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It’s deja vu all over again for a Lumby couple.
As they did in 2022, Pat and Bob Pointer will spend the Christmas holidays watching their grandson, goalkeeper Thomas Milic of Coquitlam, play for Team Canada at an event.
Milic led Canada to a gold medal last year at the 2023 World Junior Hockey Championship in Halifax, beating Czechia 3-2 in extra time. The proud Pointers watched their grandson on television last year and will do so again this season.
Now in the professional category, Milic has been loaned to Team Canada for the 95th Spengler Cup hockey tournament in Davos, which begins on Boxing Day. The Spengler Cup features five clubs from across Europe, in addition to host HC Davos and Team Canada. it is made up of players recently signed in Europe or, as in Milic’s case, in the North American minor leagues.
Canada belongs to the Torianni Group and will open the event on Boxing Day at 11:15 a. m. PT against Frölunda HC in Gothenburg, Sweden (home of this year’s World Junior Championships). Frölunda HC is a five-time Swedish champion. No Swedish team has won the Spengler Cup since 1994.
Canada’s loser-Frölunda will face HC Davos on Wednesday, December 27 at 11:15 a. m. The winner of Canada-Frölunda will face HC Davos on Thursday, December 28 (11:15 a. m. m. Pacific Time).
Canada, which is looking to add to its record of 16 tournament titles, is led by former Vancouver Canucks head coach Bruce (There It Is) Boudreau and general manager, NHL star Joe Thornton. Canada was eliminated in the semifinals prior to last year’s event. The last time they won the tournament was in 2019.
The Cattini Group’s protective champions of the tournament, HC Ambri Piotta of Switzerland, HC Dynamo Pardubice of the Czech Republic, and the 2018 winners, KalPa Kuopio of Finland, the first Finnish team to win the tournament trophy.
The event did not take place COVID in 2020 and 2021.
The first Spengler Cup was played 100 years ago in 1923.
After guiding Canada to World Junior gold, Milic then led the Seattle Thunderbirds to the Western Hockey League championship and a berth in the Memorial Cup in Kamloops. The T-Birds made it to the final, but Milic and Seattle lost 5-0 to the Quebec Ramparts.
He then selected via the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League in the fifth round of the 2023 NHL Draft and was assigned to the Norfolk Admirals of the East Coast Hockey League. In 14 games for the Admirals, Milic has a 9-2-2 record. record, a 2. 44 goals against average and a save percentage of Array910.
Milic called up the Manitoba Moose’s American Hockey League Jets farm team. He played 4 games with the Moose, compiling a 1-1 record.
This story was updated on Wednesday, Dec. 27, after the original story incorrectly stated that the Pointers were traveling to Switzerland to watch their grandson play live. We apologize for the error. PS: Canada won their first game 4-0 against Frolundä, with Aaron Dell in goal. Canada will play in Davos on Thursday, December 28.
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