[Thoss]

Canada wins first WJHC gold since 1997

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (CP) - The Canadian junior men's hockey team put on a dominating display to win the gold medal at the world junior championship Tuesday with a 6-1 win over Russia.

After finishing a heartbreaking second the last three years in this tournament, Canada left nothing in doubt by scoring four times in the second period for a five-goal lead heading into the final 20 minutes.

Ryan Getzlaf, Danny Syvret, Jeff Carter, Patrice Bergeron, Anthony Stewart and Dion Phaneuf scored for Canada before a sellout crowd of 11,862 at the Ralph Engelstad Arena.

''This is the big one,'' said Getzlaf. ''We're going to enjoy this for years to come. Anytime you see the guys, we'll have that special bond now.''

The majority of fans were Canadians who began singing goodbye to the Russian team midway through the third period. It was the first world junior gold for Canada since 1997, when it capped a run of five straight titles.

Canada lost the 2002 and 2003 championship games to Russia.

Fans erupted at the final buzzer as Canadian players mobbed goaltender Jeff Glass, hugging each other after throwing their sticks and gloves in the air while Queen's classic song We Are The Champions blared.

http://www.tsn.ca/world_jrs/news_story.asp?id=110063


Go Canada Go!

Canada has become the first nation to win the mens/womens Olympic gold, The World Cup (formerly the Canada Cup), mens/womens World Championchips, Gold in World Juniors, and both mens/womens under 18/22 championchips, truely the grand slam of international hockey.

[Gnote]

I was going to post this exact same topic .

It's weird how the chain of domination went. The U.S gets dominated by the Czechs (and the Russians) the Czechs get dominated by the Russians and then the Russians (along with every other team) get dominated by Canada.

Canada scored 41 goals, and allowed 7. That is ridiculous. Canada did not allow an even strength goal against after their first game, and did not trail in any minute of any game in the entire tournament.

[Thoss]

That team was invincible. Amazing.

The US team really crumbled after last year.

Russia was good upfront, but clearly lacked Defence. Their glorified forwards never really showed up in the final and were shelled from Canadian Defence.

The only thing that saved the Czechs was their wall of a goalie.

The rest was only cannon fodder. We stand supreme on top of the hockey world.

[Luke]

Unfortunately for us, that's about all we stand on top of. We're usually cowering under other things

[Un Owen]

The Russian goalie should get an assist for the second Canadian goal in the first period. If he had not been standing where he was, the puck would have missed the goal altogether. Because he was standing there watching the Canadian player, instead of actively guarding the net, the puck bounced off his right leg pad and into the goal.

He was half in front of the net, and half around the corner, if he had been in the centre of the goal, which I would assume is the usual practice when the puck is in the other teams hands, he would not have been in the puck's trajectory and he would not have essentially scored on himself.

But, then again, this was not the winning goal by a long-shot, so it did not even matter in the end.

Did you see the two Russian players balling their eyes out on the ice after the clock ran-out in the 3rd? It was rather heart-breaking to see...

[Gnote]

The Russian goalie should get an assist for the second Canadian goal in the first period. If he had not been standing where he was, the puck would have missed the goal altogether. Because he was standing there watching the Canadian player, instead of actively guarding the net, the puck bounced off his right leg pad and into the goal.

He was half in front of the net, and half around the corner, if he had been in the centre of the goal, which I would assume is the usual practice when the puck is in the other teams hands, he would not have been in the puck's trajectory and he would not have essentially scored on himself.

This goal was largely a result of smart play on the part of Canada's Danny Syvret. The bank shot off of the goalies pads was intentionally, in my opinion. A hockey player myself, I have scored numerous goals in a similar manner. He had enough hockey sense to understand that in his current position, the goalie would be out of position, creating an opportunity to bank the puck off of him.

I recall watching the lead-up to that goal and saying to myself when Syvret grabbed the puck behind the net: "bank it off him!"