) scored three power play goals and led in shots on goal 42-33. That makes WCHA teams 2-5-2 to start the second half of the season.

      Also Nebraska-Omaha beat Yale 8-3 in New Haven. Conn. Coach Mike Kemp, a Duluth native, now has his Nebraska-Omaha team at 12-4-3 and No. 14 in the PairWise. Also, Dartmouth stopped Bemidji State 4-2 in Hanover, N.H. Dartmouth (8-4) is No. 20 in the PairWise.

     The results left Minnesota Duluth at No. 19.

    Minnesota Duluth recruit Justin Faulk, a defenseman from South St. Paul, had a goal and an assist in a six-goal first period Monday as the United States defeated Finland 12-1 to open the World Under 17 Hockey Challenge in Nanaimo, British Columbia. The Americans led in total shots on goal 55-26. Duluth East defenseman Derek Forbort is also on the U.S. team, a pre-tournament favorite which meets Quebec on Wednesday in Port Alberni, British Columbia.