Powerhouse Canada is off to a 2-0 start in the world juniors tournament, but it's come with some controversy. The team issued a formal apology after players skated off the ice following a 7-5 win over Czechia, forgoing the traditional post-game handshake, reports USA Today. What's more, team captain Porter Martone skated past the opposing bench after icing the game with an empty-net goal and taunted a Czech player with a tap on the backside.
"Following last night's game, Canada's Junior Team skated off the ice before shaking hands with Czechia," the team said in a statement Saturday. "Hockey Canada takes full responsibility for this oversight and we have apologized to the team, Czech Ice Hockey Association and IIHF for our mistake." The game had been a chippy one, and Canada needed four goals in the final period to defeat a team that had knocked it out of the last two tournaments, per SportsNet.ca.
"We've been told about (discipline) since we got here, and I need to apologize for the actions I took (Friday) at the end of the game," the 19-year-old Martone told reporters. "That's unacceptable, and that can't happen. As the captain of this team, the leader of this team, it just sets a bad (example) for the rest of the guys. … I can't do that." Canada played again Saturday and narrowly avoided an upset loss to Latvia with a 2-1 overtime win. Team USA also is 2-0 in the preliminary rounds.
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