Team Canada doesn’t appear to be staying clean at this year’s IIHF World Championship, and the latest offender is Adam Fantilli, the top pick for the 2023 NHL Draft.
During Monday’s game against Norway, the Canadian center landed a big shot at the rink when Norway defender Christian Kaasastul chased after a loose puck. The 18-year-old forward raised his elbow ever so slightly and touched Kaasastul’s bowed head.
The IIHF has extremely strict rules about head contact in their tournaments and as a result, Fantilli was eliminated from the game after a review. According to international hockey rules, even if the contact with Kaasastul’s head was accidental and Fantilli did not leave the ice to jump into the shot, any contact with a player’s head during a shot is penalized.
Norway would secure a historic victory Canadabeat the hockey powerhouse 3-2 on penalties to secure the country’s first win of the tournament.
Due to the match penalty and disqualification, suspension is unlikely to result. This is good news for Canada as they are already missing a striker due to another tough and dangerous game on the ice.
Detroit Red Wings center Joe Veleno has been suspended for five games after kicking the leg of Swiss forward Nino Niederreiter during a puck fight in Canada’s loss Switzerland on Saturday.
The 23-year-old was not awarded a penalty for this move.
This is both Veleno and Fantilli’s first appearance for Team Canada at the World Cup, however they have represented their country in various junior tournaments before.
Canada are currently third in their group with a record of 3-1-1-1, behind a Swiss team who have a perfect record of 6-0-0-0 and a Czech team with four wins. Canada play their last game of the group stage on Tuesday before the tournament’s elimination phase begins on Thursday.
Fantilli is expected to finish in the top three in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft this June and recently won the Hobey Baker Award for the NCAA’s best player this season. He has two assists in six games at the tournament so far.
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