Beating Frölunda – Canada already convincing at the start of the tournament – Sports

• Canada wins its Catigny Group opener in the Spengler Cup against Swedish top team Frölunda 4-0.
• The Maple Leafs lead the game in the right direction with a double blow in the first and second thirds.
• In the afternoon, defending champion Embrei suffered a 2:3 defeat in extra time against Pardubice.

This should have been Karl Klingberg's glorious return to the Swiss ice: but for the two-time champion Yves Zug, who has returned to his parent club Frölunda since this season, the Swedes' opening match in this year's Spengler Cup ended shortly after the match had finished. 8 minutes: His first notable action was a board check against Canadian Tyler Morley – the refs sent him to the shower.

Double hits

Four-time Champions Hockey League winner Frölunda survived the next five minutes outnumbered (and even had a shorthanded chance), but the Canadians struck twice before the first siren. First, defender Ty Smith scored a backhand effort after a 3-on-2 situation, and 71 seconds later Ajoie's Jonathan Hazen added an assist from Dillon Hetherington.

The Hazen/Smith duo also played a key role in the double in the second third: first the two were the reason for a Swedish own goal attributed to Korban Knight (33 min), then the forgotten Hazen up front. From the goal he converted the rebound to make the score 4:0. This time there were 132 seconds between the two goals.

In the final third, the Swedes did a lot to salvage their honour, creating several superior situations and scoring good goals. Canada goalkeeper Aaron Dell kept his goal clean even when he was outplayed twice. In order to stop him, he needed a bit of luck with a Swedish shot hitting the post.