Pue lifts Canada White into U17 World Challenge final

Canada White defeated the United States 8-7 in overtime Friday to earn a berth in the final of the U17 World Challenge in Truro, NS. (Hockey Canada photo)

Liam Pue scored in overtime to lift Canada White to an 8-7 victory over the United States in a U17 World Challenge semi-final contest Friday in Truro, NS.

Pue, a rookie with the WHL’s Regina Pats, now has four goals in the tournament. Maddox Schultz, who also is a rookie with the Pats, also scored for Canada White, which now advances to Saturday’s game against the winner of the Canada Red-Czechia semi-final which is slated for Friday night.

Schultz is tied for the tournament lead in goals with Alexis Joseph of Canada Red and Loui Karlsson of Sweden, each with five goals.

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Alex Kalemin, Kaden McGregor, Matt Henderson, Brenner Lammens, Ben Harvey and Sam Roberts also scored for Canada White, which led 2-1 after the first period and trailed 5-4 heading into the third period.

Schultz and Pue, who are playing full-time this season with the Regina Pat Canadians of the Saskatchewan U18AAA Hockey League while committing to the Pats for 34 games each, are underage players for this international event.

The tournament spotlights the top 2009-born players in the world and both Schultz and Pue are 2010-born players.

The tournament features two teams from Canada, Canada White and Canada Red, along with teams from Sweden, Czechia, Finland and the United States.