Latvia’s Eriks Mateiko made history this past Friday night when he sent a rocket of a wrist shot over the right shoulder of 17-year-old Canadian goalie Jack Ivankovic. The clink of the puck making contact with the undercarriage of the crossbar could be heard throughout The Canadian Tire Centre, home of the Ottawa Senators.
It could also be heard by die-hard Canadian hockey fans, who view The World Junior Hockey Championship as a holiday tradition, and a proper right of passage for up-and-coming NHL stars. The impact of the puck on the crossbar wouldn’t prove helpful to Ivankovic, as it fell well over the goal line and into the back of the net. It was, in effect, a loud goal scored by Mateiko, who was the Washington Capitals 2024 3rd-round draft pick.
The goal came in the 8th and the final round of a shootout between the two Junior National teams. Before this, the teams had battled to a 2-2 tie through 3 periods, plus a 3-on-3, 5-minute overtime period. Canada dramatically outshot the Latvians 56-26, and most of the game was spent around the Latvian net.
The final result was a Latvia Overtime Win (OTW), which might now put Canada in a vulnerable position. They will need a round-robin win against a high-powered US team to advance to the medal round.
The win was just Latvia’s third in tournament history, and the first time they had beaten the perennial favorite Canadian team. However, Canada suffered a significant injury loss during the game when defenseman Matthew Schaefer, projected to go in the first round in 2025, collided at full speed with the left side of the goalpost. The collision dislodged the net, and Schaefer was immediately helped off the ice in obvious pain. Later reports indicated that Schaefer is now out indefinitely with a broken collarbone.
That incident, though unfortunate for Schaefer and the Canadian team, should not have attributed to any momentum shift during the game. The tempo steadily favored Canada before and after Schaefer’s injury.
Without question, the player of the game for Latvia was goalie Linards Feldbergs. The 19-year-old stopped 54 shots and completely shut out the best Canada had to offer in the overtime shootout. Feldbergs is the number one goaltender for the Sherbrooke Phoenix of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). That league has a long history of producing the best of the best NHL goalies, from Patrick Roy to Martin Brodeur and Marc-Andre Fleury.
It may be early to predict whether or not a long and distinguished NHL career is in the cards for the Latvian goalie. In one night, though, Linards Feldbergs likely sealed his name on NHL draft boards, and his future appears very bright. The overtime win disappointed Canadian fans considerably, but a star might have appeared on the horizon for international hockey fans. Remember the name Linards Feldbergs, as he could soon don an NHL jersey.
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