CANADA OPENS SPENGLER CUP TOURNAMENT WITH 6-1 WIN OVER SPARTAK MOSCOW

DAVOS, Switzerland – Jeff Deslauriers couldn't believe his eyes.

As Deslauriers prepared for Canada's Spengler Cup opener against Spartak Moscow, standing at the otherendof the ice was none other than his boyhood idol, former NHL star goalie Dominik Hasek.

Deslauriers admitted he was taken aback somewhat by the prospect of playing against Hasek.

But the native of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu,, Que., did an effective job of containing those emotionsandleading Canada to a convincing 6-1 victory Monday. "I didn't know when I arrived here that he was playingforthat team," Deslauriers said. "Growing up he was my idol so that was something special when I first sawhimon the ice.

"Having a chance to play against him and against this team, that was something very special for me. Butthemain thing was to focus and win the game."

Martin Kariya, Yanick Lehoux and Micki Dupont took care of that, all scoring second-period goals afterthetwo teams battled to a scoreless first. Eric Landry, Glen Metropolit and Josh Holden had the other goalsinthe third for Canada (1-0).

"We played a very solid game offensively and defensively," Deslauriers said. "That's why we were abletocreate opportunities and defensively we got a lot of help from everybody, which makes everyone'sjobeasier."

The six-foot-three, 190-pound Deslauriers lost his shutout bid when Mikhail Yunkov scored at 16:22 ofthethird for Spartak (1-1).

Former NHL star Mark Messier is the head coach of the Canadian squad, whose roster is mainly comprisedofplayers currently skating in Europe. Also on Monday, Geneve-Servette nipped Sparta Prague 4-3. Afterascoreless first period, the Canadians took control of the game in the second by beating Hasekthreetimes.

Deslauriers said with the Spengler Cup being a very condensed tournament, getting off to a good startisalways imperative. "It's a short tournament so the start is very important," he said. "We had two, threedaysof practice and I think that helped a lot for the guys to know each other and now everyone can react tothegame plan."

Canada faces the host Davos team Tuesday.

"That's a very important game for us," Deslauriers said. "We're going to look at what we did(versusSpartak) and see where we can improve so we can make adjustments for Davos.

"We need to be ready because they have a good team as well."

Penalties:
   03:45 SM 96 Yevgeny Lapenkov (Roughing)
   05:09 CAN 9 Domenic Pittis (Slashing)
   07:18 CAN 41 Curtis Murphy (Roughing)
   07:18 SM 38 Jurai Mikush (Roughing)
   14:46 CAN 21 Cory Murphy (Cross Checking)
   16:14 CAN 27 Josh Holden (High Sticking)
   16:55 SM 38 Jurai Mikush (Slashing)
   16:55 CAN 8 Joel Kwiatkowski (Roughing)
   18:01 SM   (Too Many Men)
   19:43 SM 34 Mikhail Ryazanov (Hooking)

Penalties:
   00:38 SM 77 Oleg Piganovich (Cross Checking)
   05:45 CAN   (Too Many Men)
   06:30 CAN 24 J.P. Vigier (Tripping)
   10:02 CAN 26 Brendan Brooks (Hooking)
   12:41 SM 88 Roman Lyuduchin (Tripping)
   12:58 SM 72 Grigory Zheldakov (Elbowing)
   16:15 CAN 21 Cory Murphy (Tripping)

Penalties:
   18:02 SM 72 Grigory Zheldakov (Hooking)
   18:39 CAN 25 Micki Dupont (Interference)