Courtesy of HockeyWriters.com by Declan Schroeder:
Team Canada captured its fourth Spengler Cup in the past five years on Tuesday, their 16th championship all time, and former Winnipeg Jets and Manitoba Moose players were a big reason why they did so.
Clark Put on a Clinic
At the forefront of Canada’s potent offence in Davos was former Manitoba Moose Kevin Clark, who led the team and the tournament with eight points — six goals, two assists — as Canada rattled off four consecutive victories.
SWEET 1⃣6⃣‼️ 🇨🇦🏆#SpenglerCup pic.twitter.com/QAQf0deaaR
— Team Canada Men (@HC_Men) December 31, 2019
Kevin Clark (far right, behind goaltender Matt Tomkins) had himself one heck of a tournament: he led Canada with eight points and scored six of their 19 goals and helped them capture their fourth Spengler Cup in the past five years.
Clark, born and raised in Winnipeg, played three seasons with the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Winnipeg South Blues between 2003 and 2006 before spending four seasons at the University of Alaska Anchorage.
The 32-year-old winger — who showed off his great wheels, soft hands, and net-front prowess this week at Vaillant Arena — played a combined 52 games with the Vancouver Canucks-affiliated Moose in 2009-10 and 2010-11, his first foray into pro hockey. In the latter season, he put up 14 points in 43 games.
Clark spent the first two seasons upon the Jets’ return from Atlanta with their AHL affiliate, the St. John’s IceCaps, before making his way to Europe.
In his first season with the Swiss National League’s SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers, he started the 2019 Spengler tournament with a Boxing Day hat trick versus HC Ocelari Trinec and notched his fourth goal in Canada’s second round-robin game against host HC Davos.
He then torched TPS Turku in Monday’s semi-final, potting a power-play rebound to open the scoring less than five minutes in and concluded the scoring late in the third.
RECAP | Kevin Clark had two goals and an assist and @Fucale31 made 19 saves for the shutout to send 🇨🇦 past @HCTPS 6-0 and into the final in Davos.
📊📰: https://t.co/xW82jxz8D8#SpenglerCup | @HC_Men pic.twitter.com/K5B6BnDtbv
— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) December 31, 2019
Clark (middle) celebrates with Maxim Noreau and Kris Versteeg during Monday’s semi-final win over TPS Turku.
In the championship game against Ocelari Trinec, Clark was held without a goal for the first time. However, he did register an assist on Ian Mitchell’s five-on-three goal that made it 2-0 in the second. Clark and Canada’s power play scored three goals in less than five minutes of the middle frame to take control of the game.
Click here for the full story at HockeyWriters.com by Declan Schroeder.
