TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- With talk of the Cold War warming up again, American goalie Steven Bell added one more indication on March 28 that it might be back: He resurrected the Iron Curtain.

Bell stopped more than a dozen shots in a 7-0 shutout of the Canadian Detachment Flyers in the sixth annual 552nd Air Control Wing Can/Am Cup. The performance earned him MVP status, although it was a close call against forward Bryson Harley, who scored four goals for the American Stars.

The game at the Blazer's Ice Centre was the second lopsided victory in a row for the Stars. They won 7-2 last year and lead the series 5-1.

The Stars struck first and fast 9 seconds into the game. Harley intercepted a pass in front of the net and set a series record for quickest score.

The first period was the Stars' most productive. Harley scored again at 11:22 off a pass from defenseman Tyler Schmidt. Forward Brian Candage turned assists from Harley and defenseman Fred Danielson into a third goal.

Harley wrapped up the period's fourth score, and a hat trick, with a hard slapshot.
In the second period, forward James Giles hit from center ice in the 18th minute on a long shot past the shoulder of the Flyers' goalie. Later in the period, Harley scored his fourth and final goal.

The Canadians revved up with a stronger offense in the period, which ended 6-0. In the last period, the Stars' Candage scored again from close to the goal off defenseman Joe Brown's assist.

For Canada, Cup veteran and defenseman Ryan Dietzel was given an award of appreciation for his years of work on the event. He's being posted off Tinker this summer. Defenseman Rob McKendry earned MVP honors.

Royal Canadian Air Force Capt. Thys Hoedeman commented on the event attended by around 1,100 spectators, Blazer's Ice Centre officials estimated.

"Of course, the score was unfortunate for the Canadian side," said Hoedeman. "We were hoping to make it a closer game this year, but we had a great time and thank all of the great fans on both sides for their support. We're already looking forward to next year."