Moose Jaw Warriors defenceman Daemon Hunt might not have figured into the scoring, but Team Canada managed to get the job done regardless in their lone pre-tournament game at the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup Under-18 tournament in Piestany, Slovakia on Saturday.
Canada scored three goals in the final 2:34 of the first period and never looked back on their way to taking a 4-1 win over Slovakia.
Jean-Luc Foudy of the OHL Windsor Spitfires had a goal and an assist to lead Canada while Jérémie Poirier (Saint John Sea Dogs), Kaiden Guhle (Prince Albert Raiders) and Seth Jarvis (Portland Winterhawks) all had single markers. Tristan Lennox (Saginaw Spirit) made five saves in his half game of work, Dylan Garland (Kamloops Blazers) turned aside nine shots.
Oliver Fatul scored the lone goal for Slovkia.
Canada – the defending champions from 2018 -- opens the tournament on Monday against Finland before taking on Switzerland on Tuesday and the Czech Republic on Wednesday to close out the round robin.
The top two teams in each pool advance to the semifinals on Friday, followed by the gold medal game on Aug. 10.
Hunt, 17, is entering his second full season with the Tribe, having scored seven goals and 20 points in 57 games in his rookie campaign. The Hlinka Gretzky marks his first appearance in the tournament and third Hockey Canada assignment after suiting up for Canada Black at the World U-17 Challenge and World U-18 Championship in 2018.
