Conacher leads the way as Canada rolls to gold

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The high level of competition more than made up for the not-so-high level of the accommodations at the recent Inline Hockey World Championships in Slovakia.

That's according to Burlington's Cory Conacher, one of 15 members of the Canadian team that won the B championship in Bratislavia.

The former Burlington Cougar Jr. A star, now a forward at Buffalo's Canisius College, led the Canadian team in scoring with 21 points in six games. Canada won the gold medal with a 7-4 victory over England on June 28.

"It was a great experience," said Conacher, "but it's a lot different than Canada."

Besides the foreign language to contend with and smaller food portions, the hotels were small and had no air conditioning.

"Still, I'd like to do it again," he added, knowing that future tournaments are scheduled for Germany and Sweden.

Canada was taking part in the world championships for the first time in a decade, so the team played in the B pool. With the win, it will advance to the A pool next year.

"A lot of the talent was excellent," said Conacher, who watched some of the A Pool games. "(Ales) Hemsky (of the Edmonton Oilers), Dick Axelsson -- he belongs to the (Detroit) Red Wings -- was the tourney MVP."

The player who impressed Conacher the most was Linus Klasen, another Swede, who helped his team win the A world title.

"His hands... he was a magician with the puck," said Conacher.

Canada dominated the B Pool with one notable exception, a 9-3 loss to Germany in preliminary play. In the final, Canada pulled away in the final period, scoring three unanswered goals.

"We weren't ready for Germany," said Conacher. "And England was quicker and smarter than we thought they'd be."

Conacher, who won't be 19 until December, was the second youngest player on the Canadian team. He downplays his lofty point totals in Slovakia since there were a few lopsided contests against teams like Japan, Hungary and New Zealand.

How does inline hockey affect his play on ice?

"Over the years it's helped a lot," said the diminutive winger, who's listed at five-foot-nine and 163 pounds. "It's played a lot like I play my game. I like the puck and I skate pretty well. That's what you do in inline, you kind of dipsy-doodle around the floor and work on your stickhandling skills."

His attention now returns to ice hockey and his sophomore year at Canisius.

He collected 17 points in 20 games in Buffalo after suffering a broken wrist in his first practice, missing half the season.

"I got hit going through the middle on a three-on-three scrimmage," he said. "The hit wasn't that hard but it caught my wrist the wrong way."

He's working out in Burlington this summer and hopes to have a full season of injury-free hockey in Buffalo.

"I can't wait," he said.