Canada’s Braeden Cootes suspended two games at Hlinka Gretzky Cup for spearing
The Hlinka Gretzky Cup has announced that Team Canada forward Braeden Cootes has been suspended for two games for spearing a Slovak forward during August 6th’s 5-1 victory.
Cootes was handed a game misconduct on the play and was ejected. He will be able to return to the lineup for either the bronze or gold medal game that is slated for August 10th. Cootes has one assist in two games.
Braeden Cootes has been suspended for two games as a result of a major penalty for spearing in last night's game.
Braeden Cootes suspendu pour deux matchs après avoir reçu une punition majeure pour avoir dardé pendant le match hier soir.#HlinkaGretzkyCup | #CoupeHlinkaGretzky pic.twitter.com/mMJOeRF7ED
The 17-year-old spent the 2023-24 season with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League (WHL) where he tallied 14 goals and 21 assists for 35 points in 64 games as a rookie. Cootes was selected No. 10 overall in the 2022 WHL Bantam Draft and appeared in seven games during the 2022-23 season with Seattle after his season ended with the Sherwood Park Kings in the U18 AEHL.
Cootes also represented Canada at the Under-17 World Hockey Championships where he registered two goals and two assists for four points in seven games.
Canada won their first game of the tournament on Monday 10-0 over Switzerland, where Cootes was able to pickup an assist while Cole Reschny registered five points and Matthew Schaefer, Emilie Guite, Gavin McKenna, Quinn Beauchesne and Alex Huang all racked up three points.
Canada will face Sweden tonight in the final round robin game to determine the seeding for the elimination round that gets underway on Friday. Both teams are 2-0.